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12 Jul 2015
40th Anniversary of the National Monument of Indonesia
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On July 12, 1975, Monas [abbreviation of the Indonesian name Monumen Nasional] opened to the people of Indonesia for the first time.
The bowl at Monas’ base represents Yoni, the philosophical concept of femininity. Rising from the foundation is the Monas’ tall obelisk symbolizing Lingga, the concept of masculinity. Together these pieces form a universally recognizable symbol of unity to commemorate the founding of modern Indonesia.
Kevin Laughlin drew today’s Doodle to represent the phases of construction throughout Monas’ 15 year journey to completion. His Doodle is a three-frame timeline of the National Monument’s creation.
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13 Jul 2015
Ehud Manor’s 74th Birthday
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Ehud Manor wrote the songs the whole country continues to sing. Manor was one of Israel’s most prolific songwriters, with more than 1,200 songs to his name. His deeply personal lyrics, whether about mourning his younger brother Yehuda, marrying his beloved wife Ofra or expressing love for his country resonated with so many. The ability to give beautiful words to common feelings helped make him one of Israel’s most popular songwriters. It also earned him the 1998 Israel prize. His other significant achievements, like translating hundreds of plays [from Shakespeare to Grease] and winning the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest, further show just how versatile and talented he was.
Local Googlers wanted to recognize Manor’s remarkable contributions on what would have been his 74th birthday. They collaborated with Doodler Sophie Diao who used generic sheet music and lyrics from ״Le'Olam Be'ikvot Ha'shemesh [״always follow the sun״] to pay tribute to Manor’s beloved songs. Diao also wanted to capture his kindness, positivity and gentle demeanor with a sketch that highlighted his red hair, gap-toothed smile and fondness for black t-shirts!
In celebration of Ehud Manor, may you always follow the sun and always follow the light.
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13 July 2011
Sir George Gilbert Scott's 200th Birthday
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Sir George Gilbert Scott RA [13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878], known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started his career as a leading designer of workhouses. Over 800 buildings were designed or altered by him.
Scott was the architect of many iconic buildings, including the Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras Station, the Albert Memorial, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, all in London, St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow, the main building of the University of Glasgow, St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh and King's College Chapel, London.
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14 July 2021
Bastille Day 2021
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Today’s Doodle celebrates Bastille Day, also known in France as July 14th or National Day. On this day in 1789, the Parisian populace toppled a medieval fortress known as the Bastille, transforming this stone tower from a symbol of historical injustice into a beacon of liberty, equality, and fraternity.
Widely regarded as a major catalyst of the French Revolution, the storming of the Bastille represents the birth of a modern nation. This momentous event incited nation-wide solidarity, and to celebrate its first birthday, national officials organized a 10,000 person ceremony coined the “Festival of the Federation.” Another milestone anniversary which is now commemorated each Bastille Day, this patriotic soirée culminated in a revelatory feast, complete with song and dance.
The 230-year tradition of celebrating these definitive moments in history lives on throughout the international French community. Celebrations around the world host music and dance performances highlighting regional Francophone culture, alongside fireworks, parades, and spreads of staple French dishes!
Vive le 14 Juillet! Long live July 14th!
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16 Nov 2017
Chinua Achebe’s 87th Birthday
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“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”
One man took it upon himself to tell the world the story of Nigeria through the eyes of its own people. Chinua Achebe [born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe] was the studious son of an evangelical priest. A student of English literature, he started writing in the 1950s, choosing English as his medium but weaving the storytelling tradition of the Igbo people into his books.
His characters were insiders — everyday people such as the village chief [in Things Fall Apart], the priest [in Arrow of God], or the school teacher [in A Man of the People]. Through their stories, we witness a Nigeria at the crossroads of civilization, culture, and generations.
His pen brought to life the land and traditions of the Igbo: the hum of everyday village life; the anticipation and excitement of sacred masquerades; the stories of the elders and the honor of warriors; the joy of family and the grief of loss.
Considered by many to be the father of modern African literature, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker Prize in 2007. Surrounded by iconic images of his most famous literary works, today’s Doodle celebrates his legacy on what would have been his 87th birthday.
Daalụ nke ukwuu, Chinua Achebe!
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18 Nov 2017
Morocco Independence Day 2017
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Happy Independence Day, Morocco!
