Shel Silverstein was an American cartoonist, musician and, most famously, author of children’s books. He styled himself as Uncle Shelby in his children’s books. Most popular are The Giving Tree (1964) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974)—both childhood favorites of mine. Translated into more than 30 languages, Silverstein’s books have sold over 20 million copies. He was born on this day in 1930.
Jim Henson was an American puppeteer, best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various TV programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, and numerous Muppet films. He created advanced puppets for projects like Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. He was also an Oscar-nominated film director, Emmy Award-winning television producer and the founder of The Jim Henson Company. He was born on this day in 1936.
Brett Favre is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played most of his 20-season career (1991-2010) for the Green Bay Packers. Favre is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 70,000 yards, over 500 touchdowns, over 300 interceptions and over 10,000 pass attempts. He won one of his two Super Bowl appearances. Favre retired and unretired so many times that everyone lost count and interest.
Lance Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times (1999-2005) after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer support. He was born on this day in 1971.
On August 23, 2012, Armstrong announced he will stop fighting allegations that he used banned substances during his stellar career. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said it will ban Armstrong for life and recommend he be stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles. Jim Caple said it best: “As far as I can tell no one actually won the Tour de France from 1996 to 2007” due to the rampant use of performance enhancers. “Going after athletes for something they might have done seven to 13 years ago […] does far more harm than good. USADA should have let this one go. The agency exists to police sports, not destroy them.” You don’t have to be an Armstrong apologist to believe in the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.” Throwing your hands up after years of defending yourself doesn’t prove guilt, does it? Though it does suggest evidence against Armstrong.
John Elway is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his 16-season career for the Denver Broncos (1983-1998). At the time of his retirement, Elway had the most victories by a starting quarterback and was the second most prolific passer in NFL history. He led the Broncos to five Super Bowls, winning his last two (1997 and 1998).
Note: Elway is famous for “The Drive,” which was a 98-yard, game-tying touchdown drive in the 1987 AFC Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns. Watch a recap of his clutch performance. Don’t forget that Elway is also Eric Cartman’s father.
Dan Marino is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his 17-season career for the Miami Dolphins (1983-1999). He was one of the most prolific quarterbacks in history, holding or having held almost every major NFL passing record. With his quick release and powerful arm, Marino led the Dolphins to the playoffs 10 times. Despite never winning the Super Bowl, he is recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. He was born tomorrow in 1961.
Note: You may also remember Marino for his role in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) with Jim Carrey. “The laces were out!”
Lawrence Taylor is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his entire professional career as a linebacker for the New York Giants. In his 13 seasons, he won a record three Defensive Player of the Year awards and the 1986 MVP award. As a key member of the Giants’ defense, nicknamed “The Big Blue Wrecking Crew,” he led New York to victories in two Super Bowls (1986 and 1990). Taylor is considered the top defensive player in league history.
Note: During a Monday Night Football game in 1985, Taylor inadvertently ended Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann’s NFL career with a brutal sack that snapped the bones in Theismann’s right leg. For those who can’t look away from horrible things, feel free to (re)watch Theismann’s compound fracture in slow motion. Legs don’t bend like that!
Barry Sanders is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his entire professional career as a running back for the Detroit Lions. Sanders surprisingly retired after only 10 seasons (1989-1998), leaving the game just short of the all-time rushing record. He is one of the greatest and most elusive running backs of all time.
Augusto Pinochet was a Chilean dictator whose government killed up to 3,200 people and tortured up to 30,000 during his repressive 17-year rule. Pinochet assumed power on September 11, 1973, in a bloody coup supported by the U.S. that toppled the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende, a Marxist who had pledged to lead his country “down the democratic road to socialism.” Pinochet returned Chile to democracy in 1990.
Some Chileans view Pinochet as their savior and others view him as an evil dictator. Pinochet’s CIA-backed military coup in 1973 is why some Chileans actually celebrated in response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001. They thought it was symbolic retaliation on the U.S., exactly 28 years later, for the devastating legacy of Pinochet. For more information, see Chile: The Other September 11.
Walter Payton was a National Football League (NFL) player known as “Sweetness.” He played running back for the Chicago Bears for 13 seasons. Payton won two MVP awards as well as Super Bowl XX (1985). He once held the league’s record for most career rushing yards, touchdowns, carries, yards from scrimmage, all-purpose yards and many other categories. He died in 1999 at age 45 from a rare liver disease.
