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April 25, 2018
Hung Kings Commemoration Day
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...20160.2-2x.png
On the 10th day of the third lunar month, Vietnam celebrates Hùng Kings Commemoration Day [also known as Hùng King Temple Festival day]. An official holiday since 2007, the celebration pays tribute to the Hùng Kings, the 18 emperors of Vietnam who, according to legend, ruled from 2879-258 BC and founded Văn Lang [the former name of Vietnam]. Immortalizing the Vietnamese proverb “when drinking water, think of its source”, Hùng Kings Commemoration Day is a joyous way for young people to learn about their country’s ancestors and ancient rituals.
Today, celebrants from near and far make the pilgrimage to the Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain near Việt Trì, where, as the story goes, the first Hùng King, Kinh Dương Vương, is said to have established his kingdom.
While some gather at the foot of the mountain with sticks of incense and food, others make the procession to the High Temple at the summit, preparing palanquins and sacred offerings, carrying wreaths from the country’s leaders, or dressing in colorful costumes, all accompanied by the sound of bronze drums. Activities like Chèo singing, games of chess, and rice cooking add to the fun.
Today's Doodle captures the spirit of this vibrant, culturally significant holiday with a depiction of the dragon dance and the colorful banners that lead the march to the temple relic site.
Happy Hùng Kings Commemoration Day!
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Apr 23, 2018
St. George's Day 2018
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...2833408-2x.jpg
Each year on April 23, England celebrates St. George’s Day, in recognition of the life and lore of the country’s patron saint.
According to legend, St George was born in present-day Turkey around 280 A.D.. He served as a soldier in the Roman army, rising to the rank of legatus, but was executed by the Emperor Diocletian for his Christian faith.
Popular legend also celebrates St George’s chivalry and bravery. A fearsome dragon, Ascalon, terrorized the people of a small town and demanded a daily sacrifice to allow them water for their families. One day, it was the turn of the king’s daughter to be sacrificed to the dragon, but St. George rode in on horseback, drew his sword and slayed the dragon — saving the town and the princess’s life.
Today’s Doodle depicts a group of adorable English children reenacting the legend of St. George and the dragon. The cast of characters are beloved in English folklore. You can spot St. George and his dragon, Robin Hood, and a child dressed as a lion, the symbol of bravery in medieval English heraldry. You can even see Titania and Nick Bottom, a tribute to Shakespeare whose birthday is also today!
If you find yourself in England, feast on a traditional English meal, and take in the sight of Saint George's Cross flags flying on every street. Happy St. George’s Day!
Doodle by guest artist Luke Pearson
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April 23, 2017
National Sovereignty and Children's Day 2017
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...07424.2-2x.jpg
Turkey’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day connects two important pieces of history; it’s when the Grand National Assembly of Turkey convened for the first time in 1920; and when the Turkish Republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, dedicated the fledgling Republic to the children who would inherit it.
Happy National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, Turkey!
Illustrated by guest artist, Ipek Konak
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April 23, 2016
Celebrating William Shakespeare
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...16960-hp2x.jpg
Genius. There are many examples throughout human history, but today we celebrate one particularly brilliant one: William Shakespeare — writer, playwright, and one of the most eloquent voices of all time. Today, we celebrate his life and work.
A creative tour de force, Shakespeare officially wrote 38 plays in his 52 years, performing most of them at The Globe Theatre in London. Over the past four centuries, Shakespeare's poems, plays and other works have taken on a life of their own on stage, screen, and page. You can explore some of his works and those he has has inspired in the Shakespeare gallery of the Google Cultural Institute.
Here's to many more lifetimes of the Bard's great verse.
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Apr 17, 2010
Karen Blixen's 125th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/x5...gtTBGtj3A=s660
Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke [born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962] was a Danish author who wrote works in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries, Tania Blixen, used in German-speaking countries, Osceola, and Pierre Andrézel.
Blixen is best known for Out of Africa, an account of her life while living in Kenya, and for one of her stories, Babette's Feast, both of which have been adapted into Academy Award–winning motion pictures. She is also noted, particularly in Denmark, for her Seven Gothic Tales. Among her later stories are Winter’s Tales [1942], Last Tales [1957], Anecdotes of Destiny [1958] and Ehrengard [1963].
Blixen was considered several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature, though wasn't awarded because judges were reportedly concerned about showing favoritism to Scandinavian writers, according to Danish reports.