Today’s Doodle features the outstanding architecture of Ksar Aït-Ben-Haddou — a historic fortified village in the passage between the Sahara Desert and the city of Marrakech that is surrounded by traditional earthen wall defences.
The Ksar of Aït-Ben-Haddou is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Visitors can glimpse the ancient culture of southern Morocco as they visit local souks or tour a few remaining homes inside the walls. If this impressive site looks familiar, it may be because the Ksar of Aït-Ben-Haddou has been featured on many popular television shows and movies in the past few decades!
In celebration of the holiday, you’ll find Moroccan flags flying along streets across the country. Red and green will adorn homes and sidewalks across bustling cities and little villages as everyone proudly celebrates Morocco’s past and future.
Doodle by Cynthia Yuan Cheng
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23 Nov 2017
José Clemente Orozco’s 134th Birthday
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Celebrated Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco was born in Ciudad Guzmán in central Mexico 134 years ago today.
After his family moved to Mexico City, the young Orozco would often cross paths with satirical caricaturist José Guadalupe Posada on his way to school. These meetings awakened in the young boy a keen political consciousness and a deep love for art, a powerful medium in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution. Orozco would later document the social and political change of the era as one of Los Tres Grandes [The Three Greats] of Mexican mural art.
His sprawling, emotive frescos were initially often commissioned by the government. Dissatisfied with the condition of ordinary Mexicans however, he started to contradict his own sponsors - sometimes subtly [Maternidad [Maternity], 1924] and sometimes visibly [La Trinchera [The Trench], 1926]. This paradoxical relationship caused him to leave the country for seven long years, living in the US and earning international renown for works such as Prometeo [Prometheus] [1930] and The Epic of American Civilization [1934]. When he returned to Mexico, Orozco began work on the frescos of Hospicio Cabañas, murals sketching the span of Mexican history from indigenous civilizations to the Revolution.
Today’s Doodle—by Mexico City-based artist Santiago Solis—depicts Orozco in front of the jaguar featured in Las Riquezas Nacionales [The National Riches], his mural at La Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación in downtown Mexico City.
Feliz cumpleaños, Señor Orozco!
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24 Nov 2017
Celebrating Mensch ärgere dich nicht
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Mensch ärgere dich nicht, or “Do not get angry,” is a game whose very title tackles the ire that board games can provoke. The premise is simple: the first player to move all of their pieces to the other side of the board wins. But don’t trust the dice — they’ll inevitably force soon-to-be winners back to square one.
The game was invented between 1907 and 1908 by Josef Friedrich Schmidt. Born on this day in 1871, Schmidt was a Munich resident who worked in the city. Inspiration struck when he decided to create an engaging pastime for his three young children. He devised a game similar to others across the globe, including the Indian game Pachisi and the English game Ludo. Today's Doodle, featuring game piece characters made of clay playing the game, was created by stop-motion animator Max Mörtl, with assistance from 2D animator Robert Loebel.
The timelessness of this game is a huge part of what lends it its status as one of the most beloved forms of entertainment in Germany. If today’s Doodle inspires you to give Mensch ärgere dich nicht a shot and your opponent snatches away your victory at the eleventh hour, don’t get angry with us!
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30 Nov 2017
St. Andrew's Day 2017
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November 30 is St. Andrew’s Day in Scotland, a national holiday and cultural celebration that involves traditional food, ceilidh dancing, storytelling, and fireworks - with lots of talk and laughter.
Today’s very special coloring-in Doodle by Scottish artist Johanna Basford is a procession of beloved Scottish symbols, each with a special link to the country’s rich heritage and mythology. Wreathed in the prickly-leaved purple thistle, the unicorn [Scotland’s national animal] leads the parade, symbolizing innocence, purity, power, and joy.
The highlands and the lochs form the perfect backdrop to the country’s favorite mythical monster — Nessie, otherwise known as the Loch Ness monster. Trailing her is a majestic red deer, Scotland’s largest native land mammal, exploring the country’s much-celebrated bluebell woods.
The Saltire, the blue Scottish flag emblazoned with a white diagonal cross, heralds the procession. It is believed to be the oldest flag in Europe, and every building in Scotland is required by law to display it on this day.
Happy St. Andrew’s Day, everyone!
