In the 1990 episode Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish, Bart caught Blinky, a three-eyed fish, in the pond fed by Monty Burn's nuclear power plant. In 2011, a three-eyed fish was pulled from a reservoir in Argentina. Worryingly, the mutation didn't appear to be a natural one: the reservoir in question was fed by water from a nuclear plant in the province of Córdoba.
4. When a man rebelled against his parents by getting the ultimate Simpsons tattoo
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, the first episode of the show to air, saw Bart rebel against Marge and sneak off to get himself a tattoo. One man who wouldn't have seen the episode at the time was 27-year-old New Zealander Lee Weir, who was banned from watching the show when growing up. (Weir describes his father as "a real-life Ned Flanders".) Like Bart, Weir subsequently rebelled against his parents by getting tattooed – with 41 images of Homer Simpson. He currently holds the world record for having the most tattoos of the same cartoon character on his body. Speaking to the
Daily Mail about his record-breaking status, Weir said: "It hasn't made me a better person but I definitely think it has made me a slightly cooler one."
(Picture: Guinness World Records, via Twitter)
5. When Homer's dream car became a reality
The car designed by Homer for his auto-manufacturer half-brother in the 1991 episode O Brother, Where Art Thou featured lurid green bodypaint; leashes and muzzles to restrain "fighting kids"; a bonnet ornament depicting a 10-pin bowler, giant externally mounted cup holders, and a supersized horn that blasted out La Cucaracha. For the 2013 24 Hours of Lemons race – an annual parody of the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race series, held in the US – Porcubimmer Motors recreated Homer's design in loving detail (right down to the La Cucaracha-blasting horn).
6. When someone invented a "real" baby translator
A "cry translator" (designed to help parents interpret the sounds produced by their babies) hit the market in 2009. The
website for the device claims: "in 3 seconds it will tell you the reason for [your baby's] crying". But the Simpsons managed to get there first almost two decades earlier: in the 1992 episode Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?, Homer's half-brother Herb tried his hand at inventing a "baby translator", to help mothers understand their children.
7. When a Kill Bill billboard took inspiration from Itchy and Scratchy
The New Zealand Kill Bill billboard
An impressive New Zealand billboard poster advertising Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill made it appear as if blood had splattered out of the poster on to the street below, covering cars in red droplets. But, when it comes to graphic, bloody violence, it's probably fair to say that Tarantino movies have nothing on Tom and Jerry parody Itchy and Scratchy, the fictional cartoon beloved by Bart and Lisa. It's therefore not surprising that, several years before Kill Bill hit cinema, The Simpsons depicted The Itchy and Scratchy Movie being advertised via blood-spraying billboard.
The Simpsons' billboard for The Itchy and Scratchy Movie
8. When Michelangelo's David was forced to cover up
Itchy and Scratchy also featured heavily in the 1990 episode Itchy and Scratchy and Marge, in which Marge led a censorship campaign, horrified by the show's violence. She later realised the censorship had gone too far, after Michelangelo's David was taken to a Springfield museum, and local citizens protested against the statue's nudity. In 2001, a Florida-based shop put a replica of Michelangelo's David outside its front door. A handful of citizens objected to the "indecent" statue and successfully campaigned to have David's private parts covered with a cloth. More recently, in 2014, an elderly British couple, Clive and Joan Burgess, received complaints from neighbours and faced an intervention from their local council, after they placed a replica of the statue in their front garden.
9. When the "Simpsons house" was built ... then de-Simpsonised
In 1997, a Fox and Pepsi-sponsored competition offered entrants a life-size replica of the Simpsons' house as its main prize. The four bedroom yellow-painted house was erected in Henderson, Nevada. Decorators had to watch over 100 episodes of The Simpsons to get the colours and furnishings just right for the eventual owner. Sadly, the winner chose a cash-prize alternative, and the house was stripped and sold in 2001.
10. When Florida launched a real life "snake whacking"
In the 1993 episode Whacking Day, Springfield's residents indulged in an annual "snake whacking", during which citizens rounded up local snakes, drove them into the town square, and beat them to death. Writer George Meyer envisaged the episode as a way to raise awareness about the mistreatment of snakes. One state who evidently didn't pick up the subtext was Florida, where wildlife officials launched the "2013 Python Challenge", a competition in which hunters competed to see who could kill the greatest number of pythons. To be fair to the Florida Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the idea was motivated by a need to tackle the problems caused by an explosion in the area's non-native snake population, and hunters were encouraged to kill the pythons "humanely", rather than beating them to death. But with cash prizes offered for the longest and greatest number of snakes dispatched, it's hard not to think of the Springfield "snake whacking" spirit.