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April 17, 2015
Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı’s 125th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/M4...f1YJIWCIE=s660
Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı [17 April 1886 – 13 October 1973; born Musa Cevat Şakir; pen-name exclusively used in his writings, "The Fisherman of Halicarnassus", Turkish: Halikarnas Balıkçısı] was a Cretan Turk writer of novels, short-stories and essays, as well as being a keen ethnographer and travelogue.
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Apr 16, 2010
Italian Culture Week
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/mr...BCG_zgaow=s660
Italy is the wellspring of Western civilization and has been a world crossroads for over 2,000 years. Continuous learning, creativity, and technological advancement on the Italian peninsula have shaped virtually every aspect of Western culture.
Though its archaeological record stretches back tens of thousands of years, Italian history begins with the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that rose between the Arno and Tiber rivers. At that time, Italy was a hodgepodge of peoples and languages. They included the Celts in the north, Greek colonists in southern Italy, and such mountain peoples as the Sabines and the Samnites. In addition, the Phoenicians, who were great sea traders, established colonies throughout the Mediterranean region, including settlements on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.
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March 8, 2022
International Women's Day 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...;v=uX-nfTAoSQQ
Today’s annual International Women’s Day Doodle is an animated slideshow that transports us around the world to give a glimpse into the everyday lives of women across different cultures.
From a mother working from home to a motorcycle mechanic teaching her skills to the next generation, each illustration depicted in today’s Doodle is connected by the common thread of how women show up for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Happy International Women’s Day!
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May 7, 2018
Teacher Appreciation Week Begins!
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Happy US Teacher Appreciation Week 2018!
This week aims to cast a special spotlight on educators who have and continue to dedicate their lives to the intellectual and personal development of students across the nation. Created in partnership with all 55 2018 US State Teachers of the Year, today’s Doodle explores the theme: “What does it mean to be a teacher?
We’ve invited one of our Doodle collaborators, 2018 Ohio Teacher of the Year Jonathan Juravich, to share a bit more about his story, what this theme means to him, and his experience working on the Doodle!
One of my first teachers was my grandmother, Josie. She was bright, kind, and creative. She was also blind. She taught me empathy and tenderness and how our relationships with others often define our identities. Because of our connection, I always felt a kinship with Helen Keller. A few years ago, I was asked to find a quote that defined my professional and personal life, and I offered this one attributed to her: “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”
The lessons learned with my grandmother have shaped the art educator I am today. Teaching is about forming genuine relationships built on mutual respect. I’ve often found the small day-to-day moments are where we can have the biggest impact. I challenge my students to find ways to quietly shine each day: greeting others with smiles and warm hellos, respectfully listening to other people’s stories, and coming to school open to ideas and perspectives. I hope by being a part of my classroom that students are challenged to live their lives with enthusiastic, empathetic resilience through tough times and small tasks alike. The results can inspire others when least expected.
This past fall of 2017, I was named the 2018 Ohio Teacher of the Year. In January, the 55 State Teachers of the Year met for the very first time at Google headquarters. We were there to learn about our role within our states, develop our advocate voices, and bond as a supportive network of professionals. During that time, we also had the incredible opportunity to work on the US Teacher’s Appreciation Week Doodle! As an art educator, I visit Google’s homepage every morning just to see what beautiful work of art might be awaiting the world. I believe the power of visual art can connect us all.
During the workshop, teachers were broken off into 5 groups and tasked to develop concepts for each of the individual letters of Google, while processing what it means to be a teacher. What a huge question with endless possibilities! The groups brainstormed, sketched, and developed their plans for their letter, much like what my students and I do every day in my art room.
When our time was up, each group shared their ideas. The teachers spoke of connections, the search for answers, and the resulting new inquiries. We discussed the journey we take with our students as they process who they are and their place within the world. Being a teacher is about those relational connections, telling our students “I am here with you. Let’s do this together.”
This is what I hope the world takes away from this Doodle. That as teachers, we are a part of the quest for discovery. That we are there to guide, to encourage and to support our students as unique individuals. That this journey is one that is full of challenges, but also joy.
The Doodle ends with that little E graduating… but that is not where our students’ stories end. I hope our students know, both in moments great and small, that we will continue to support and celebrate them into their futures.
Happy Teacher’s day to the incredible educators who inspire the future change-makers of the world!
-Jonathan Juravich, 2018 Ohio Teacher of the Year
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May 7, 2012
Władysław Reymont's 145th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/v_...wVDUa8--e=s660
Władysław Stanisław Reymont was a Polish novelist and the 1924 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known work is the award-winning four-volume novel Chłopi [The Peasants].
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May 4, 2020
US Teacher Appreciation Week 2020 Begins!
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Happy US Teacher Appreciation Week!