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30 November 2015
Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 141st Birthday
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Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote her first novel in 1905. It was rejected by every single publishing house that received it. A few years later, Montgomery tried shopping it again and succeeded. Her story about the adventures of a red-headed girl in Prince Edward Island became a smash hit. That novel ultimately became one of Canada’s most all-time popular books, being translated into around 20 languages and selling more than 50 million copies to date. Anne of Green Gables and its many sequels made Montgomery a wildly successful author and turned PEI into a destination for the book’s thousands of fans.
One of Canada’s most celebrated writers, Montgomery also wrote hundreds of poems and short stories as well as a number of novels apart from the Anne series. She was the first Canadian woman to be made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts and was also appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Today, on what would have been her 141st birthday, we salute Lucy Maud Montgomery with a Doodle that pays tribute to her most iconic book.
Doodler Olivia When, herself an Anne of Green Gables fan, wanted to honor Montgomery by illustrating several scenes from the beloved novel, including a particularly memorable one in which Anne mistakenly bakes a cake with liniment [a medicated oil] instead of vanilla. Here’s to Anne with an “e” Shirley and her revered creator, Lucy Maud Montgomery.
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30 Nov 2015
Saint Andrew's Day 2015
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Every 30th of November, Scottish pride, ever-present and known worldwide for its fervor and zeal, culminates in glorious fashion.
Saint Andrew’s Day is a time to celebrate all things Scottish, with parties, kilts, and of course, the flying of the iconic blue-and-white Saltire. We went in search of one of Scotland's most reclusive citizens this year and even they have come out to play today, as seen in our animated Doodle by Sophie Diao.
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8 Dec 2009
E.C. Segar's Birthday
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Elzie Crisler Segar [December 8, 1894 – October 13, 1938], known by the pen name E. C. Segar, was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of Popeye, a pop culture character who first appeared in 1929 in Segar's comic strip Thimble Theatre.
Segar is among the first to combine humor with long-running adventures. A revival of interest in Segar's creations began with Woody Gelman's Nostalgia Press. Robert Altman's live-action film Popeye [1980] is adapted from E. C. Segar's Thimble Theatre comic strip. The screenplay by Jules Feiffer was based directly on Gelman's Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye the Sailor, a hardcover reprint collection of 1936-37 Segar strips published in 1971 by Nostalgia Press. In 2006, Fantagraphics published the first of a six-volume book set reprinting all Thimble Theatre daily and Sunday strips from 1928 to 1938, beginning with the adventure that introduced Popeye.
In 1971, the National Cartoonists Society created the Elzie Segar Award in his honor. According to the Society's website, the award was "presented to a person who has made a unique and outstanding contribution to the profession of cartooning." The NCS board of directors chose the first winners, while King Features selected recipients in later years. Honorees have included Charles Schulz, Bil Keane, Al Capp, Bill Gallo and Mort Walker. The award was discontinued in 1999.
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17 Dec 2009
Discovery of the Aztec Sun Stone
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The Aztec sun stone is a late post-classic Mexica sculpture housed in the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, and is perhaps the most famous work of Mexica sculpture. It measures 358 centimetres [141 in] in diameter and 98 centimetres [39 in] thick, and weighs 24,590 kg [54,210 lb]. Shortly after the Spanish conquest, the monolithic sculpture was buried in the Zócalo, the main square of Mexico City. It was rediscovered on 17 December 1790 during repairs on the Mexico City Cathedral. Following its rediscovery, the sun stone was mounted on an exterior wall of the cathedral, where it remained until 1885. Early scholars initially thought that the stone was carved in the 1470s, though modern research suggests that it was carved some time between 1502 and 1521.
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25 November 2020
Celebrating Tino Sidin
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Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Indonesian-American guest artist Shanti Rittgers, celebrates the 95th birthday of Indonesian artist and teacher Tino Sidin. Lovingly known as Pak Tino [Sir Tino], Sidin became a household name through his television series Gemar Menggambar [Like to Draw], on which he taught a generation of young children how to draw and nurture their creative talents. Fittingly, November 25 is also recognized in Indonesia as National Teachers' Day in commemoration of the establishment of the Indonesian Teachers’ Association on this date in 1945.
Tino Sidin was born on this day in 1925 in Tebing Tinggi in North Sumatra, now a province of Indonesia. He first began teaching in his hometown during his 20s and in 1960 travelled to Yogyakarta–among the country’s cultural hubs–to attend the pioneering Indonesian Academy of Arts [now the Indonesian Art Institute]. In 1969, Gemar Menggambar first premiered on the local TV station TVRI Yogyakarta, and in 1979 it made the leap onto Indonesian national television.
