Not since the Olsen twins turned 18 has there been this much excitement over birthday cake.
Two great icons celebrated their birthday this month. In Palm Springs, California, Cheeta the chimp, who starred in dozens of Tarzan movies in the 1930s and 1940s, blew out 74 candles in early April. Meanwhile, across a continent and an ocean away, the reigning British monarch, Queen Elizabeth, turns 80 on April 21.
You won't see their profiles on ET's celebrity birthdays because these two aren't Hollywood favourites and yet, they both deserve more than a round of applause (maybe even a Discovery or Animal Planet documentary special) for surviving as long as they have.
Cheeta is healthy and active despite the fact that he suffers from diabetes. He has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest chimp. Generally they live to 40 in the wild but in captivity have topped 60 years. The graying 150-lb chimp is one of six in a sanctuary 150 miles east of Los Angeles. "He still has every tooth in his head," Dan Westfall, primate keeper told the Associated Press earlier this month. Cheeta is originally from Africa.
The Queen of England, who by all reports, also has every tooth in her head, is a powerful, stubborn and long-reigning monarch. She has survived the divorces of all her children (except Prince Edward who is still hanging on), the death of a sister (Margaret) and daughter-in-law (Diana). She is still married to Prince Philip. In previous times, coups, assassinations, beheadings and bloody takeovers were not uncommon at the royal household. Today, life is simpler.
Science cannot conclusively say how long current-day monarchs survive in captivity or the wild but, considering current media scrutiny, Elizabeth will continue to weather bad publicity for many more years. She sets a standard. The Queen is the 40th monarch since William the Conqueror and has been in power for 54 years. It's clear she's not going to step down anytime soon.
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