Today [and everyday!], we honor teachers across the nation, who continue to work tirelessly to shape our future generations, even in the midst of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.
Today’s Doodle was created by Doodler Kevin Laughlin who collaborated with the 54 2020 State Teachers of the Year during their visit to Google this past February.
Below, Kevin shares more on his experience working with the teachers on today’s Doodle!
I know from firsthand experience how much of a positive impact a teacher can have on a young person's life. I can't express how happy I am to have had the opportunity to be a part of the Teacher Appreciation project this year.
When I met these teachers on campus in February, I was so inspired by their love of teaching and dedication to their students, which I felt each minute I spent with them. As they presented their own Doodle designs, they shared anecdotes about their classrooms, advocated for their students, and spoke passionately about educational equity.
I am glad to see their work represented in the final Doodle on Google’s homepage today celebrating these often unsung heroes. To every teacher, thank you times infinity!
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May 4, 2012
Keith Haring's 54th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ce...iwigYXAI5=s660
In the early 1980s, as a native Manhattanite raised by and among artists, I was aware of Keith Haring and his work, but my 1984 job interview would be the first time we would meet. After some awkward small talk, we quickly realized that we had many friends and social activities in common. At that age [we were both just 25], such things meant a great deal. He hired me as his personal assistant and studio manager, and I worked alongside him until his premature death from AIDS-related illnesses in 1990. We shared many interests, worked well together, and established a deep, reciprocal trust. When he became ill and decided to create the Keith Haring Foundation, I was honored to accept his offer to be its executive director. I have now held that position for 23 years, and my responsibility and privilege is to promote and manage a legacy: respecting past connections and relationships, cultivating and nurturing new ones, staying true to Keith's artistic and philanthropic goals, and doing whatever is needed to ensure his place in history.
Keith tapped into the collective unconscious and expanded upon a universal language of symbols and messages – executed in simple lines, energized by the spirit [and for a time, context] of graffiti and fueled by his intense commitment to make his work as accessible as possible. Although he first came to the public’s attention through his chalk drawings in the New York City subway stations, he utilized the same graphically compelling visual vocabulary in thousands of works on paper, canvas, limited edition prints and multiples, sculpture, public murals and, eventually, merchandise – avenues of dissemination that to him were all of equal importance. This ambitious, populist spirit and prolific output brought his work to the widest audience imaginable.
Curious and cautious about the role technology was beginning to play in our society, Keith often included
images of computers in his work. He was both excited by and nervous about the impact of the personal computer on our daily lives. Using his art to convey these and other social concerns was at the root of his ever-increasing popularity. Over the past 30 years, images he created that speak about racism, drug addiction, AIDS and tolerance have become iconic.
Keith once expressed his fantasy that in the future, his images might be "beamed" around the world in seconds. That future is now, and I firmly believe that for Keith, the Internet would have been a realization of that excitement and cautious curiosity. That the world’s largest search engine is honoring Keith's birthday is nevertheless a perfect, 21st century, tribute to his art and ambitions. As Keith himself said in 1984, "Art lives through the imaginations of the people who are seeing it. Without that contact, there is no art. I have made myself a role as an image-maker of the twentieth century and I daily try to understand the responsibilities and implications of that position. It has become increasingly clear to me that art is not an elitist activity reserved for the appreciation of a few, but for everyone, and that is the end toward which I will continue to work."
Julia Gruen, Executive Direct of the Keith Haring Foundation
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April 7, 2014
Victoria Ocampo's 124th Birthday [born 1890]
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...19808-hp2x.jpg
Victoria Ocampo CBE was an Argentine writer and intellectual, described by Jorge Luis Borges as La mujer más argentina ["The quintessential Argentine woman". Best known as an advocate for others and as publisher of the literary magazine Sur, she was also a writer and critic in her own right and one of the most prominent South American women of her time. Her sister Silvina Ocampo, also a writer, was married to Adolfo Bioy Casares.
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Apr 9, 2013
Charles Baudelaire's 192nd Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/sY...Je7ufs2aw=s660
Charles Pierre Baudelaire was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited from Romantics, but are based on observations of real life.
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Apr 9, 2012
Elias Lönnrot's 210th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eS...hrzt-0EFD=s660
Elias Lönnrot was a Finnish physician, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for creating the Finnish national epic, Kalevala, from short ballads and lyric poems gathered from the Finnish oral tradition during several expeditions in Finland, Russian Karelia, the Kola Peninsula and Baltic countries.