Every Sunday afternoon for the next decade, Pak Tino introduced countless children to the fun and joy of drawing. Like countless teachers celebrated across the country today, Sidin nurtured his young students through positive encouragement. He inspired the students to not be afraid to make mistakes, and he uplifted the children who viewed the show nationwide, showing support for their submitted artwork with his signature catchphrase “Ya, bagus” [“Yes, it’s nice”]. An accomplished artist off camera as well, Sidin’s own work was often inspired by daily life; one of his paintings, Empat Anak Main, [Four Children Play] for example, depicts four of his daughters.
In 2017, a museum was founded at Sidin’s former residence in Yogyakarta, immortalizing the legacy of Indonesia’s beloved teaching artist.
Happy Birthday to an educator who helped spark creativity and draw a brighter future for generations of Indonesian children, and thank you to all of the teachers who have tirelessly fostered the next generation!
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18 Dec 2020
26th anniversary of the Grotte Chauvet Discovery
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On this day in 1994, three speleologists [cave specialists] by the name of Jean-Marie Chauvet, Éliette Brunel, and Christian Hillaire were exploring in the Ardèche region of southern France when they happened upon something remarkable: an enormous display of what turned out to be some of the earliest-known and best-preserved figurative drawings ever made by humankind. Today’s Doodle celebrates this groundbreaking discovery–now known as Grotte Chauvet [[French for Chauvet Cave)–which forever altered the archaeological understanding of prehistoric man’s artistic expression and creative development.
Through carbon dating, the extraordinary drawings have been traced back to the Aurignacian period over 30,000 years ago. Thanks to a rock fall that sealed the entrance more than 10,000 years later, the Chauvet Cave–and the more than 1,000 drawings documented on its limestone walls–then remained untouched, preserved for millennia in pristine quality.
As illustrated in today’s Doodle, the cave features depictions of 14 different species— from horses and lions to dangerous prehistoric creatures like the long-extinct wooly rhinoceros and mammoth. The deepest gallery features representations of the human body, while other walls display abstract series of red dots. The images demonstrate great artistic vision and technique through their anatomical accuracy, illusion of depth and movement, masterful use of colors, and skillful combination of both painting and engraving. In addition to the paintings, the cave is also home to human footprints and some 4,000 prehistoric animal fossils.
In recognition of the site's vast significance to the human story, UNESCO inscribed the Chauvet Cave onto the World Heritage List in 2014.
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18 December 2011
Christoffer Polhem's 350th Birthday
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Christopher Polhammar [18 December 1661 – 30 August 1751] better known as Christopher Polhem, which he took after his ennoblement in 1716, was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the economic and industrial development of Sweden, particularly mining. He was ennobled by King Charles XII of Sweden for his contributions to Swedish technological development.
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18 December 2009
Jan Evangelista Purkyne's Birthday
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Jan Evangelista Purkyně [also written Johann Evangelist Purkinje] was a Czech anatomist and physiologist. In 1839, he coined the term protoplasm for the fluid substance of a cell. He was one of the best known scientists of his time. Such was his fame that when people from outside Europe wrote letters to him, all that they needed to put as the address was "Purkyně, Europe".
The crater Purkyně on the Moon is named after him, as is the asteroid 3701 Purkyně.
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18 December 2014
Henrietta Edwards' 165th Birthday
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This depiction of one of Canada's greatest advocates for women was illustrated by guest artist, Kate Beaton who has been known to explore the lives of other historical figures in her collection, Hark! A Vagrant.
We asked Kate to share some of her thoughts on Henrietta Edwards below:
I think that when it comes to notable people in the women's rights movement in Canadian history, there are names we know like Nellie McClung or Emily White. They are the token examples in the high school history text; the answer to a multiple choice question somewhere. Maybe we know "The Famous Five" and what they did with the Person's Case, but I doubt many of us can list the individual women themselves. I believe Henrietta Muir Edwards is one of the women who deserves a wider recognition for her work. Montreal-born--a transplant to the Prairies later in life--she fought for women's rights, women's education, women's work and women's health, across the country and from a very young age. She was a writer, an artist, a lawmaker and a teacher. She allied herself with likeminded activists and founded a number of movements and societies to improve the lives of women. Henrietta was a woman who made things happen and fought for it all with unflappable conviction. Canada is a richer country for having her as a citizen.
