Good morning. It's July 13th — let's begin where we always do: on this very date in history.
📅 On This Day — July 13
🫘 (It's also National Beans 'N' Franks Day — a backyard classic, no apologies needed.)
1787 — The Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, setting the rules for how new territories would become states.
1923 — The Hollywood Sign was officially dedicated in the hills above Los Angeles.
1930 — The first-ever FIFA World Cup matches were played, in Montevideo, Uruguay.
1985 — Live Aid kicked off at Wembley Stadium in London, the epic trans-Atlantic benefit concert for famine relief in Africa.
Now, let's set the dial back to 1997…
⏪ REWIND: 1997
Bill Clinton is well into his second term, a first-class stamp costs 32 cents, gas runs about $1.11 a gallon, dial-up modems are the sound of getting online — and Puff Daddy has the whole country moving to a tribute beat nobody expected to become the song of the summer.
📰 The Headlines In four days, an American institution closes for good: the F.W. Woolworth Company — the five-and-dime that basically invented one-stop shopping — will shut its doors after 117 years, done in by the very discount stores and malls it helped inspire.
🎬 At the Movies Still packing theaters eleven days in is Men in Black — Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the black suits and neuralyzers, the sharp sci-fi comedy that just posted the second-biggest July opening ever and shows no sign of slowing down.
🎵 On the Charts Topping the Hot 100 is "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112 — the Police-sampling tribute to the Notorious B.I.G. that's become the defining song of the year.
🏆 In Sports Today, England's Alison Nicholas wins the U.S. Women's Open at Pumpkin Ridge, edging Nancy Lopez by a single stroke in one of the closest finishes the tournament has seen.
🏰 The Disney Vault In theaters two weeks now is Hercules — Disney's colorful, gospel-tinged take on the Greek myth. It's got jokes, a scene-stealing Meg, and a killer Alan Menken score, but going toe-to-toe with Men in Black and Batman & Robin at the box office, it's quietly underperforming the studio's own Lion King-sized expectations.
— a couple of quick things before you go —
👟 Step Challenge: the Summer 2026 Step Challenge is rolling — grab the free Pacer app and walk with us: Join the challenge (already have Pacer? Club code E42727228). Every step counts.
💡 Health Snap: A Monday reset doesn't need to be complicated — just a glass of water first thing and a few minutes of movement before you check your phone. Want a simple, no-cost health baseline to build on? Grab your free health report.
🎉 Born on a July 13th — or know someone who was?
Forward this to them right now — there's no better "this is the day you were born" gift than a little time travel.
🎂 In good company: July 13 babies include Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka (1934), actor Patrick Stewart (1940), actor Harrison Ford (1942), actor-comedian Cheech Marin (1946), and voice actor Tom Kenny — the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants (1962).
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