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Apr 9, 2012
Eadweard J. Muybridge's 182nd Birthday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cbI0fx5XN8
Eadweard J. Muybridge - Google Doodle: Eadweard J. Muybridge [[born April 9th 1830) was an English photographer who spent much of his life in the United States. Eadweard J. Muybridge is known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion which used multiple cameras to capture motion, and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip.
Eadweard J. Muybridge emigrated to the US, arriving in San Francisco in 1855, where he started a career as a publisher's agent and bookseller. In 1866 Eadweard J. Muybridge rapidly became successful in photography, focusing principally on landscape and architectural subjects.
In 1872 a businessman and race-horse owner, had taken a position on a popularly-debated question of the day: whether all four of a horse's hooves are off the ground at the same time during the trot. Up until this time, most paintings of horses at full gallop showed the front legs extended forward and the hind legs extended to the rear.
Music:
Kevin MacLeod - "The Chase"
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Apr 10, 2012
Lee Jung-seob's 96th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/E9...rdWLrjii2=s660
Lee Jung Seob was a Korean artist, most known for his oil paintings such as "White Ox".
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April 9, 2010
Vlasta Burian's Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Bf...uXXfUAF5Y=s660
Josef Vlastimil Burian, better known as Vlasta Burian was an internationally renowned Czech film and stage actor, singer, comedian, footballer and film director. In the Czech Republic, he is known as Král komiků [King of Comedians].
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April 15, 2009
Mimar Sinan's Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/2M...1mDwxoKli=s660
Mimar Sinan also known as Koca Mi'mâr Sinân Âğâ, ["Sinan Agha the Grand Architect" or "Grand Sinan"] was the chief Ottoman architect [Turkish: mimar] and civil engineer for sultans Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, and Murad III. He was responsible for the construction of more than 300 major structures and other more modest projects, such as schools. His apprentices would later design the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul and Stari Most in Mostar.
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April 15, 2012
Wilhelm Busch's 180th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Hi...7o0KIko9Q=s660
Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day.
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April 13, 2021
151st Anniversary of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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In honor of a storied legacy of cultural enrichment for New Yorkers and international communities alike, today’s Doodle celebrates the 151st Anniversary of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens—businessmen and financiers as well as leading artists and thinkers of the day—who wanted to create a museum to bring art and art education to the American people. On this day in 1870, the museum was officially incorporated and soon after acquired its first work of art: a Roman sarcophagus.
The Met has come quite a long way from that first showing to become New York’s largest art museum, with a permanent collection of over 1.5 million objects, spanning over 5,000 years from nearly every corner of the globe. A sampling of the many works of art found at The Met today are depicted in today’s Doodle artwork—including a Byzantine floor mosaic from 500-550 A.D., the armor of German Emperor Ferdinand I from the 16th century, an intricate traditional Lakota/Teton Sioux beaded dress, and the painting "Self-Portrait" by Samuel Joseph Brown, Jr. from the 1940s.
Whether you're a Met regular or planning your first trip to the Museum, be sure to visit a certain blue ceramic hippopotamus from Egypt’s Middle Kingdom nicknamed “William.” An unofficial mascot of The Met, he might soon become your favorite part of the collection.
Happy anniversary to The Met–and here’s to many more!
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April 13, 2016
Songkran Festival 2016
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...40256-hp2x.jpg
Songkran Day is one of the most significant holidays in Thailand. Typically celebrated between April 13th and 15th, it marks the beginning of the Thai New Year. There are many ways to celebrate Songkran Day, but most involve getting very, very wet. Water fights erupt throughout Thai streets, sparing no bystanders. As you can see from the Doodle, even a classic Thai TukTuk can’t guarantee a dry ride. We’re delighted to join in celebrating Thailand, the New Year, and this wonderful tradition—now can we please borrow a change of dry clothes?
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April 13, 2017
Songkran 2017
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Celebrated in Thailand every April 13-15, Songkran is the New Year’s holiday famous around the world for its water festival. For many visitors to the Southeastern Asian country, it’s primarily just an excuse for an epic water battle in the streets of a tropical paradise. For Thai people, though, the holiday is also a time to do good deeds and spend time with family.
The name of the holiday is derived from a Sanskrit term that describes the movement of the sun through the sky as the seasons change. Traditionally, Thai people celebrate Songkran by visiting temples to pour water over statues of Buddha, or by visiting elder relatives to pour water over their hands. These acts are known to be symbols of purification — a spring cleaning of sorts. And in a place where daily temperatures reach highs of 88°F in the month of April, it’s easy to see how the tradition might’ve evolved into the all-out splash-fest it is today.