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16 Dec 2014
Tadas Ivanauskas' 132nd Birthday
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Tadas Ivanauskas [December 16, 1882 – June 1, 1970] was a prominent Lithuanian zoologist and biologist, and one of the founders of Vytautas Magnus University.
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16 December 2015
Remedios Varo’s 107th Birthday
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One of the most accomplished surrealist painters of the 20th century, Remedios Varo is best known for striking oil paintings that blended together elements of science, magic and mysticism.
Varo was born in Spain and moved around a bit before ultimately settling in Mexico, where she created her finest works, including “La Llamada” [The Call], which is replicated in today’s celebratory Google Doodle. Varo lived during a time when male painters viewed their female counterparts as inferior, but she didn’t hesitate to make women the powerful centerpieces of her paintings. Today’s Google Doodle honors Varo on what would have been her 107th birthday, for her extraordinary imagination and complex paintings that allow her rare talent to live on.
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9 Jan 2016
41st Anniversary of the discovery of the Mountain of the Butterflies
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In 1975, after a decades long search that involved thousands of volunteers and spanned an entire continent, Ken Brugger and Catalina Trail unlocked one of nature’s most beautiful mysteries: the overwintering place of the monarch butterfly. Led by a team of Canadian Zoologists under Fred Urquhart, the couple followed clues left by tagged butterflies that had strayed or fallen on their migratory journeys south. The scene, in which millions of monarchs cling to oyamel trees in Mexico’s easternmost Sierra Madre Mountains, would have been overwhelming. “They swirled through the air like autumn leaves,” said Urquhart after his first visit, “carpet[ing] the ground in their flaming myriads on the Mexican mountainside.”
With today’s homepage, Artist Kevin Laughlin recognizes the 41st anniversary of an incredible discovery and the singularly awesome beauty of the monarch butterfly.
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12 Jan 2016
Charles Perrault’s 388th Birthday
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What's that story, with the glass slipper and the pumpkin that turns into a carriage? How about the one where a princess falls into a deep sleep when she pricks her hand on a spindle? We owe the Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty narratives we've known since childhood to Charles Perrault, the 17th-century French author and academician. Perrault was born in Paris 388 years ago today, and spent most of his life in the court of Louis XIV. He began writing his famous stories only in his late sixties, after having retired.
For today's Doodle, artist Sophie Diao created tableaux for Perrault's "Mother Goose" stories [Les Contes de ma Mère l'Oye, 1697]: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Puss in Boots.
Perrault's stories set the standard for the modern fairy tale. Perrault borrowed basic plots and the familiar opening "once upon a time" [il était une fois] from traditional stories told aloud, while modernizing them with both fashionable embellishments and the very act of putting them into writing. [The publication of the tales coincides with the rise of the modern novel: they came after Don Quixote and La Princesse de Clèves, but before Robinson Crusoe and Tom Jones]. The backbone of these fairy tales persist within contemporary novels and movies, making our reading or cinema-going a fundamentally optimistic venture: when we hear "once upon a time," we've come to expect—and anxiously await—a "happily ever after."
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12 January 2015
11th Anniversary of Kimani Maruge's First Day of School
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It’s never too late to learn something new. On this day 11 years ago, Kenyan Kimani Maruge enrolled in primary school at the ripe age of 84, becoming the world’s oldest person to start elementary school. But Maruge’s love for education didn’t end there. In 2005, he boarded a plane–for the very first time–to address the U.N. on the importance of free primary school.
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30 Jan 2015
Vsevolod Nestayko’s 85th Birthday
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Our doodle in Ukraine draws inspiration from the children’s book Toreadors from Vasyukivka for writer Vsevolod Nestayko’s 85th birthday. Nestayko is widely considered to be Ukraine’s best-known author of children’s literature.
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5 Feb 2015
Gabriel Vargas’ 100th Birthday
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Gabriel Bernal Vargas [5 February 1915 – 25 May 2010] was a Mexican cartoonist, whose comic strip La Familia Burrón was created in 1937. This cartoon has been described as one of the most important in Mexican popular culture. Vargas won Mexico's "Premio Nacional de Periodismo" [National Journalism Prize] in 1983 and the "Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes en el área de Tradiciones Populares" [National Sciences and Arts Prize] in 2003.
