September 24th of this year is what would have been Jim Henson’s 78th birthday, and it’s also Steve Whitmire’s 55th birthday. Every year, we give a little tip of the hat to both of these amazingly talented men and the frog they bring to life that we love so much.
But that can’t be the only thing to celebrate or remember on September 24th. There’s a one-in-365 chance that any given event, birthday, death date, or holiday will land on this date, and many of them could be Muppet-related. So today, on this eventful calendar date, we’ll be looking much more closely at September the 24th to see what shares Jim and Steve’s birthday.
366 – Pope Liberius dies / 1143 – Pope Innocent II dies. Yep, in two different years on the same date, two Popes passed away. Not such a great day for His Holiness. Thankfully, their religious spirit lives on through various angels and demons, rabbis and reverends, and even the big boss Himself (or Herself, as it were).
1789 – The United States Congress passes the Judiciary Act, which created the positions of the Attorney General and the Supreme Court. Because of this act, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was invited to share breakfast with Baby Bear on Sesame Street.
1869 – Financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk tried to corner the gold market, sending Wall Street into a panic and leaving thousands of investors in financial ruin. Not such a picker-upper, huh? Thanks to the lessons learned by Messrs Gould and Fisk, Kermit and the gang never rely on such an unreliable investment as gold. They prefer the kind of cold, hard cash you can only earn via telethon or your standard Rich and Famous contracts.
1877(?) – Jim Henson’s grandmother, “Dear”, is born. As it was just pointed out to us by Jim Henson biographer Brian Jay Jones, Jim Henson’s grandmother, with whom he was extremely close, shared his birthday as well! September 24th is truly a day for creative and inspirational people, as well as fantastic coincidences!
1887 – Cherries Jubilee Day (the dessert was invented in 1887, though I have no idea when the holiday was created) is on September 24th, and the Muppets have fully embraced it. Or rather, the pies have embraced them. Specifically in the face region.
1890 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy. And it’s a good thing, too, or else The Count would be married to the Countess, Countess Dahling von Dahling, Countess von Backwards, and Susan Sarandon.
1896 – F. Scott Fitzgerald, American author and poet is born. And thank Frog for that, or else we’d never have this fantastic piece of fan art (made by ToughPigs’ own Staci Rosen)!
1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation’s first National Monument. And it was only 108 years later when someone finally slapped a mustache on Fozzie so he could portray our most bear-like President.
1917 – Doud Eisenhower, son of Dwight D. Eisenhower is born. In one of the more subtle jokes in Sesame Street storybook history, Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum features a Muppetized version of Doud’s dad, Ike’s postage stamp. And it’s totally worth paying the extra two cents.
1941 – Linda McCartney, American singer, photographer, and activist is born. And did you know that she came this close to appearing on The Muppet Show?? They were trying to get Paul McCartney to guest star, but he’d only appear with his entire band, Wings, and that wasn’t in the budget. Missed opportunity, Muppet people of the past!
1945 – Hans Geiger, German physicist, co-invented the Geiger counter dies. And ever since, radioactivity has not been a problem for the Muppets. Electrocution, yes. Flammability, sure. Radioactivity, slightly less so.
1948 – The Honda Motor Company is founded. And because I know nothing about cars, here’s where I say that Honda and Toyota are basically the same company. And the Muppets made commercials for one of them! Not the one I probably should be talking about. Sorry, Honda.
1948 – Phil Hartman is born. It’s a crime that Phil Hartman never got to work with the Muppets. He would’ve been perfect, playing all of his characters against the Muppet cast. We’re happy to have so many Muppet appearances on Saturday Night Live, but it would’ve been better with Phil.
1957 – Brad Bird, director of The Iron Giant and The Incredibles, is born. Here he is standing in front of a bunch of Muppet toys! Slightly less important is the fact that he (and all of the Pixar directors) have noted the Muppets as being huge inspirations for their work. But also, there’s a photo of Brad Bird and something slightly Muppet-related! Shiny!!!
1957 – The Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field before moving to Los Angeles for the next season. And then Jackie Robinson appeared on Sesame Street to publicly denounce the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, sports fans of all ages, and the very concept of athletics. Nah, I’m just kidding. He read the alphabet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-ZANKczbck
1958 – Kevin Sorbo, American actor and producer is born. In what might be the greatest meeting in the history of human life, Kevin Sorbo (TV’s Hercules) stood near Red Fraggle while the world tuned in and watched with bated breath. Cars stopped on the highway while people tuned in on their radios just to hear Sorbo’s deep breathing as he gazed upon Red’s pigtails. Greek gods descended from Mount Olympus when they heard of the union between man and Fraggle. Truly, no greater feat has ever been attempted, and we shall never see the likes of it again in our lifetimes.
1960 – USS Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched. And then the Star Trek vessel was named after the aircraft, which in turn inspired Pigs in Space’s Swinetrek. So by my faulty logic, the Swinetrek is nuclear-powered, which terrifies me beyond belief. May Strangepork have mercy on our souls.
1968 – 60 Minutes debuts on CBS. I have nothing to add that can’t be experienced by watching the video above. Seriously, watch that beautiful behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Muppet Show. It’s glorious.
1979 – CompuServe launches the first consumer internet service, which features the first public electronic mail service. And ever since, Oscar has been sending you spam.
1991 – Dr. Seuss, American author, poet, and illustrator dies. While we’re grateful that Dr. Seuss inspired the interesting and insane Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, we’re not so crazy about the fact that he gave us Fozzie as The Grinch in It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. So, Dr. Seuss just about breaks even.
1991 – The album “Nevermind” by Nirvana was released. And just think. If it wasn’t for “Nevermind”, we’d never have an Animool. Yes, these things are related. It’s the Grohl Connection.
1995 – South African Heritage Day. There’s a whole cast of Muppets in South Africa! Let them have their day. I mean, it’s not like you were stopping them or anything.
1998 – Jeff Moss, Sesame Street and Muppet songwriter dies. While we all celebrate Jim Henson and Steve Whitmire’s birthday on September 24th, it’s very easy to forget that this is also the date when we lost Jeff Moss, writer of “Rubber Duckie”, “I Love Trash”, “I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon”, the songs of Muppets Take Manhattan, and dozens more. We should celebrate Mr. Moss just as much for all of his extremely memorable contributions to the Muppet world.
2004 – National Punctuation Day. Happy birthday, Question Mark?
2005 – Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating Beaumont, Texas and portions of southwestern Louisiana. It probably wasn’t named after Rita Moreno, but maybe someone at The Weather Channel was watching her episode of The Muppet Show and decided to name the hurricane in honor of her explosive appearance.
So there you have it. We wish Jim Henson and Steve Whitmire a happy happy birthday, we remember the great Jeff Moss, we’re celebrating Cherries Jubilee Day, and we’re selling all of our stock in gold. An eventful September 24th indeed!
Happy September 24th, everyone!
Click here to cut the cake on the ToughPigs forum!
by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