11. When the Rolling Stones toured, despite being in their seventies
Lisa is given a glimpse into the future in the 1995 episode Lisa's Wedding, which was actually set in 2010. One of the episode's jokes was a poster advertising the "Rolling Stones Steel Wheelchair Tour 2010”. In real life, the Stones toured in 2005, 2012 and 2014, and are still going strong. Singer Mick Jagger is 70, as is lead guitarist Keith Richards; drummer Charlie Watts is 72, and guitarist Ronnie Wood is a comparatively sprightly 66.
12. When video phones became a reality
Lisa's Wedding also contained another prediction that went on to become real: in the episode, Lisa and Marge chatted on phones fitted with video screens. After promising Lisa that she'd make sure Homer behaved at the wedding, Marge crossed her fingers, prompting Lisa to remind her that she was on "a picture phone".
13. When thieves made off with some "retirement grease"
In 2008 thieves in New York reportedly began stealing used cooking oil left outside restaurants and selling it as biofuel. They may have been taking inspiration from Homer's "retirement grease": in the 1998 episode Lard of the Dance, Homer discovered he could make a profit through stealing and reselling grease.
14. When the real-life Bart Simpson met the real-life Mr Burns
In 2013, a British man named Bart Simpson, accused of carrying a prohibited firearm, was called to appear before a judge named Mr. Burns at Warwick Crown Court. 56-year-old company director Simpson (full name Barton Simpson) was caught with a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver in his hand luggage at Birmingham Airport. "There were some eyebrows raised when the court list was published," a court worker said at the time. "It's a bizarre coincidence that Bart Simpson is actually on trial in front of Mr Burns, but it'll proceed as any other criminal case would." In the event, the real-life Mr Burns let Simpson off with a fine and community service, acknowledging that the gun had been left in the bag due to a genuine mistake.
15. When the "Good Morning" burger stopped being a joke
Nowadays, given the proliferation of ever-bigger, ever-stranger fast food creations, it's hard to remember that The Simpsons' Good Morning burger – essentially a super-large, super-fatty breakfast burger – was originally intended as a joke. Perhaps the closest real-life equivalent was Burger King's "Enormous Omelet Sandwich". Introduced in 2005 the product consisted of sausage patties, bacon, eggs and cheese within a bun sandwich; it was later criticised for its high fat and calorie content, and discontinued in the US.
16. When a man complained that an "all-you-can-eat" restaurant wasn't living up to its name
In New Kid On The Block, an episode that first aired in 1992, Marge and Homer visited Captain McAlister's All You Can Eat Seafood Restaurant. Homer proceeded to take the "all-you-can-eat" injunction literally, prompting the Captain to declare: "Tis no Man. 'Tis a remorseless eating machine." After being removed from the restaurant before eating his fill, Homer consulted an attorney who advised him to sue. ("This is the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since my suit against the film The Never-Ending Story.") In 2012, an outraged customer from Thiensville in Wisconsin, Bill Wisth, phoned the police and organised a picket, after an "all-you-can-eat" fish restaurant refused to continue serving him. Closer to home, the same year saw
two men banned from a Brighton restaurant, after allegedly regularly abusing its "all-you-can-eat" rule.
17. When the Albuquerque Isotopes became a real baseball team
In the 2001 episode Hungry Hungry Homer, local minor-league baseball team the Springfield Isotopes decided to move to New Mexico and become the Albuquerque Isotopes. Two years later, real-life team the Calgary Cannons announced a move to Albuquerque. When they held a contest for Albuquerque citizens to name the new team, the winning entry was: the Isotopes. Like Springfield, which houses a nuclear power plant (where Homer works), New Mexico is also home to several nuclear research facilities. The term isotope, which refers to a particular form of an element (often a radioactive one) is frequently used in nuclear research.
18. When real-life voting machines began changing people's votes
In a 2008 Halloween special, Homer was seen attempting to vote for Barack Obama; the electronic voting machine continued to register a vote for Mitt Romney instead. This prediction came true during the 2012 Presidential elections, when a Pennsylvania voting machine was recorded doing the exact same thing. A man identified online as "centralpavote" recorded the malfunction on his smartphone and uploaded the video, where it shot to instant fame. The faulty machine in question was subsequently taken out of service.
