Cookie Monster evolved from the Wheel Stealer, a monster obsessed with a wheel-shaped cheese snack.

Before 'The Muppet Show,' Jim Henson produced slapstick coffee commercials featuring the puppets.

Jim Henson and his creative team constructed several optical illusions to make the Muppets appear as though they walked through the real world.

Fascinated by the 1960s counterculture, Jim Henson tried to build a psychedelic nightclub.

Jim Henson and his Muppets were part of the first season of 'Saturday Night Live' because NBC was hoping to tamp down Lorne Michaels' countercultural plans for the show.

Watch a medley of Pets.com commercials with the famous sock puppet mascot

Pets.com used a sock puppet decorated like a dog (operated by comedian Michael Ian Black) as the company's mascot. The sock puppet became synonymous with the brand. An auto lender company called BarNone Inc. later purchased the sock puppet for $125K and rebranded it with the slogan "Everybody deserves a second chance."

Before becoming a famous weatherman for the Today show, Willard Scott created 'Ronald McDonald' for a Washington DC location in 1963.

Mario's archnemesis hosted a children's show in the 1980s

"Super Mario Bros." grew so popular in the '80s, even King Koopa, the video game's villain, had his own television show, though it's been all but erased from TV history. There's good reason for that: It was a bizarre enterprise, featuring '30s cartoons, a grumpy stand-up comedian, and cheap production.

McDonald's releases a new adult Happy Meal

Some McDonald's restaurants in Ohio began a nostalgic campaign in late 2023, reviving chicken nugget-style doll toys famous in adult-themed Happy Meals over a quarter-century before. The company collaborated with artist Kerwin Frost to create the toys. Read more and see photos here.

The history of the McDonald's Happy Meal

The McDonald's Happy Meal is the quintessential fast food kids meal, serving up child-appropriate portions and prizes all within a portable, fun container. So where did this pop culture icon begin? Watch this quirky 13-minute history of the Happy...

Mid-century modern graphic designers like Milton Glaser and Eric Carle found success with children's books

Glaser was famous for creating the "I Heart NY" logo, the DC Comics logo, and an iconic Bob Dylan poster for CBS Records, but he naturally transitioned to illustrating children's books like "The Smallest Elephant in the World" and "If Apples had Teeth." Carle, author of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?," began his career in advertising. Scholars say mid-century modern's preference for clean lines and bold colors was a natural fit for kids' books.

Between 1989 and 2001, a security guard dubbed 'Uncle Jerry' rigged the McDonald's Monopoly sweepstakes by handing out 60 winning pieces worth more than $24M.

From 'Yankee cheddar' to American cheese

From "Yankee cheddar" to Kraft Singles, American cheese has a long history shaped by innovation and economics. Originally a cheddar export, it evolved into the processed slices we know today—thanks to a 1916 patent. And in the 1980s, it became “government cheese,” distributed to millions.

For 'Labyrinth,' the Jim Henson Company erected a 15-foot-tall character named Humongous, the largest puppet the company had ever built.

'The Muppet Show' debuted in the UK because it was rejected by every US network.

Jim Henson's 1986 film 'Labyrinth' was initially a commercial failure in the US, though it slowly gained an audience that now considers it a cult classic.

Watch Jim Henson explain how to make a Muppet.

The steak sandwich had been around since at least the 1800s, but in the early 1900s, a Philadelphia hot dog vendor topped it with cheese and used different bread to create the cheesesteak.

Danish cookies became a treasured Lunar New Year gift, thanks to their unique tin container

Hong Kong experienced an economic boom in the 1970s, which led to snacking, including on Western foods, becoming a cultural norm. Kjeldsens butter cookies became a popular treat, and their packaging, a distinct tin container, presented them as more refined than a simple snack. Instead, they were considered a worthwhile present for Lunar New Year.

Uncrustables' reinvention of the PB&J

In the 1990s, David Geske and Len Kretchman came up with the ingenious idea to package and mass-produce a crustless version of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This makeover to an American childhood staple resulted in a $1B business. Read this article in Mental Floss to learn more about the origins of the brand Uncrustables and its extraordinary success.

Leaving cookies for Santa became popular in America during the Great Depression.

The Mister Softee ice cream truck began with two brothers in a Chevy van in Philadelphia, selling green ice cream.

Cookies were originally used as low-stakes ways to test the temperature of an oven

In 7th century Persia, bakers used small mounds of dough to test the heat in ovens before baking larger cakes. Afterward, they'd add honey, nuts, and other items to the small mounds, creating early cookies.

