November 10, 1969

Happy Tuesday, November 10 to all of you!  Yes, it's Tuesday Timeline time once again, and this time around I have a topic that most of you are familiar with.

In fact, once I realized that a certain television program was celebrating an anniversary today, I knew EXACTLY what topic I wanted to talk about! 

Yes, sometimes it comes that naturally.

Before we get into that discussion though, let's see what else was happening from a historical perspective.

1619 - Rene Descartes is inspired to write his "Meditations on First Philosophy" after a series of dreams

1775 - The United States Marine Corps is founded

1821 - Rufina Alfaro's "Cry of Independence" sets forth the revolt that causes Panama to declare independence from Spain

1871 - Henry Morton Stanley locates the missing explorer Dr. David Livingstone, where he greets him with the phrase, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

1898 - The Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 begins

1918 - The Western Union Cable Office in North Sydney, Nova Scotia receives a coded top-secret message declaring that the first World War would come to an end the following day - November 11

1925 - Actor Richard Burton (d. 1984) is born in Wales

1932 - Actor Roy Scheider (d. 2008) is born in Orange, New Jersey

1940 - A powerful earthquake strikes Romania, which kills at least one thousand people

1942 - Germany invades Vichy France following Francois Darlan's agreement to an armistice with North African Allies

1951 - Direct dial-to-dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States

1954 - President Eisenhower dedicates the USMC War Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery

1958 - The Hope Diamond is donated to the Smithsonian Institution by Harry Winston

1975 - The Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all crew members on board

1977 - Actress Brittany Murphy (d. 2009) is born in Atlanta, Georgia

1979 - One of the largest evacuations in Canadian history takes place when a Canadian Pacific freight train carrying dangerous chemicals derails near Mississauga, Ontario

1983 - Bill Gates introduces Windows 1.0

1989 - German citizens begin to tear down the Berlin Wall

2006 - The National Museum of the Marine Corps is opened and dedicated by President George W. Bush - on the same day that Corporal Jason Dunham was awarded the Medal of Honor on what would have been his 25th birthday

Wow...that was a lot of history, wasn't it?  November 10 was a busy day!

And it also seems to be a popular day for celebrity birthdays as well, with Paul Bley, Albert Hall, Tim Rice, Terence Davies, Donna Fargo, Greg Lake, Dave Loggins, Jack Scalia, Roland Emmerich, Sinbad, Brooks Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Daniel Waters, Hugh Bonneville, Tommy Davidson, Sean Hughes, Vanessa Angel, Michael Jai White, Tracy Morgan, Tom Papa, Ellen Pompeo, Warren G, Eve, Diplo, David Paetkau, Chris Joannou, Heather Matarazzo, Miranda Lambert, Britt Irvin, Josh Peck, Jessica Tovey, Genevieve Buechner, Zoey Deutch, Kiernan Shipka, and Mackenzie Foy turning one year older today!  Happy birthday, everyone!

So, where are we going back in time to this week?

How about the tail end of the 1960's?  Like, maybe November 10, 1969?

Yeah, that was the year that a particular television show debuted on the television station that would soon come to be known as PBS.  So, right off the bat, we know that the show is an educational one.

It was a show that was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, and featured a variety of live-action and animated sketches designed to help children learn their alphabet, how to count to twenty, and how to do other things that will help children get ready for school and social activity. 

It is estimated that 95% of American preschoolers had watched at least one episode of this show by the time they celebrated their third birthday, and the show itself has won a record-breaking 159 Emmy Awards and 8 Grammy Awards!

And if you take all the episodes of this program and put them together, you would have 4,378 episodes!  That's 4,378 days of sunny days sweeping the clouds away.

But can anyone tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?

Seriously, "Sesame Street" was probably my favourite show when I was between the ages of two and six, and I always wanted to know how to get there so I could have fun.  Everyone on "Sesame Street" seemed so happy and carefree and I wanted to hug Big Bird, and visit Luis and Maria at the Fix-It-Shop, and have a snack at Mr. Hooper's Store with Grover and Cookie Monster! 

It seems hard to believe that the show is 46 years old today!  Can you imagine the number of people who grew up watching this show?  I'm sure everyone who watched it as a kid can say that Bert, Ernie, and Kermit the Frog were their best friends...or if you're a lot younger, maybe Elmo, Rosita, and Baby Bear, perhaps?

Anyway, I thought to celebrate the 46th anniversary of "Sesame Street", I'd give you guys a little bit of a quiz, just to see how much you KNOW about the show!  I'll reveal the answers to the quiz on the November 12th entry. 

I wish I had a prize for you like the Sesame Street Treasury, or the complete works of Jim Henson on DVD or even a Tickle-Me Elmo doll...but I just bought a house.  I'm broke.  This quiz is merely for fun.

But we like fun, don't we?

Okay, the quiz will consist of 24 questions, plus a bonus question which I think may be hard to find the answer to without Googling it.

(Did you ever think we'd live in a word where "Google" became a verb?)

Remember, these questions are just for fun.  And you may learn a lot about "Sesame Street" in the process.  Feel free to answer them here, or on the Facebook page.  You can even tweet your answers to me @PCA_GuideToLife!

1.  We all know what Oscar The Grouch looks like now...but when he first appeared on the show in 1969, what was different about him?

2.  Elmo is arguably one of the modern faces of "Sesame Street", but he actually went by a different name when he first debuted.  What was it?

3.  These pinball machine counting classics are always fun to watch.  And a singing group who had hits in the 1980s sang the pinball song.  Who is this group?

4.  In 1983, a beloved character passed away, leaving the humans of "Sesame Street" to explain to Big Bird what death was.  Who was the character that died?

5.  Who does the voice of both BIg Bird and Oscar the Grouch?

6.  Name the gigantic orange and white dog that would often pop up on "Sesame Street" in the earlier years.

7.  Which "24" actor once appeared on "Sesame Street" as a child?

8.  Who was the name of the Muppet character who hosted random game shows on "Sesame Street"?

9.  What natural disaster struck Sesame Street in 2012?

10.  What is the name of Bert's favourite pigeon?

11.  What magic words does the Amazing Mumford say before casting a magic spell?

12.  Linda the Librarian had an interesting characteristic.  What was it?

13.  For years, nobody believed Big Bird when he said that he had a friend named Mr. Snuffleupagus.  What year did "Snuffy" finally reveal himself?  Hint:  It was during the 1980s, and I'm old enough to remember it.

14.  Which folk singer appeared as a regular cast member of "Sesame Street"?

15.  The birth of Maria and Luis' daughter, Gabriela also marked the final appearance of a long running human character.  Which one?

16.  How many actors played the role of "Gordon" on "Sesame Street"?

17.  Who is the Longest Serving Human character of "Sesame Street"?

18.  What are the names of the bugs that live in Ernie and Bert's flower bed?

19.  During the 1980s, Luis had an alter ego that made the most out of "nothing".  Can you tell me what his alter ego name was?

20.  What was the name of the singing cowboy that had a worse memory than dory from "Finding Nemo"?

21.  Which "evening Shade" actor played Mr. Noodle in the "Elmo's World" segments?

22.  What is the address number of the apartment building where many of the residents of "Sesame Street" call home?

23.  Which character's favourite shape is the triangle?

24.  Which character's name sounded like a United States President...only reversed?

BONUS QUESTION:

"Sesame Street" debuted on November 10.  But one human cast member happens to have a November 10 birthday.  Who was/is this person, and what role did/do they play?