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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 9, 2012
Howard Carter's 138th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/w1...D_vvYcSwA=s660
Howard Carter's doodle was so much fun to work on! Researching it and diving into his writing was a claustrophobic process in itself. The rich, detailed account and the anticipation of when he finally chiseled away at the tomb sent chills down my spine... so much so that I couldn't wait to read more. I now seriously hope to visit Tut's tomb someday.
posted by Willie Real
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May 10, 2012
Mahmoud Mokhtar's 121st Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rl...d30VxHnX8=s660
Mahmoud Mukhtar was an Egyptian sculptor. He attended the School of Fine Arts in Cairo upon its opening in 1908 by Prince Yusuf Kamal, and was part of the original "Pioneers" of the Egyptian Art movement. Despite his early death, he greatly impacted the realization and formation of contemporary Egyptian art. His work is credited with signaling the beginning of the Egyptian modernist movement, and he is often referred to as the father of modern Egyptian sculpture.
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June 6, 2022
Angelo Moriondo's 171st Birthday
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Once upon a time, in 19th century Italy, coffee was the hottest item around. Unfortunately, brewing methods required customers to wait over five minutes to get their drink. Enter Angelo Moriondo, the man who patented the first known espresso machine. Today’s Doodle celebrates his 171st birthday.
Moriondo was born on June 6, 1851 in Turin, Italy to a family of entrepreneurs who never stopped brewing new ideas or projects. His grandfather founded a liquor production company that was passed down to his son [Angelo’s father], who himself would later build the popular chocolate company, “Moriondo and Gariglio” alongside his brother and cousin.
Following in his family’s footsteps, Moriondo purchased two establishments: the Grand-Hotel Ligure in the city-center Piazza Carlo Felice and the American Bar in the Galleria Nazionale of Via Roma. Despite coffee’s popularity in Italy, the time spent waiting for coffee to brew inconvenienced customers. Moriondo figured that making multiple cups of coffee at once would allow him to serve more customers at a faster pace, giving him an edge over his competitors.
After directly supervising a mechanic he enlisted to build his invention, Moriondo presented his espresso machine at the General Expo of Turin in 1884, where it was awarded the bronze medal. The machine consisted of a large boiler that pushed heated water through a bed of coffee grounds, with a second boiler producing steam that would flash the bed of coffee and complete the brew. He received a patent titled,"New steam machinery for the economic and instantaneous confection of coffee beverage, method ‘A. Moriondo’." Moriondo continued to improve and patent his invention in the following years.
Happy 171st birthday, Angelo Moriondo. Today, coffee lovers sip in tribute to the godfather of espresso machines.
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June 6, 2011
Dragon Boat Festival 2011
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/M9...Sbn8bDGp-=s660
The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday which occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or June in the Gregorian calendar.
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June 6, 2009
25 Years of Tetris – courtesy of Tetris Holding, LLC
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cV...1nTTzdbpA=s660
Tetris is a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the appropriation of the rights in the late 1980s. After a significant period of publication by Nintendo, the rights reverted to Pajitnov in 1996, who co-founded the Tetris Company with Henk Rogers to manage licensing.
Built on simple rules and requiring intelligence and skill, Tetris established itself as one of the great early video games.
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June 6, 2014
Honinbo Shusaku's 185th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Vd...Diu25c2Pd=s660
Today in Japan and other countries, we’re marking the 185th birthday of Honinbo Shusaku, widely considered to be one of the greatest players of the ancient Chinese board game Go. Shusaku rose to prominence during Go’s golden age in the 19th century and is known for his perfection of the Shusaku opening, which is depicted in our doodle.
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June 6, 2012
79th Anniversary of the First Drive-in Movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV7ppqSzfuY
A partial drive-in theater—Theatre de Guadalupe—was opened in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on April 23, 1915. The first movie shown by the Theatre de Guadalupe was Bags of Gold, produced by Siegmund Lubin. Theatre de Guadalupe soon was renamed De Lux Theater before closing in July 1916.
In 1921, a drive-in was opened by Claude V. Caver in Comanche, Texas. Caver obtained a permit from the city to project films downtown. With cars parked bumper-to-bumper, patrons witnessed the screening of silent films from their vehicles. In the 1920s, "outdoor movies" became a popular summer entertainment, but relatively few "drive-in" experiments were made due to logistical difficulties.
