On This Day: The album that changed music

The baby swimming towards a dollar bill became one of the most recognisable album covers ever made.

But it was what was inside the sleeve that caused the real commotion.

On September 24, 1991, Nirvana released Nevermind.

The album nobody saw coming

Nirvana were hardly expected to conquer the world when their second album arrived 35 years ago today.

Led by Kurt Cobain, with Krist Novoselic on bass and Dave Grohl on drums, the Seattle band suddenly found itself at the centre of a musical upheaval.

Smells Like Teen Spirit was the catalyst. Then came Come As You Are, Lithium and In Bloom. By January 1992, Nevermind had reached No.1 on the US Billboard album chart.

Its success helped take the grunge and alternative-rock movement from America’s Pacific Northwest into the mainstream, changing the direction of popular music in the process.

The report that fuelled decades of debate

On September 24, 1964, the Warren Commission presented its final report into President John F. Kennedy’s assassination to President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in killing Kennedy in Dallas the previous November.

More than six decades later, the assassination and the commission’s findings continue to generate debate and competing theories.

Jim Henson would have been 90

Jim Henson, the creative force behind the Muppets and characters including Kermit the Frog, was born on September 24, 1936.

Today would have been his 90th birthday.

Henson died in 1990 at just 53, but the characters and imaginary worlds he helped create remain part of popular culture around the world.

Born on this day

Photographer and musician Linda McCartney was born Linda Eastman on September 24, 1941.

Before marrying Paul McCartney, she had already established herself as a rock photographer, capturing some of the biggest names in music.

She photographed the Rolling Stones in 1966 and The Beatles at the launch of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band the following year.

Do you remember?

Did Smells Like Teen Spirit stop you in your tracks the first time you heard it? Or do Jim Henson and the Muppets bring back stronger memories of another time?