The forgotten campaign to replace the Teddy Bear with 'Billy Possum'

After a 1909 pre-inauguration dinner for incoming President William Howard Taft featured possums and potatoes as the main course, Susie W. Allgood wanted to produce and market an alternative to the Teddy Roosevelt-inspired teddy bear: Billy Possum. Kids thought it looked too much like a rat.

Ads follow you around the internet through technology called 'cookies.'

'Follow your enthusiasm. It's something I've always believed in. Find those parts of your life you enjoy the most. Do what you enjoy doing.'

- "Muppets" creator Jim Henson (1936-1990)

'Tin Toy,' the predecessor to 'Toy Story,' was the first fully computer-generated film to win an Academy Award

Before it was acquired by Disney, Pixar was a small studio exploring the possibilities of computer animation. "Tin Toy," a 1988 short film that would inspire 1995's "Toy Story," was one of its most successful experiments, earning Pixar's first Academy Award for best animated short film and becoming the first fully computer-generated film to win an Oscar. Although you won't find Woody or Buzz, it's fascinating to observe the seeds for what would come later.

Watch a recreation of the 'Speedee Service System,' the assembly line production method pioneered by the McDonald brothers that revolutionized fast food in the US.

Despite meeting as ambulance drivers in WWI, Ray Kroc and Walt Disney weren't the driving forces behind McDonald's and Disney's numerous business partnerships.

'(Kids) don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are.'

- "Muppets" creator Jim Henson (1936-1990)

Pepe the Frog went from internet meme to symbol of hate

The character first appeared in 2005, in an online comic called "Boy's Club," inspiring countless memes in which his likeliness was used as a supportive shorthand. Then, people started pairing Pepe with hateful messages, morphing him into something his author never intended.

Watch episodes of 'Sam and Friends,' the earliest show featuring the Muppets.

Big Bird was almost included on the Challenger mission

As part of NASA's early outreach ideas tied to the Teacher in Space program, Sesame Street's Big Bird was briefly considered for a Challenger flight, but the plan was dropped because the oversized costume could not fit safely inside the shuttle.

Jim Henson's 'Fraggle Rock' was the first American TV series to air in the USSR.

Jim Henson's lone Oscar nomination was for an experimental short film he made in the '60s that features no puppets.

'Steamboat Willie' was the first film to feature Mickey Mouse

This short film introduced Mickey Mouse, the character who would define the Disney brand, to the world. It might be almost 100 years old, but you'll be surprised at how much humor still holds up.

The story behind one iconic meme

The 2012 post titled "Just a book owners smile" shows 11-year-old Maggie Goldenberger—resplendent in her braces, pigtails, and treasure map-like vest—holding a trio of Goosebumps books and grinning wildly at the camera. Another user quickly captioned it, "GERSBERMS. MAH FRAVRIT BERKS."

Pixar's earliest days began with a handful of academics developing the technologies they thought might make fully animated movies possible.

Watch 4-plus decades of Pixar's opening logos.

Understanding 'YouTube Face,' the platform's pervasive thumbnail style

It's an image that's rampant across the web's premier video platform: open mouths, astonished eyes. It looks cheesy and cheap, yet its practitioners are some of YouTube's most popular personalities. The Ringer's Nate Rogers digs into the history of the phenomenon to learn why it's had such staying power.

Created when Tencent launched the first version of its internet messaging platform, QQ, the company's winking penguin has become a ubiquitous cultural presence in China.

MrBeast is one of YouTube's biggest creators

Jimmy Donaldson always wanted to be an entrepreneur. His drive to succeed helped create the world's most successful YouTube channel through his media personality MrBeast. This in-depth interview with Steven Bartlett reveals the intimate details of Donaldson's experience as a big-time creator and more.

See historic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade photos

Snoopy and Bullwinkle and Clifford, oh my! This slideshow has photographs of all those characters (and more) from when they debuted as balloons at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. These photos span from the original parades in the 1920s through the early 2000s.

'Tin Toy,' Pixar's 'Toy Story' predecessor, was the first fully computer-generated film to win an Academy Award.

Every Tootsie Roll can be traced back to a single, decades-old batch.

Disney initially pushed Pixar to make 'Toy Story' an edgy comedy that could appeal to adults.

Listen to audio clips from Hoover, a harbor seal named after its insatiable appetite, who learned to say English phrases such as 'hello there' and 'come over here.'

A Monthy Python sketch inspired the internet term 'spam'

Although the canned meat product Spam has been around since 1937, it was a 1970 Monty Python comedy sketch—in which a diner is overwhelmed with unwanted Spam—that inspired early internet users to call unsolicited emails "spam."

Check out one critic's guide to the best Muppet movies, including 'The Great Muppet Caper,' 'The Muppets Take Manhattan,' and more.

Watch the first appearance of 'Looney Tunes' characters Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.