After 1945 rising car ownership and suburban and rural population led to a boom in drive-in theaters, with hundreds being opened each year. More couples were reunited and having children, resulting in the Baby Boom, and more cars were being purchased following the end of wartime fuel rationing. By 1951, the number of drive-in movie theaters in the United States had increased from its 1947 total of 155 to 4,151.
Beginning in the late 1960s, drive-in attendance began to decline as the result of improvements and changes to home entertainment, from color television and cable TV, to VCRs and video rental in the early 1980s. Additionally, the 1970s energy crisis led to the widespread adoption of daylight saving time [which caused drive-in movies to start an hour later] and lower use of automobiles, making it increasingly difficult for drive-ins to remain profitable.
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June 8, 2005
Frank Lloyd Wright's 138th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/le...MM4iAR-GQ=s660
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements of the twentieth century, influencing architects worldwide through his works and hundreds of apprentices in his Taliesin Fellowship. Wright believed in designing in harmony with humanity and the environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture. This philosophy was exemplified in Fallingwater [1935], which has been called "the best all-time work of American architecture".
Wright was the pioneer of what came to be called the Prairie School movement of architecture and also developed the concept of the Usonian home in Broadacre City, his vision for urban planning in the United States. He also designed original and innovative offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, museums, and other commercial projects. Wright-designed interior elements [including leaded glass windows, floors, furniture and even tableware] were integrated into these structures. He wrote several books and numerous articles and was a popular lecturer in the United States and in Europe. Wright was recognized in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as "the greatest American architect of all time". In 2019, a selection of his work became a listed World Heritage Site as The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...xRr9A&usqp=CAU
Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania [1937]
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...m_exterior.jpg
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City [1959]
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February 23, 2020
Ca Trù's Founder Commemoration Day 2020
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Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Ho Chi Minh City-based guest artist Xuan Le, celebrates Ca Trù’s Founders Commemoration Day, a time to honor the genre widely considered to be Vietnam’s most revered traditional form of music.
A style that fits somewhere in between the geisha ceremonies of Japan and the dramatic performances of opera, Ca trù’s unique sound has roots that stretch back to the 11th century. First gaining popularity as entertainment for the aristocracy of Vietnam’s royal palaces, it later made its way into the inns and communal spaces of what is now modern-day Hanoi.
The ensemble is composed of at least three performers, including one female singing intricate poetry while tapping a phach [a small bamboo box], two musicians playing traditional instruments, and occasionally dancers. Ca trù is now found in cities across Vietnam.
Performed in designated Ca trù clubs and at annual festivals, the genre has seen a recent revival due to a concentrated effort from state-run organizations and international agencies. Preservation of Ca trù is elusive due in part to it being a strictly oral tradition that is passed down only through one elite practitioner to the next generation after years of committed study.
Taking into account the precious nature of an invaluable historical relic and the difficulty of its safeguarding, UNESCO is dedicated to protecting the practice and inscribed Ca trù on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009.
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Feb 28, 2020
Marcel Pagnol's 125th Birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates the 125th birthday of French filmmaker, playwright, and novelist Marcel Pagnol, often revered as one of the greatest figures in the history of French cinema. With his evocative, realist style, Pagnol painted a heartfelt and comical portrait of everyday French life, influencing generations of filmmakers in the process.
Marcel Paul Pagnol was born on this day in 1895 in the town of Aubagne, just outside of Marseilles in Southern France. He followed in the footsteps of his father, a local school superintendent, and pursued a career in education. In between lessons, Pagnol worked on his own plays, novels, and poetry, and when his comedic drama “Topaze” [1928] became a major hit on the Paris stage, he retired from teaching for good.
Establishing himself as an eminent playwright during cinema’s transformation from silent films to the sound era, Pagnol recognized a new world of opportunity in adapting his stories to the silver screen. By 1931, he had produced his first film, “Marius,” the leading installment of his famous “Marseilles” trilogy, which centered around life in the port town of his birth.
Credited as a pioneer of the neo-realist movement, Pagnol went on to direct and produce a collection of award-winning films, helping to shape French cinema’s golden decade of the 1930s and ‘40s.
In recognition of his contributions, in 1946, Pagnol became the first filmmaker ever elected as a member of the distinguished Acádemie française [“French Academy”], France’s official authority on the French language.