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9 Feb 2013
Barranquilla Carnival
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The Carnival of Barranquilla [Spanish: Carnaval de Barranquilla] is one of Colombia's most important folkloric celebrations, and one of the biggest carnivals in the world. The carnival has traditions that date back to the 19th century. Four days before Holy Week, Barranquilla decks itself out to receive national and foreign tourists and joins together with the city's inhabitants to enjoy four days of intense festivities. During the carnival, Barranquilla's normal activities are put aside as the city gets busy with street dances, musical and masquerade parades. The Carnival Of Barranquilla includes dances such as the Spanish paloteo, African Congo, and indigenous mico y micas. Many styles of Colombian music are also performed, most prominently cumbia, and instruments include drums and wind ensembles. The Carnival of Barranquilla was proclaimed a Cultural Masterpiece of the Nation by Colombia's National Congress in 2002. Also the UNESCO, in Paris on November 7, 2003, declared it one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, and it was during Olga Lucia Rodriquez Carnival Queen year.
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17 September 2021
Michiyo Tsujimura's 133rd birthday
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Have you ever wondered why green tea tastes so bitter when steeped for too long? Thanks to Japanese educator and biochemist Michiyo Tsujimura, and her groundbreaking research into the nutritional benefits of green tea, science has the answers. Today’s Doodle celebrates Michiyo Tsujimura on her 133rd birthday.
Michiyo Tsujimura was born on this day in 1888 in Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. She spent her early career teaching science. In 1920, she chased her dream of becoming a scientific researcher at Hokkaido Imperial University where she began to analyze the nutritional properties of Japanese silkworms.
A few years later, Tsujimura transferred to Tokyo Imperial University and began researching the biochemistry of green tea alongside Dr. Umetaro Suzuki, famed for his discovery of vitamin B1. Their joint research revealed that green tea contained significant amounts of vitamin C—the first of many yet unknown molecular compounds in green tea that awaited under the microscope. In 1929, she isolated catechin—a bitter ingredient of tea. Then, the next year she isolated tannin, an even more bitter compound. These findings formed the foundation for her doctoral thesis, “On the Chemical Components of Green Tea” when she graduated as Japan’s first woman doctor of agriculture in 1932.
Outside of her research, Dr. Tsujimura also made history as an educator when she became the first Dean of the Faculty of Home Economics at Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School in 1950. Today, a stone memorial in honor of Dr.Tsujimura’s achievements can be found in her birthplace of Okegawa City.
Happy Birthday, Michiyo Tsujimura!
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16 Sept 2021
Mexico Independence Day 2021
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Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Mexico-based guest artist Magdiel Herrerra, depicts a collection of elements symbolizing Mexico’s rich, cultural heritage in honor of its Independence Day. This year’s holiday holds special significance for the international Mexican community as it commemorates the 200th anniversary of the nation’s step toward independence—officially declared on September 27, 1821.
On the left of the Doodle artwork, a folklórico [folkloric] dancer is dressed in the emblematic red, green, and white of the Mexican flag. A common meal prepared to celebrate this holiday is pozole, a spiced soup traditionally made with hominy and pork that is depicted in the red bowl with radishes and lime. In the center, the artwork recreates a bell that rang before El Grito de la Independencia [The Cry for Independence], a famous speech considered the spark of the Mexican independence movement. A sombrero follows with a handwoven rebozo scarf, next to a cactus standing tall.
On the far right of the artwork, an Indigenous musician [known as a quiquizoani in the Uto-Aztecan language of Nahuatl] blows into a conch shell—a scene similar to an image found in the ancient Aztec Codex Magliabechi—filling the air with the sounds of celebration.
Happy Independence Day, Mexico!
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16 Sept 2021
Lo Man-fei's 66th birthday
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Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the 66th birthday of Taiwanese dancer, choreographer, and teacher Lo Man-fei, a lifelong advocate for the development of Taiwanese dancers and performance art.
Lo Man-fei was born on this day in 1955 in Taipei City, Taiwan and took her first steps toward a career in dance at 5 years old. In college, her unique talent was fostered by some of Taiwan’s leading choreographers, including Lin Hwai-min, the founder of one of the nation’s most acclaimed dance troupes—Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. She graduated from National Taiwan University with a degree in English literature and moved to the U.S. in 1978 to study with the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the José Limón Dance Company. However, she decided to return to Taiwan to join Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. In 1979, Lo formally joined Cloud Gate—an acceptance she attributed in part to the skills passed down to her from masters such as Lin.