The water festival is now so well established, some cities shut down busy streets during celebration days, allowing participants to safely soak anything and anyone that crosses their paths. So if you’re strolling around Thailand in mid-April and a total stranger douses you with water, consider it a compliment!
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February 18, 2021
Celebrating Yee Sang
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Lou Hei! Today’s Doodle celebrates Yee Sang, a Malaysian raw fish salad traditionally enjoyed on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. With chopsticks in hand, families toss the ingredients that make up Yee Sang high above the table while they exclaim “Lou Hei” and wish each other good fortune for the year to come—the higher the toss, the better the fortune!
This ritual traces its origins to the Chinese creation myth of goddess Nu Wa, who is said to have created humanity on the seventh day of the new year. Chinese fishers and sailors commemorated this symbolic day of rebirth by combining the leftovers of the new year’s celebrations to make yu sheng—a salad as thrifty as it was tasty.
By the 1930s, Chinese immigrants brought the Yu Sheng tradition to Malaya, selling fish salad with ginger and lettuce out of hawker carts. But it wasn’t until the 1940s, when Seremban chef Loke Ching Fatta added a twist, that the recipe was adapted to the Yee Sang known today. Fatta combined some 30 ingredients together with his signature sauce to invent the dish now loved by many during the Lunar New Year.
One of the most common combinations of Yee Sang include raw fish, ginger, shredded carrot, radish, pomelo, leek, topped with condiments like crushed peanuts, all mixed thoroughly with several different oils and spices. But there is no wrong way to make Yee Sang, as the dish has infinite variations.
Here’s to Yee Sang and prosperity in the Lunar New Year!
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February 18, 2013
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's 812th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/UB...Jb4E1uZF0=s660
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Tūsī, was a Persian polymath, architect, philosopher, physician, scientist, and theologian. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi was a well published author, writing on subjects of math, engineering, prose, and mysticism. Additionally, al-Tusi made several scientific advancements. In astronomy, al-Tusi created very accurate tables of planetary motion, an updated planetary model, and critiques of Ptolemaic astronomy. He also made strides in logic, mathematics but especially trigonometry, biology, and chemistry. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi left behind a great legacy as well. Some consider Tusi one of the greatest scientists of medieval Islam, since he is often considered the creator of trigonometry as a mathematical discipline in its own right.The Muslim scholar Ibn Khaldun [1332–1406] considered Tusi to be the greatest of the later Persian scholars. There is also reason to believe that he may have influenced Copernican heliocentrism. Nasir proposed that humans are related to animals and that some animals have a limited level of awareness while humans have a superior level of awareness amongst animals. He also framed a very basic evolutionary theory [though markedly different from modern evolutionary theory].
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February 18, 2015
Alessandro Volta’s 270th Birthday
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As a new artist here at Google I was given the exciting opportunity to design the Doodle for Volta as just my second doodle. This was particularly thrilling given he was the 18th century Italian physicist, chemist and electrical pioneer who invented the first electrical battery.
To my surprise this discovery almost came by accident while Volta and his friend Galvani, an anatomy professor, were dissecting a frog. When the animal’s legs unexpectedly twitched from an electrical discharge, Galvani went on to hypothesize that animals generated their own electricity, a theory that would eventually go on to inspire Mary Shelly’s novel, ‘Frankenstein’. But Volta had his own theory: that the electrical discharge had been caused by two different metals touching the frog’s body.
Experimenting with different metals and solutions, Volta ended up creating the first electric battery: the Voltaic Pile, a stack of alternating metal discs separated by cardboard and cloth soaked with seawater. But what made this battery so remarkable was that it was easy to construct out of common materials and enabled experimenters for the first time to produce steady, predictable flows of electricity. Within just weeks it inspired a wave of discoveries and inventions and ushered in a new age of electrical science.
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Dec 6, 2018
Zeki Müren’s 87th Birthday
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Hailed as “The Sun of Art” and the “Pasha of Turkish Music,” Zeki Müren was a singer, composer, actor, and poet who became one of the most important artists in Turkish classical music history.
Born in the historic Hisar district of Bursa on this day in 1931, Müren was the only child of a Macedonian timber merchant. While a student at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts, he won first place in a contest sponsored by Turkish Radio and Television. In 1951 he gave his first live performance on Istanbul Radio. That same year he recorded “Muhabbet Kuşu” [Parakeet] with clarinetist Sükrü Tunar, the first of hundreds of songs he’d release on phonograph and cassette over the course of his career. His 1955 release “Manolyam” was the first Turkish recording to be certified gold.