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September 19, 2021
Paulo Freire's 100th Birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates the centennial birthday of Brazilian philosopher, educator, and author Paulo Freire. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential educational thinkers of the 20th century.
Paulo Reglus Neves Freire was born on this day in 1921 in Recife, Brazil, then a mostly impoverished region affected by the echoes of colonialism and slavery. Coming of age alongside poor rural families while his own family experienced hunger, grounded his understanding of the interconnected relationship between socioeconomic status and education. From then on, Freire made it his mission to improve the lives of marginalized people.
In 1947, Freire began a decade-long position providing social services to the Brazilian working class, which was foundational to the creation of his universal educational model一conscientização [the development of critical consciousness]. This groundbreaking methodology calls for the cultural exchange between teacher and student through the lens of their socio-historical circumstances with the aim of creating a democratic society free of illiteracy.
In 1962, he applied conscientização with radical success—teaching 300 farmworkers to read and write in only 45 days! However, these ideals proved too radical for the newly established Brazilian government in 1964 and he was forced into exile until 1979. During this period, Freire published his acclaimed 1968 book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” which brought his revolutionary teaching philosophy to a wide international audience.
He continued his educational journey abroad before returning to Brazil in 1980 to lead an adult literacy project. In 1988, Freire began working as São Paulo’s Minister of Education, implementing innovative literary programs. Today, his work lives on at the Freire Institute, an international organization devoted to educational advancement and societal transformation through his teachings.
Happy Birthday, Paulo Freire!
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Sep 17, 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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Sep 16, 2021
Mexico Independence Day 2021
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...09073.2-2x.png
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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Sep 16, 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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September 16, 2019
Respect For The Aged Day 2019
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Today’s Doodle celebrates Japan’s Respect for the Aged Day, also known as Keiro no Hi. Starting in a small village in Hyōgo Prefecture, it was conceived as a time to be kind to seniors and ask for their wisdom and advice about ways to improve life in the village. By 1966, it had become a national holiday to pay respect to elders on the third week of September and is now celebrated all across Japan.
Starting in 2003, the holiday was moved to the third Monday in September. The resulting long weekend allows working people time to visit their parents and grandparents. Those who cannot return home in person often call or write. Some volunteers deliver food to homebound elders, and other communities organize special shows known as keirokai, where young people entertain an aged audience.
Japanese people tend to be very long-lived, with elderly residents making up over 26 percent of the total population. Many Japanese people wear red on their 60th birthday, because according to tradition, age 60 marks a new beginning to be a child once again.
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September 16, 2019
Lupicínio Rodrigues’ 105th Birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates Brazilian composer and singer Lupicínio Rodrigues, whose sentimental songs made his name synonymous with the musical genre samba-canção, also known as samba triste or “sad samba.” Born on this day in 1914 in the city of Porto Allegre, Rodrigues was a master of dor-de-cotovelo music—which literally translates as “elbow pain music,” or songs that express heartache.
Raised in a family of modest means, Rodrigues lived in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, but his dramatic songs were spread far and wide by sailors visiting his hometown, a popular cruise ship port. “Carnaval,” one of his first compositions, won a contest when he was just 14 years old.
Starting in the 1940s and ’50s, his work was recorded by the most popular vocalists in Brazil, including Francisco Alves, Orlando Silva, Linda Batista, Nora Ney, Elza Soares, Gilberto Gil, and Jamelão—who eventually recorded an entire album of his compositions.
Asked about the inspiration for his tales of jealousy, betrayal, and lost love, Rodrigues answered, “my life.” A family memoir quoted him as saying, "I've been suffering a lot at the hands of women, because I'm so sentimental, but I've also made fortunes from what they do to me.”
In honor of his 80th birthday, his home state of Rio Grande do Sul announced the Lupicínio Rodrigues Cultural Year, a fitting tribute to the composer’s enduring artistry, full of pathos and passion.
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September 15, 2010
Agatha Christie's 120th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Zz...8SoiFtipY=s660
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, [née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976] was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
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Sep 14, 2010
Akatsuka Fujio's 75th Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/2010/akatsuka10-hp.png
Fujio Akatsuka was a pioneer Japanese artist of comical manga known as the Gag Manga King.
Many of his manga featured supporting characters who ended up becoming more popular and more associated with their series than the main character, such as Papa [Tensai Bakabon], Iyami, Chibita [Osomatsu-kun], and Nyarome [Mōretsu Atarō].
