Until a few weeks ago, the biggest news to come out of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.

You know you’ve made a cultural impact when Henry Kissinger quotes your own joke back to you.

The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor has gone to such luminaries as Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal, George Carlin and Ellen DeGeneres.

It’s going to be a “Beautiful Day” for the band U2 and four other artists when they receive this year’s Kennedy Center Honors in December.

Sesame Workshop via CNNWASHINGTON (CNN) - Big Bird and a big name in acting will be among those on hand when the Kennedy Center celebrates this year's honorees. R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire, actress Sally Field, singer Linda Ronstadt, "Sesame Street" and conductor and musical visionary Michael Tilson Thomas were named the 2019 honorees on Thursday. "Sesame Street" is the first television program to receive the honor. "In this class of Honorees, we are witnessing a uniquely American story: one that is representative of so many cultural touchstones and musical moments that make our nation great," said Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter in a statement. "The 42nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors" will air on December 15 on CBS.