July 09

On July 9, 1763, the Mozart family departed Salzburg on a grand tour to showcase seven-year-old Wolfgang’s prodigious musical talent. Over the next few years, they visited major cultural centers including Munich, Paris, London, and Milan. Wolfgang performed before royalty and nobility, earning widespread acclaim and lucrative patronage. His sister Nannerl also impressed audiences with her own musical skill. The tour exposed Wolfgang to diverse musical traditions and influential composers. These experiences profoundly shaped his compositional style and international reputation. The grand tour marked the beginning of Mozart’s ascent to musical fame.

On July 9, 1937, a storage vault at Fox Film Corporation in New Jersey caught fire, fueled by highly flammable nitrate film stock. The blaze consumed the majority of Fox's silent film negatives and prints, many of which had no duplicates. Historians estimate that over 75% of Fox's pre-1932 titles were lost forever in the flames. This disaster highlighted the fragility of early cinema and spurred efforts toward film preservation. In the aftermath, studios and archives began transitioning to safer film materials and implementing fireproof vaults. The 1937 fire remains one of the most significant losses in cinematic history.