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Sep 4, 2010
25th Anniversary of Buckyball
https://www.google.com/logos/2010/buckyball10-hp.gif
Who doesn't like the buckyball? They're super strong, compact, nerdy, and fun! Named after Buckminster Fuller, the buckyball is a bit of science gold that all nerds can get behind-- buckyballs are cool. The structure is so strong it appears in architecture around the world, athletes also deemed it a sound shape for the football [or American soccer ball]. Science, however, sees its potential in display technology, medicine, and security!
It was a pleasure to work with a team of engineers on this doodle, as there are actually no drawings for the final interactive product. Our team was able to generate the buckyball using an image of a line and circle, the rest is generated with code.
posted by Jennifer Hom
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June 6, 2022
Fasia Jansen's 93rd Birthday
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Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Hamburg-based guest artist Ayşe Klinge, celebrates the 93rd birthday of Fasia Jansen—an influential Afro-German singer, songwriter and political activist who helped advance the post-war peace movement in West Germany.
Jansen was born on this day in Hamburg in 1929, at a time when racism, inflation and economic depression plagued the country. Aspiring to become a dance star, Jansen joined a dance academy at age 11. But her dreams were thwarted two years later when the academy expelled her out of fear that the Nazis would punish the school for accepting Black students.
Soon after, she was forced to cook for the Neuengamme concentration camp. Under the Nazis’ Dienstverpflichtung decree, which required people to perform a year of unpaid labor, most young girls could work easier jobs in domestic households. But as a Black girl, her only option was to toil in a concentration camp.
It was in the Neuengamme concentration camp that Jansen began singing with political prisoners who worked tirelessly beside her. Singing together helped them survive this traumatic period. After the horrors of World War II, Jansen dedicated her life to creating powerful music to protest injustices everywhere — from the Vietnam War to labor violations in the Ruhr Valley. Jansen also became a strong advocate for the Women’s Rights Movements in Germany and beyond.
She became famous in the 1960s, after performing Unser Marsch ist eine gute Sache [Our March is a Good Thing] alongside the renowned singer Dieter Süverkrüp during the Easter March in resistance to the nuclear arms race. Her song Verbrannte Erde in Deutschland [“Burnt Earth in Germany”], became an important anthem for the anti-nuclear movement in Europe.
In 1991, the government awarded her the medal Verdienstkreuz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, recognizing her work to rebuild a more equitable Germany. Today, there is a street, a municipal school and an African education center named in her honor.
Happy 93rd birthday, Fasia Jansen! No one could stop you from spreading hope. Your story and legacy give people a reason to sing.
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Aug 30, 2010
Mary Shelley's 213th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Nw...hunq_n1SM=s660
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus [1818], which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley.
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Aug 24, 2010
Ukraine Independence Day 2010
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lz...Ma4aCVtt8=s660
Independence Day of Ukraine is the main state holiday in modern Ukraine, celebrated on 24 August in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of 1991.
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Aug 21, 2010
August Bournonville's 205th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_7...waSvkUn7g=s660
August Bournonville was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nephew of Julie Alix de la Fay, née Bournonville, of the Royal Swedish Ballet.
Bournonville's work remains an important link with earlier traditions. He resisted many of the excesses of the romantic era ballets in his work. He is noted for his egalitarian choreography, which gave equal emphasis to both male and female roles, at a time when European ballet emphasized the ballerina. Many of his contemporaries explored the extremes of human emotion, while Bournonville, using enthusiastic footwork and fluid phrases in his work, portrayed a more balanced human nature.
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Aug 19, 2010
Anniversary of Belka and Strelka Space Flight
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/IV...bqhWKAN5D=s660
Belka spent a day in space aboard Korabl-Sputnik 2 [Sputnik 5] on 19 August 1960 before safely returning to Earth. They are the first higher living organisms to survive in outer space.
They were accompanied by a grey rabbit, 42 mice, two rats, flies and several plants and fungi. All passengers survived. They were the first Earth-born creatures to go into orbit and return alive.
Strelka went on to have six puppies with a male dog named Pushok who participated in many ground-based space experiments, but never made it into space. One of the puppies was named Pushinka [ "Fluffy"[ and was presented to President John F. Kennedy by Nikita Khrushchev in 1961. A Cold War romance bloomed between Pushinka and a Kennedy dog named Charlie, resulting in the birth of four puppies that JFK referred to jokingly as pupniks.
