Biographile’s This Week in History remembers events of the past, and the icons that set them in motion.

On June 20, 1975, Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" was released in theaters. At about the same time, the percentage of people self-diagnosing themselves with aquaphobia shot through the roof. The movie, adapted from a 1973 Peter Benchley novel about a Great White shark ripping through the sleepy town of Amity, went gangbusters. It became the highest-grossing film in movie history, catapulting Spielberg into stardom. It would be overtaken in two years by "Star Wars," thus commencing the Lucas-Spielberg Hollywood oligarchy to grace American cinema for decades to come.

While Steven Spielberg was riding high on waves of positive reviews, however, the number of literal waves being ridden decreased dramatically. From east to west, beaches became barren, waters became unwaded, and summer activities became a little less joyful. But if you ask any kid with a pulse and a hungry adrenaline rush, the trade-off was worth it.

"Jaws" is part of a select group of movies whose stories of fiction have rippled into reality. Not since the shower scene in Hitchcock's thriller "Psycho" (1960) had a movie so permanently scarred an otherwise enjoyable experience. Everyone likened their coastal towns to Amity, and everyone thought the thrashing, underwater legs of helpless victims looked eerily like their own.

Most movies nowadays haven't made as lasting an impression on our collective paranoia. But if a movie is to land in theaters anytime soon with the iconic power of "Jaws," given our vivid imaginations, we're probably gonna need a bigger xanax.