For his first live concert in 1955 Müren took the stage in typical stage clothes, but over time began designing his own wardrobe, expressing a personal style that sometimes included thigh-high boots, sparkling tights, jeweled capes, miniskirts, and a peacock tail—as well as wigs and makeup. His fearlessly flamboyant look became known as a symbol of his strength of character and individuality.
Müren transcended music by beginning an acting career in the 1950s with a role in the film or Beklenen Sarki “Awaited Song” [1953]. He would go on to appear in 18 films, often composing the scores as well, and played the lead in Robert Anderson’s stage drama Tea and Sympathy [1960].
In 1991, Müren was named an official State Artist of Tukey. Today, Müren’s legacy lives on through the Zeki Müren Fine Arts Anatolian High School in Bursa, which opened in 2002. His house in Bodrum became the Zeki Müren Art Museum and his Zeki Müren Scholarship Fund has supported thousands of students over the past 20 years.
Doğum günün kutlu olsun, Zeki Müren!
Previous concepts of the Doodle below
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October 16, 2019
Celebrating Wanda Rutkiewicz
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...5935360-2x.png
“I adored the physical movement, the fresh air, the camaraderie, and the excitement,” wrote the Polish mountain climber Wanda Rutkiewicz. On this day in 1978, she reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming the third woman to ascend the world’s highest peak, and the first Pole, male or female. Rutkiewicz would go on to complete seven more 8,000-meter-plus [26,247-foot-plus] climbs, establishing herself as one of the most celebrated climbers in mountaineering history and one of the greatest female climbers of all time.
Born on February 4, 1943 to a Polish family in the village of Plungiany—now part of Lithuania— Wanda studied electrical engineering at Wroclaw University of Technology. She discovered her passion for climbing by chance after her motorcycle ran out of fuel in 1961. One of the people who stopped to help invited her to join him on a climb of the Falcon Mountains.
Ten years after reaching the peak of Mount Everest, Rutkiewicz became the first woman to climb K2—the world’s second-highest peak—doing so without using supplemental oxygen. Two of her fellow climbers perished on the descent from K2, but she would continue pursuing her dreams.
Rutkiewicz published books and produced documentaries about her climbs, but despite her many accomplishments, she found some male climbers to be condescending. She went on to advocate for women’s climbing and to organize several all-female expeditions. In 1990, she declared her goal of climbing eight 8,000-meter-plus [26,247-foot-plus] peaks in just over a year’s time, a program she called the “Caravan of Dreams.” Although she did not complete that particular mission, Wanda Rutkiewicz has continued to inspire generations of climbers to follow in her footsteps.
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October 16, 2010
Double Ninth Festival 2010
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gu...Z3ClLucyE=s660
The Double Ninth Festival [Chong Yang Festival or Chung Yeung Festival in China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Chōyō no Sekku] , observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in writings since before the Eastern Han period [before AD 25].
According to the I Ching, nine is a yang number; the ninth day of the ninth lunar month [or double nine] has too much yang [[a traditional Chinese spiritual concept) and is thus a potentially very auspicious date. Hence, the day is also called "Double Yang Festival". It is customary to climb a high mountain, drink chrysanthemum liquor, and wear the zhuyu plant, Cornus officinalis. [Both chrysanthemum and zhuyu are considered to have cleansing qualities and are used on other occasions to air out houses and cure illnesses.
On this holiday some Chinese also visit the graves of their ancestors to pay their respects. In Hong Kong and Macao, whole extended families head to ancestral graves to clean them and repaint inscriptions, and to lay out food offerings such as roast suckling pig and fruit, which are then eaten [after the spirits have consumed the spiritual element of the food]. Chongyang Cake is also popular. Incense sticks are burned. Cemeteries get crowded, and each year grass fires are inadvertently started by the burning incense sticks.
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October 21, 2010
Dizzy Gillespie's Birthday
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First known for his contributions to bebop and modern jazz, and second known for his iconic cheeks, Dizzie Gillespie's doodle is one that is both lively and unlike any other doodle to hit the homepage. Inspired by the jazz album illustrations of the mid 1900s, Dizzie's doodle quickly turned into a crescendo of shapes and color.
posted by Jennifer Hom
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October 21, 2009
Rampo Edogawa's Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ul...09vtopBQl=s660
Tarō Hirai, better known by the pen name Edogawa Ranpo was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery and thriller fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogoro Akechi, who in later books was the leader of a group of boy detectives known as the "Boy Detectives Club".