Two of their puppies, Butterfly and Streaker, were given away to children in the Midwest. The other two puppies, White Tips and Blackie, stayed at the Kennedy home on Squaw Island but were eventually given away to family friends. Pushinka's descendants were still living at least as of 2015. A photo of descendants of some of the Space Dogs is on display at the Zvezda Museum in Tomilino outside Moscow.
A Russian animated feature film called Belka and Strelka: Star Dogs [English title: Space Dogs] was released in 2010.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...trelka_Dog.jpg
Strelka
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Aug 12, 2010
71st Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/qP...y_dChnEIw=s660
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the film was primarily directed by Victor Fleming [who left the production to take over the troubled Gone with the Wind], and stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke and Margaret Hamilton. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but others made uncredited contributions. The songs were written by Edgar "Yip" Harburg and composed by Harold Arlen. The musical score and incidental music were composed by Herbert Stothart.
Characterized by its use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical score, and memorable characters, The Wizard of Oz was moderately successful upon its original release of August 25, 1939. The film was considered a critical success and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, winning in two categories: Best Original Song for "Over the Rainbow" and Best Original Score by Stothart.
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August 12, 2012
Closing Ceremony 2012
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The closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, also known as A Symphony of British Music, was held on 12 August 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London. The chief guest was Prince Harry of Wales representing Queen Elizabeth II.
The stadium had been turned into a giant representation of the Union Flag, designed by Damien Hirst. Around 4,100 people partook in the ceremony; which reportedly cost £20 million. The ceremony included a handover to the next host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro and saw the Olympic flame extinguished and the Olympic flag lowered.
The main part of the evening featured a one-hour symphony of British Music as a number of British Pop acts appeared. Tributes to John Lennon and Freddie Mercury and the fashion industry were included in the section. Rio marked the handover with an eight-minute section known as "Embrace" created by Cao Hamburger and Daniela Thomas, featuring Pelé. Sebastian Coe gave a speech, and the volunteers of London 2012 were thanked.
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August 12, 2003
Alfred Hitchcock's 104th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gd...88VyiGnxg=s660
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was an English filmmaker widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today.
Known as the "Master of Suspense", he became as well known as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews, his cameo roles in most of his films, and his hosting and producing the television anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents [1955–65]. His films garnered 46 Academy Award nominations, including six wins, although he never won the award for Best Director despite five nominations.
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Jun 16, 2003
MC Escher's 105th Birthday
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Maurits Cornelis Escher was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for most of his life neglected in the art world, even in his native Netherlands. He was 70 before a retrospective exhibition was held. In the late twentieth century, he became more widely appreciated, and in the twenty-first century he has been celebrated in exhibitions around the world.
His work features mathematical objects and operations including impossible objects, explorations of infinity, reflection, symmetry, perspective, truncated and stellated polyhedra, hyperbolic geometry, and tessellations. Although Escher believed he had no mathematical ability, he interacted with the mathematicians George Pólya, Roger Penrose, Harold Coxeter and crystallographer Friedrich Haag, and conducted his own research into tessellation.
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June 16, 2004
James Joyce Day 2004 / Bloomsday 2004
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Bloomsday is a commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce, observed annually in Dublin and elsewhere on 16 June, the day his 1922 novel Ulysses takes place in 1904, the date of his first sexual encounter with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle, and named after its protagonist Leopold Bloom.
In Mel Brooks' 1968 film The Producers, Gene Wilder's character is called Leo Bloom, an homage to Joyce's character. In the 2005 film musical version, in the evening scene at the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, Leo asks, "When will it be Bloom's day?". However, in the earlier scene in which Bloom first meets Max Bialystock, the office wall calendar shows that the current day is 16 June, indicating that it is, in fact, Bloomsday.
Richard Linklater alludes to Ulysses in two of his films. In 1991's Slacker, a character reads an excerpt from Ulysses after convincing his friends to dump a tent and a typewriter in a river as a response to a prior lover's infidelity. The film also takes place over a 24-hour period. In 1995's Before Sunrise, events take place on 16 June.
A 2009 episode of the cartoon The Simpsons, "In the Name of the Grandfather", featured the family's trip to Dublin and Lisa's reference to Bloomsday. Punk band Minutemen have a song on their 1984 Double Nickels on the Dime album entitled "June 16th", which is named after Bloomsday.
