Lead Story
1969Sesame Street debuts
On this day in 1969, “Sesame Street,” a pioneering TV show that would teach generations of young children the alphabet and how to count, makes its broadcast debut. “Sesame Street,” with its memorable theme song (“Can you tell me how to get/How to get to Sesame Street”), went on to become the most widely viewed children’s program in the world. It has aired in more than 120 countries.
The show was the brainchild of Joan Ganz Cooney, a former documentary producer for public television. Cooney’s goal was to create programming for preschoolers that was both entertaining and educational. She also wanted to use TV as a way to help underprivileged 3- to 5- year-olds prepare for kindergarten. “Sesame Street” was set in a fictional New York neighborhood and included ethnically diverse characters and positive social messages.
Taking a cue from “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In,” a popular 1960s variety show, “Sesame Street” was built around short, often funny segments featuring puppets, animation and live actors. This format was hugely successful, although over the years some critics have blamed the show and its use of brief segments for shrinking children’s attention spans.
From the show’s inception, one of its most-loved aspects has been a family of puppets known as Muppets. Joan Ganz Cooney hired puppeteer Jim Henson (1936-1990) to create a cast of characters that became Sesame Street institutions, including Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Grover and Big Bird.
The subjects tackled by “Sesame Street” have evolved with the times. In 2002, the South African version of the program, “Takalani Sesame,” introduced a 5-year-old Muppet character named Kami who is HIV-positive, in order to help children living with the stigma of a disease that has reached epidemic proportions. In 2006, a new Muppet, Abby Cadabby, made her debut and was positioned as the show’s first female star character, in an effort to encourage diversity and provide a strong role model for girls.
Since its inception, over 74 million Americans have watched “Sesame Street.” Today, an estimated 8 million people tune in to the show each week in the U.S. alone.
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ALSO ON THIS DAY
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Lead Story
- 1969 Sesame Street debuts
-
American Revolution
- 1775 Birth of the U.S. Marine Corps
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Automotive
- 1903 Mary Anderson patents windshield wiper
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Civil War
- 1865 Henry Wirz hanged
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Cold War
- 1982 Leonid Brezhnev dies
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Crime
- 1997 Judge reduces sentence in nanny murder case
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Disaster
- 1975 Cargo ship suddenly sinks in Lake Superior
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General Interest
- 1928 Hirohito crowned in Japan
- 1975 Edmund Fitzgerald sinks in Lake Superior
- 1995 Playwright and activist hanged in Nigeria
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Hollywood
- 1932 Roy Scheider, star of Jaws, is born
-
Literary
- 1973 Slaughterhouse-Five is burned in North Dakota
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Music
- 1958 Future country legend Conway Twitty earns a #1 hit as a rock-and-roll idol
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Old West
- 1808 Osage Indians cede Missouri and Arkansas lands
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Presidential
- 2001 Bush addresses the United Nations regarding terrorism
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Sports
- 1984 Maryland gets a miracle in Miami
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Vietnam War
- 1964 McNamara says that U.S. has no plans to send combat troops to Vietnam
- 1970 No U.S. combat fatalities reported
- 1971 Khmer Rouge forces attack Phnom Penh airport
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World War I
- 1928 Remarque publishes All Quiet on the Western Front
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World War II
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