Why is Big Bird on Google?

Question: Why is Sesame Street's Big Bird on Google's homepage today, Wednesday, November 4?

Answer: Big Bird is on Google's front page in order to celebrate the 40th birthday of the children's television show Sesame Street. The show premiered on November 10, 1969, and is the longest running kids' program on US television.

There's going to be a host of celebratory activities in the runup to the the actual anniversary on November 10, Tuesday.

Officially performed by Caroll Spinney since 1969, Big Bird is an eight-foot two-inch tall bright yellow bird. He can roller skate, ice skate, dance, sing, write poetry, draw and even ride a unicycle.

He lives in a large nest behind the 123 Sesame Street brownstone and he has a teddy bear named Radar, after Walter "Radar" O'Reilly of M*A*S*H.