U2's 2009 song "Breathe" refers to events taking place on a fictitious 16 June. Dublin band Fontaines D.C.’s song “Bloomsday” from their 2022 album “Skinty Fia” also references the holiday.
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June 19, 2021
Juneteenth 2021
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Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Detroit-based guest artist Rachelle Baker, honors Juneteenth, an annual federal holiday celebrating the liberation of Black enslaved people in the United States. On this day in 1865, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas received news of the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order that mandated the end of slavery in Confederate states during the American Civil War.
Despite its passage on January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation remained opposed for years by several states still under Confederate control. Texas represented the westernmost edge of the Confederate territories and was thus among the American regions with the least Union presence. It was in the Lone Star State’s port town of Galveston that some 1,800 Union troops finally arrived to establish Union authority on June 19, 1865.
Here, the now-famous “General Orders, Number 3” was dispatched, which proclaimed the end of slavery to over 250,000 Black Texans. Although this decree did not guarantee immediate independence or equality for Texas’s Black community, an unprecedented freedom and civil rights movement followed in its wake–the legacy of which persists today.
Today’s Doodle artwork celebrates joy within the Black community, as well as the perseverance foundational to this journey toward liberation. With each letter, the Doodle transitions from historical Juneteenth parades to modern-day traditions such as education through storytelling, outdoor gatherings with family and friends, and commemorative festivals and parades. These scenes of celebration and community are brightened by bluebonnets—the state flower of Texas—and forget-me-nots that are layered upon backgrounds of decorative ironwork commonly found on buildings throughout the southern states. This ironwork highlights the often forgotten contributions made by enslaved Black Americans and symbolizes their strength and resilience.
While Juneteenth recognizes over a century and a half of progress, it also reminds Americans to continue to build a more equitable and unified nation.
Happy Juneteenth!
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December 17, 2021
Celebrating Carrie Best
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Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based guest artist Alexis Eke, celebrates Canadian activist, author, journalist, publisher, and broadcaster Carrie Best and her record of influential accomplishments, including co-founding The Clarion—one of the first Nova Scotian newspapers owned and operated by Black Canadians. For her humanitarian efforts, Best was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1974, and subsequently became an Officer of the Order of Canada on this day in 1979.
Carrie Mae Prevoe was born on March 4, 1903, in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia during a time of pronounced racial discrimination. Encouraged by her parents to take pride in her heritage, she decided from a young age to refuse racial stereotypes and immerse herself in historical and literary works written by Black Canadians and African-Americans. In 1925, she married Albert T. Best.
In 1943, Best was arrested for sitting in the “white only” section of New Glasgow’s Roseland Theatre—an act of protest against the forcible removal of several Black teens who attempted to sit there only days before. She then sued the theatre based on racial discrimination but lost the case. Her drive for equal rights was only strengthened by this event.
Best founded The Clarion in 1946 to publish news by and for the nation’s Black community. In 1952, Best established her own radio show titled “The Quiet Corner,” where she broadcast music and read poetry often relating to human rights for the next 12 years. Best was also a strong advocate for the rights of Indigenous peoples.
Best’s efforts were recognized with honorary law doctorates in 1975 and 1992. The University of King’s College in Halifax, one of the institutions that awarded Best, continues to carry on her legacy by offering outstanding Black and Indigenous Canadian students a scholarship named in her honor.
Thank you for fighting for the future of marginalized people in Canada and beyond, Carrie Best!
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September 11, 2021
Christine de Pizan's 657th Birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates the 657th birthday of Italian writer and poet Christine de Pizan. She is considered the first woman in Europe to support herself solely by writing professionally.
Christine de Pizan was born in the Republic of Venice on this day in 1364. She spent her childhood exploring libraries in the court of France’s King Charles V, where her father served as court astrologer. Armed with a pen and her love of literature, she began writing romantic ballads in 1393. This early foray into wordsmithing enraptured several powerful patrons, including King Charles VI.
De Pizan is best known today for her role in a medieval literary feud that rivals any modern celebrity drama. It began in the early 1400s with heated debates regarding the popular poem “The Romance of the Rose.” De Pizan denounced the work’s treatment of women and struck back in 1405 with one of her most famous works, “The Book of the City of Ladies.” In it, she incorporated stories that highlighted the leadership and wisdom of important women from history and mythology. She released the sequel, “The Treasure of the City of Ladies,” later that year, completing the series now considered to be among the earliest feminist literature.