With a repertoire utilizing techniques from ballet, modern dance, and traditional Chinese dance, she toured the world with Cloud Gate until 1982, capturing a blend of these styles with what she referred to as her own “vocabulary” of movements. Lo worked on Broadway in the early 1980s and in 1985, earned a master’s degree in dance at New York University before returning to Taiwan. She then rejoined Cloud Gate, choreographed original performances, and nurtured a new generation of dancers as a professor at the National Institute for the Arts [now the Taipei National University of the Arts].
In 1999, Cloud Gate 2, an evolution of Taiwan’s renowned troupe, appointed Lo as its artistic director and Cloud Gate later established a scholarship in her honor. She is best known today for her solo performance in “Requiem,” a 10-minute, non-stop spinning routine choreographed specifically for her by none other than Lin Hwai-min himself.
Happy Birthday to Lo Man-fei, who always put her best foot forward!
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16 September 2015
Mexico National Day 2015
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...82784-hp2x.jpg
On September 16th, 1810, at the heels of revolutionary leader Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Mexico declared herself a free state and began its eleven-year struggle for independence. To celebrate the centennial of this moment in Mexican history, a team of artists and engineers erected the gold victory column that juts into the sky above Mexico City and finds itself at the center of today’s Doodle. The statue--a rendering of Nike, the Winged Goddess of Victory--holds a severed chain in her left hand and sits atop a mausoleum in which the remains of Mexico’s most cherished revolutionary figures are entombed.
Today, guest artist Ana Ramirez celebrates El Ángel with a burst of color befitting the fervor and exuberance of Miguel Hidalgo’s centuries-old Grito de Dolores. ¡Viva México!
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16 September 2014
40th anniversary of the first broadcast of Casimir
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/t9...TEULaiGST=s660
The spotlight is on Casimir the Dinosaur on our homepage in France today. Casimir starred in the famous French cartoon “l'Île aux enfants” [“The Children’s Show”], which first aired 40 years ago today.
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16 September 2014
Mexico Independence Day 2014
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/FL...XfO7byefI=s660
There’s no dish that has more pride than “chiles en nogada.” These green chiles are stuffed with picadillo, covered in a white walnut cream and topped with red pomegranate seeds, dressing the meal in the colors of the Mexican flag. Happy Independence Day to Mexico!
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15 Sept 2014
Nicaragua Independence Day 2014
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/vZ...do6-Ae2ww=s660
Our doodle in Nicaragua doodle features the sacuanjoche, the country’s national flower for Nicaraguan Independence Day.
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5 December 2017
Veronika Dudarova’s 101st Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...8634624-2x.png
In today’s Doodle, Google-hued lights shine on a group of musicians led by Veronika Dudarova, the first Russian woman to conduct an orchestra.
Born in 1916, Dudarova spent her formative years studying piano and musicology in the company of some of Russia’s most renowned musical talents. In 1947, she graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, joining the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra as a junior conductor. She spent 13 years in that role before taking over as principal conductor in 1960. In 1991, Dudarova formed the Symphony Orchestra of Russia, which she led until 2003.
One of the very few female conductors in the world, Dudarova holds the Guinness World Record as the only woman to lead a major symphony orchestra for more than 50 years. During her career, she won the State Russian Music Award, was named the People’s Artist of the USSR, and even had a minor planet named after her.
On what would’ve been Dudarova’s 101st birthday, we honor the conductor’s dramatic style as she leads the Google letters in a passionate, homepage-worthy performance.
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10 December 2019
Anatoly Tarasov’s 101st Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...5410304-2x.png
"Even though there is a limit on how fast a hockey player can skate… there is no limit to creative endeavors and progress."
–Anatoly Tarasov
Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Marseille-based guest artist Nadya Mira, celebrates Russian coach Anatoly Tarasov, widely known as the “father of Russian hockey,” on his 101st birthday. Under his leadership, the Russian [then USSR] national team won every Ice Hockey World Championship for 9 consecutive years, won 11 European championships, and took home 3 Olympic gold medals. Tarasov’s visionary tactics and will to win put his opponents on ice.