Ranpo was an admirer of Western mystery writers, and especially of Edgar Allan Poe. His pen name is a rendering of Poe's name. Other authors who were special influences on him were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whom he attempted to translate into Japanese during his days as a student at Waseda University, and the Japanese mystery writer Ruikō Kuroiwa.
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August 28, 2020
Celebrating Alexandre Dumas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWMOV5tKH8s
In honor of one of the most revered French authors of the 19th century, today’s Doodle slideshow celebrates Alexandre Dumas. Perhaps best known for swashbuckling adventure novels, Dumas produced a prolific body of work that continues to thrill readers around the world today. An abbreviated version of one of his most famous novels, “Le Comte de Monte Cristo” [“The Count of Monte Cristo,” 1844-’45], is included [spoiler-free!] in today’s Doodle artwork. On this day in 1884, the Parisian newspaper Les Journal des Débats [The Journal of Debates] published the first installment of the novel, which appeared serially in the publication through 1846.
Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was born in 1802 in Villers-Cotterêts, France. He later took the name Alexandre Dumas, assuming the surname of his paternal grandmother Marie-Césette Dumas who was a woman of African descent and a slave in Saint-Domingue [present-day Haiti]. As a child, Dumas was regaled with stories of his late father’s exploits as a general, elements of which later found their way into some of the writer’s most famous works.
Dumas moved to Paris in 1822 and became an accomplished playwright before he hit upon monumental success with his action-packed serialized novels of the 1840s, including “Les Troi Mousquetaires” [“The Three Musketeers,” 1844]. Today these works have made him one of the most popular French authors in the world, and his books have been translated into over 100 languages.
In the late 1980s, a long-lost Dumas novel was uncovered in Paris’ National Library of France. Titled “Le Chevalier de Sainte-Hermine” [“The Last Cavalier”], the book was finally published in 2005.
Merci, Alexandre Dumas, for all the excitement you’ve given to so many readers!
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August 28, 2014
Sheridan Le Fanu's 200th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/s2...MCtxdFEog=s660
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales, mystery novels, and horror fiction. He was a leading ghost story writer of his time, central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. M. R. James described Le Fanu as "absolutely in the first rank as a writer of ghost stories". Three of his best-known works are the locked-room mystery Uncle Silas, the lesbian vampire novella Carmilla, and the historical novel The House by the Churchyard.
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September 22, 2021
Bunpheng Faiphiuchai’s 89th Birthday
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For those looking to understand the heritage of Thailand’s northeastern Isan region—the nation’s largest territory that is home to over 22 million people—no other artistic phenomenon reflects its identity more than the poetic style of folk music known as Mo Lam. Today’s Doodle celebrates the 89th birthday of the Thai singer crowned the “Queen of Mo Lam,” Bunpheng Faiphiuchai.
Born on this day in 1932 in Ubon Ratchathani Province of Isan, Thailand, Bunpheng Faiphiuchai began performing Mo Lam at a young age. Mo Lam performances were uncomplicated during this era—one male and one female vocalist brought stories from Isan literature to life by holding a musical “debate” accompanied by the rhythmic sounds of the khaen [a bamboo mouth organ depicted in the Doodle artwork].
After years of training, Faiphiuchai became known for her witty philosophical responses to her male counterparts and soon landed a job as a Mo Lam performer. By 1955, Faiphiuchai recorded more full-length albums than any other woman in the genre. She complemented her illustrious singing career with philanthropic endeavors such as promoting infectious disease prevention, environmental initiatives, and other forms of Thai performance art.
Faiphiuchai was named a Thai National Artist in 1997 for her outstanding cultural contributions and passed down this unique Mo Lam expertise to numerous students throughout her life. Today, many of her pupils are well-known performers of Mo Lam which remains a foundational aspect of Thailand’s rich cultural heritage.
Happy Birthday, Bunpheng Faiphiuchai! Thank you for fostering the next generation of Mo Lam performers!
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September 22, 2020
Celebrating Benyamin Sueb
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Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Indonesia-based guest artist Isa Indra Permana, commemorates iconic Indonesian actor, comedian, singer, songwriter, writer, director, and producer Benyamin “Bang Ben” Sueb, who championed Jakarta, Indonesia’s Betawi culture as the star of more than 50 movies and composer of over 300 original songs. On this day in 2018, Jakarta inaugurated Benyamin Sueb Park, a cultural center dedicated to upholding the Betawi heritage to which Sueb devoted so much of his life.