Joe Montana is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played for 14 seasons. Traded before the 1993 season, he spent his final two years in the league with the Kansas City Chiefs. While a member of the 49ers, Montana started in four Super Bowl games (1981, 1984, 1988 and 1989) and won all of them.
William Gibson is an American-Canadian speculative fiction novelist who has been called the “noir prophet” of the cyberpunk subgenre. Gibson coined the term “cyberspace” in 1982 and later popularized the concept in his debut novel Neuromancer (1984). Gibson’s early works are bleak, noir near-future stories about the effect of cybernetics and computer networks on humans. Gibson has written more than 20 short stories and 10 critically acclaimed novels. He posts frequent, interesting updates to Twitter as @GreatDismal.
Frankly, I’m a little surprised that I’ve now drawn 500 of these primitive pixel art characters. What a weird habit.
Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th President of the United States. John F. Kennedy asked him to be his running mate for the 1960 presidential election. Johnson succeeded to the presidency following the assassination of JFK in 1963 and was elected President in 1964. He was responsible for Great Society social reforms designed to eliminate poverty and racial injustice. Johnson also escalated U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which stimulated a large antiwar movement.
Ray Bradbury was one of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers. He is best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his science fiction short story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950) and The Illustrated Man (1951). Many of Bradbury’s works have been adapted into television shows or films. He was born on this day in 1920 and died on June 5, 2012.
Philip K. Dick was one of the most influential science fiction writers of the 20th century. His 44 published novels and 121 short stories often featured monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, altered states, paranoia and transcendental experiences. Although Dick spent most of his career in near-poverty, 10 popular films based on his works have been produced, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly and Minority Report.
P.S. In February and March 1974, Dick experienced a series of life-changing visions, including an information-rich “pink light” beam that transmitted directly into his consciousness. For the final eight years of his life, this fictionalizing philosopher explored the meaning of his “2-3-74” experience with works like VALIS (1981).
Slobodan Milošević was the President of Serbia from 1989-1997 and President of Yugoslavia from 1997-2000. His presidency was marked by the breakup of Yugoslavia and the subsequent Yugoslav Wars. In the midst of the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Milošević was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. He was born on this day in 1941 and died in prison in 2006.
Oscar Pistorius is a South African sprinter and Paralympics gold medalist. Known as the “Blade Runner” and “the fastest man on no legs,” Pistorius, who has a double below-knee amputation, is the world record holder for T44 in the 100, 200 and 400 meters. He runs with the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fiber artificial limbs. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, the amazing Pistorius became the first double-leg amputee to participate in the Olympics.
One of my favorite Olympic moments was when Grenada teenager Kirani James asked Pistorius to exchange name bibs with him after their 400-meter semifinal (in which Pistorius was eliminated). It was a touching gesture and a gracious show of respect. James went on to win the gold medal, which was the first medal for Grenada in Olympic history.
Michael Johnson is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals (in 1992, 1996 and 2000). Johnson currently holds the world record in the 400 meters (43.18 seconds). He formerly held the world record in the 200 meters. Johnson famously wore gold track shoes during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He is one of the greatest long sprinters in history.
Usain Bolt is a Jamaican sprinter, a six-time Olympic gold medalist and an electric personality. He is the world record record holder in the 100 meters (9.58 seconds) and the 200 meters (19.19 seconds). Bolt is the fastest man of all time, exceeding 24 miles per hour during sprints. He won the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay at both the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
It would be fun to see Bolt set world records in the 400 meters and the long jump, if he’s willing to train for those events before he passes his prime. He surely has the freakish natural talent required.
Play Gorillas as Jim Henson (or play against) with 1004 other characters
Shel Silverstein – No. 513
Shel Silverstein was an American cartoonist, musician and, most famously, author of children’s books. He styled himself as Uncle Shelby in his children’s books. Most popular are The Giving Tree (1964) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974)—both childhood favorites of mine. Translated into more than 30 languages, Silverstein’s books have sold over 20 million copies. He was born on this day in 1930.
The unnecessarily huge photo of a bald, bearded Silverstein with a tooth-baring grimace on the back covers of his books was scary in the 1980s and it’s still creepy today. Why, Uncle Shelby, why?