A proficient bandy player, Tarasov was given the task to implement a Soviet hockey program from the ground up after World War II. The Moscow native developed a unique coaching style, focusing both on the individual player’s mastery while demanding a team-first attitude, as well as integrating modified elements from other sports like bandy, soccer, and even ballet to produce champions.
Rival nations often attempted to mimic Tarasov’s approach. A coach from the U.S. asked Tarasov to reveal his secrets and was met with: “There is no secret in hockey. There is imagination, hard work, discipline, and dedication to achieving whatever the goal is.”
His ingenious methods influenced the game worldwide and left a mark on hockey that is still felt globally to this day. In 1974, Tarasov became the first European coach to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, as well as the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1997.
С днём рождения, Anatoly Tarasov!
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10 December 2013
Milan Rúfus' 85th Birthday
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Milan Rúfus [December 10, 1928 – January 11, 2009] was a Slovak poet, essayist, translator, children's writer and academic. Rúfus is the most translated Slovak poet into other languages.
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10 December 2012
Ada Lovelace's 197th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/iX...tVSuBk9ad=s660
Augusta Ada King, countess of Lovelace, along with her counterpart Charles Babbage, were pioneers in computing long before the first computer was built. Despite being an uncommon pedagogy for women, Ada was educated in mathematics because her mother hoped would mitigate in Ada her father's, Lord Byron's, penchant for poetry and mania [it didn’t].
While Babbage drew up designs for the first general-purpose computer, which he called the Analytic Engine, he only imagined it would be a powerful calculator. Lovelace, however, anticipated the much more impressive possibilities for such a machine. She realized the engine could represent not just numbers, but generic entities like words and music. This intellectual leap is the foundation of how we experience computers today, from the words on this screen to the colors and shapes in this doodle.
In 1843, Ada published extensive notes on the Analytic Engine which included the first published sequence of operations for a computer, which she would have input to the Analytic Engine using punch cards. It is this program for calculating Bernoulli numbers which leads some to consider Ada Lovelace the world’s first computer programmer, as well as a visionary of the computing age.
Posted by Ida Mayer, Googler
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23 November 2018
Mestre Bimba’s 119th Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...253824-2xa.gif
A blend of martial arts, acrobatics, dance, and music, Capoeira has been practiced in Brazil for hundreds of years. Today’s Doodle celebrates Manuel dos Reis Machado, or Mestre Bimba, the master who legitimized capoeira and founded the world’s first school to promote this Afro-Brazilian martial arts style.
Mestre Bimba was born in Salvador, the capital of Bahia, on this day in 1899 as the youngest of 25 children and son of a batuque champion, another Brazilian fighting game. His parents named him Manuel dos Reis Machado, but everyone called him Bimba. He worked various odd jobs – longshoreman, carpenter, and coal miner – before dedicating his life to his real passion of capoeira.
Developed by former slaves, Capoeira was outlawed by the Brazilian government for many years. “In those days, when capoeira was spoken of, it was in whispers,” Bimba recalled. “Those who learned capoeira only thought about becoming criminals.”
As studying martial arts was forbidden by law, music was added to disguise the powerful fighting techniques as dance moves. Developing his own style, known as capoeira regional, Mestre Bimba instituted a strict set of rules and a dress code. In 1928 he was invited to demonstrate his style of capoeira for Getulio Vargas, then president of Brazil. The President was so impressed that he gave Mestre Bimba the go-ahead to open the first capoeira school in his hometown of Salvador, giving this unique martial art a new sense of legitimacy. In 2014 capoeira was recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, which hailed it as one of the most expressive popular manifestations of the Brazilian culture.
Happy Birthday, Mestre Bimba!
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21 June 2017
Machado de Assis’ 178th Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...7062016-2x.png
In 1839, Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis was born to a simple family in Morro do Livramento, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was the grandson of freed slaves, in a country where slavery wouldn't be fully abolished until 49 years later. Machado faced the many challenges of being of mixed race in the 19th century, including limited access to formal education. But none of that stopped him from studying literature. While working as a typographer, he experimented with poems, romances, novels and plays.
Machado's work shaped the realism movement in Brazil. He became known for his wit and his eye-opening critiques of society. Today's Doodle features some scenes from his novels — Quincas Borba, Dom Casmurro, and The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas are considered masterpieces to this day. Machado was also a founder and the first president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.
Happy 178th birthday to a literary genius!
Doodle by Pedro Vergani