Benyamin Sueb was born on March 5th, 1939 in present-day Jakarta. He first entered the music scene in the 1950s as a member of the “Melody Boys,” a band that drew upon a wide variety of international influences. Sueb later relied on more traditional Betawi musical idioms to write hits including “Nonton Bioskop” [“Watching Movies”] and “Hujan Grimis” [“Drizzle”] and helped to revitalize the gabang kromong style through beloved songs like “Ondel-Ondel” [Giant Puppets].
Sueb’s acting career took off in the early ‘70s, and through the lens of his often playfully comedic films, he is credited with painting a more accurate depiction of Betawi culture. He garnered acclaim for roles in films like “Intan Berduri” [“Thorny Diamond,” 1972] and “Si Doel Anak Modern” [“Doel the Modern Child,” 1976], both of which earned him Best Actor Citra Awards at the Indonesian Film Festival.
In 1990, Benyamin created Ben’s Radio, Indonesia’s only radio station dedicated to Betawi, which continues to play Sueb’s music to this day.
Thank you, Benyamin Sueb, for using music and humor to preserve valuable tradition and culture for generations to come!
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Sep 23, 2020
Romy Schneider's 82nd Birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates the 82nd birthday of Austrian-born actress Romy Schneider, a legendary star of European cinema between the 1950s and the early ‘80s. Schneider garnered international acclaim for her charismatic and provocative performances in more than 60 feature films throughout her storied career.
Romy Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach-Retty on this day in 1938 in the Austrian capital of Vienna and moved to Germany as a young child. Following in the footsteps of two generations of professional actors in her family, she appeared in her first feature film alongside her mother by the age of 15. Three years later, Schneider earned a big break when she landed the role of the titular empress in the Austrian historical drama “Sissi.”
The film was a major hit and–along with two sequels–established Schneider as one of Europe’s brightest new stars. To the dismay of many in Germany, the young actress moved to Paris, France in 1958, in part to distance herself from the “Sissi” trilogy and pursue a bold transition to more serious roles. Over the following decades, she worked with some of the world’s top directors and redefined herself as a prolific force in international cinema.
For her performance in “L’important C’est D’Aimer” [“That Most Important Thing: Love,” 1975], Schneider became the very first recipient of the César Award for Best Actress–one of French cinema’s most prestigious prizes–and she won the honor again for 1978’s “Une Histoire Simple” [“A Simple Story”].
Happy birthday, Romy Schneider, and thank you for helping to bring decades of timeless stories to life.
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September 23, 2016
Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta [El Santo]’s 99th Birthday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLXtVKb1i8E
Today we’re celebrating what would have been the 99th birthday of the man credited with popularizing wrestling in Mexico, the one and only Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta. More commonly known as “El Santo” [The Saint], this legendary, silver-masked luchador wrestled for nearly five decades and is remembered as one of the greatest sports figures in Mexican history. Through his appearance in film and as the subject of many comic books, he became a cultural icon, representing justice and the fight against evil.
Legend has it that El Santo never removed his silver mask even at home and had a special mask for eating. He went to great lengths to protect his identity, particularly when traveling. He finally removed his mask to reveal his identity on the Mexican talk show, Contrapunto. A week after his unmasking, El Santo died on February 5, 1984. His funeral was one of the biggest in Mexican history, attended by family, friends, and his many fans. Shortly thereafter, a statue of El Santo was erected in his hometown of Tulancingo.
Per his wishes, El Santo was buried wearing his iconic silver mask.
Below you can see a collection of all the scenes from the Doodle:
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Sep 23, 2016
358th Anniversary of Tea in the UK
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Tea drinking is a thoroughly British pastime, whether it’s a mug of steaming builder’s tea or a delicate cup and saucer served with cucumber sandwiches. It’s not known when the first cuppa was enjoyed in the UK, but we do know that the first advert for tea in England appeared on this date in a publication from 1658 describing it simply as a “China Drink.” A couple of years later, English Naval Administrator Samuel Pepys wrote about drinking tea in his diary entry from 1660.
Chinese tea was reportedly drunk by Europeans as early as the 16th century, a trend spearheaded by Dutch and Portuguese traders. British coffee shops were selling tea in the 17th century, though drinking it was considered an expensive, upper-class privilege. By the 19th century, The East India Company was using fast ships called tea clippers to transport leaves from India and China to England’s docks. The Cutty Sark is the only surviving clipper of its kind and can still be visited in Greenwich.
As tea became more readily available, dedicated tea shops began popping up throughout the UK, becoming favorite spots for daytime socialising. Tea was well on its way to becoming a British tradition.
As today’s animated Doodle illustrates, tea cups come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Whatever your favorite vessel may be, we hope you enjoy a cuppa or two of this enduring drink today.