15 years ago today, Elle Woods taught us to bend and snap.
Legally Blonde hit theaters on July 13, 2001, giving Reese Witherspoon her breakout role and giving us a movie that put a pink-loving sorority girl in the place where she”s the outcast: law school. Until she proves all her doubters wrong, that is, in the midst of a murder trial, no less.
The comedy”s success led to a 2003 sequel and a stage musical that premiered on Broadway in 2007.
Other notable July 13 happenings in pop culture history:
• 1923: The Hollywood sign, which then read “Hollywoodland,” was officially dedicated.
• 1939: Frank Sinatra made his recording debut in a New York studio, singing “From The Bottom Of My Heart” and “Melancholy Mood” with the Harry James Band.
• 1964: The Supremes recorded “Come See About Me” in “Hitsville U.S.A.,” Motown”s first headquarters.
• 1984: The Muppets Take Manhattan and The Last Starfighter opened in theaters.
• 1985: Duran Duran”s “A View to a Kill,” written for the James Bond movie of the same name, hit the top of the U.S. singles charts. And Tears for Fears album Songs from the Big Chair reached no. 1 on the Billboard 200. It topped the album chart for four weeks.
• 1985: Live Aid, a dual-venue concert organized to raise funds for the famine in Ethiopia, was held in London and Philadelphia, broadcast around the world. Among the artists performing were U2, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Madonna, and a reunion of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
• 1990: Ghost opened in theaters. It earned Whoopi Goldberg an Oscar statuette, eventually making her part of the exclusive EGOT club.
• 2002: Sesame Workshop announced that the first HIV-positive Muppets character would debut on Takalani Sesame, the South African version of Sesame Street. The puppet was later revealed to be named Tami and made an appearance in a UNICEF video with Bill Clinton.
Birthdays: Star Wars actor Harrison Ford (turns 74 today), Grease actress Didi Conn (65), Jerry Maguire writer-director Cameron Crowe (59), Jackie Brown actor Robert Forster (75), game show host Johnny Gilbert (91), Arrow actor Colton Haynes (28), The Hangover actor Ken Jeong (47), Dollhouse actor Fran Kranz (35), Orphan Black actor Michael Mando (35), Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Patrick Stewart (76)