19. When Simpsons products hit real shops
In 2007, as part of a marketing campaign for The Simpsons Movie, real life versions of a number of well-known Simpsons products appeared in shops belonging to the international chain 7-Eleven (the chain has no UK-based outlets). Cans of Buzz Cola, Krusty-O's cereal, Squishee slush puppies, and a special edition of the Radioactive Man Comic were all sold for a limited period, alongside other The Simpsons merchandise. However, the team behind the marketing stunt decided not to sell the Simpsons' famous Duff Beer, but instead introduced an alcohol-free Duff Energy Drink.
20. When Duff became a real beer, against the programme-makers wishes
Simpsons creator Matt Groening has publicly stated that he will not license the Duff trademark to brew an actual beer, over concern that it would encourage children to drink. That hasn't prevented a number of companies from attempting to cash in by introducing their own version of the product. In the mid-Nineties, the Australian brewery Lion Nathan attempted to sell a beer named Duff, and were subsequently sued by 20th Century Fox. Only a few cans were produced, and have since become collectors items: one case reportedly sold at auction for $US 13,000 (approximately £8000). Germany's Eschweger Klosterbrauerei brewery produces a Duff beer, while England's Daleside brewery produces a dark beer which goes by the name (Duff can be linke dto the Gaelic term dubh, which means "dark" or "black").
21. When hamburger earmuffs became a real thing
Hamburger earmuffs were invented by The Simpsons' Professor Frink, in the 1998 episode The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace. Frink explained to Homer that you can mix any two things together to form an invention; Homer suggested hamburger earmuffs. Frink then revealed that he had already made that particualr invention, and that they'd soon be on the shelves. The professor's words proved prophetic: hamburger earmuffs have subsequently become "a thing". In 2013, the item received an unexpected spurt of fame when Josh Gates, host of the SyFy reality series Destination Truth, ordered a T-shirt on Amazon and received a pair of hamburger earmuffs by mistake. Initially bemused, Gates soon saw the funny side of the mix-up, and began to tweet pictures of himself wearing product, leading to a demand that soon saw the earmuffs sell out.
(Picture: Josh Gates via Twitter)
22. When real-life actors recreated the intro sequence in painstaking detail
In 2010, the UK-based advertising agency Devilfish produced a promotional video for Sky One, in which each frame of The Simpsons famous opening credits was recreated using human actors (and in which Didcot Power Station doubles up for Springfield's nuclear power plant). Matt Groening was so impressed, he later decided to use the clip as the opening sequence in the episode Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife.
23. When a woman "became" Marge
Earlier this year, makeup artist Veronica Ershova and photographer Alexander Khokhlov worked on a project that transformed real women into works of art: the video below shows how one of their models was turned into an an eerily realistic Marge Simpson. Marge's distinctive towering hairstyle was created via a stack of chrysanthemums, painted blue.
24. When Homer's Land of Chocolate became a real place
In the 1991 episode Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk, two visiting German businessmen inform Homer that they are from "the land of chocolate" (meaning Germany). Homer being Homer, he instantly envisages a fantasy land, in which houses, streets, rivers, streetlamps and animals such as rabbits and dogs are all formed from chocolate. In 2013, Homer's dream became a (sort-of) reality, when the Homer-ishly titled theme park Chocolate Happy Land opened in Shanghai. Attractions on offer at the park include a 400 square-metre castle formed from 160 chocolate stands, chocolate handbags, flower vases and jewellary, a chcoolate recreation of China's terracotta army, and, according to this article in
Time Out Shanghai, a chocolate Hello Kitty, and "mannequins wearing chocolate underwear and bikinis".
25. When Barbara Bush learnt a lesson from Marge Simpson
Marge Simpson is know for upholding discipline and good manners – and in 1990, the character had to teach First Lady Barbara Bush a few lessons in politeness. Bush said of The Simpsons: “It was the dumbest thing I had ever seen, but it’s a family thing, and I guess it’s clean.” She later received a letter from Marge, who politely rebuked her for describing the show as "dumb". To her credit, Bush then wrote back, apologising for her “loose tongue” and praising Marge for setting a good example to the rest of the country. Her letter even ended with "PS Homer looks like a handsome fella!"