Throughout her career, de Pizan published 10 volumes of poetry, many of which were “complaints,” the term for medieval protest poems and songs against vice or injustice. Today, de Pizan is among the 1,038 influential women represented in Judy Chicago’s iconic 1970s art installation “The Dinner Party” on display at the Brooklyn Museum.
Happy Birthday, Christine de Pizan!
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September 11, 2018
Joanna Baillie’s 256th Birthday
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The prolific yet soft-spoken Scottish writer, born on this day in 1762, was compared to Shakespeare during her lifetime and is often hailed as one of the greatest female poets of all times. Her first poem, “Winter Day,” evoked the natural beauty of her native Scotland. Her cottage outside London was a hub of the literary scene, where she maintained friendly relationships with many of the important British writers of her time, including William Wordsworth, and Lady and Lord Byron.
In the "Introductory Discourse" to her 1798 Plays on the Passions, Baillie set the tone for what would come to be known as English Romanticism. She spent fourteen years working on her ambitious three-part project, a series of comedies and tragedies about love, hatred and jealousy with the stated goal of “unveiling the human mind under the dominion of those strong and fixed passions.” Today’s Doodle depicts some of her best-loved ‘Plays on the Passions’: Ethwald, De Monfort, The Tryal, Basil, and Orra.
First published anonymously, Baillie’s plays were the talk of London as readers tried to guess the author’s identity. Despite her obvious talents, she was reluctant to publish at all—"were it not that my Brother has expressed a strong wish that I should publish a small vol: of poetry,” she wrote in a letter, ”I should have very little pleasure in the thought”— but she was determined that her plays [psychological dramas featuring strong female characters] be performed by actors on stage rather than simply read. “I have wished to leave behind me in the world a few plays,” she wrote in the preface to her 1804 collection ‘Miscellaneous Plays,’ “some of which might have a chance of continuing to be acted even in our canvas theatres and barns.”
Baillie’s literary legacy is rivaled only by her philanthropy. Though born into a well-off Scottish family, her mother saw hard times following her father’s sudden death. A wealthy uncle’s inheritance helped her and her sister purchase the cottage where she lived and worked for most of her life, but she never forgot the less fortunate, donating half of the earnings from her writing to charity. She wrote an essay in support of chimney sweeps, and advocated for women writers as well as other authors who struggled to provide for themselves.
Happy Birthday Joanna Baillie!
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Sep 10, 2018
Professor Dorothy Hill’s 111th Birthday
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“I couldn’t really see why a woman couldn’t run a university,” said Dorothy Hill, the trailblazing Australian geologist and paleontologist who became president of the Professorial Board at her alma mater, the University of Queensland, in 1971. A pioneer in her field, Hill was the first woman to become a professor at any Australian university as well as the first female president of the Australian Academy of Science.
After studying chemistry in at university, Hill took an early interest in the geology of coral. After graduating with honours, she won a scholarship to earn her PhD at Cambridge University, where she published papers on the structure and morphology of coral and earned a pilot’s license in her spare time. In 1939, Hill worked with the Geological Survey of Queensland studying early core samples of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
Following the war, Hill continued to win prestigious accolades, becoming president of the Royal Society of Queensland, Chairman of the Geological Society of Australia, Queensland Division, and the first female fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1956. She edited the Journal of the Geological Society of Australia and published more than 100 research papers in various respected journals. In 1964, Hill was awarded the Lyell Medal for scientific research and became the first Australian woman to be a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
Professor Hill retired from the University in late 1972, returning to research her landmark Bibliography and Index of Australian Paleozoic Coral, which was published in 1978. A Dorothy Hill chair in Paleontology and Stratigraphy was endowed in her honor, and the Australian Academy of Sciences now bestows the Dorothy Hill Award for female researchers in earth sciences. Her colleagues at the University of Queensland created a 3D model of her rock hammer for an exhibition at the School of Earth Sciences. Her name was also given to numerous species of invertebrate fossils, including Acanthastrea hillae, Australomya hillae, Filiconcha hillae, and Reticulofenestra hillae.
Born on this day in 1907, Professor Hill’s accomplishments inspire countless other young women to pursue careers in academia. Today’s Doodle celebrates the intrepid field researcher, scholar and inspirational role model for future generations.
Happy Birthday Professor Hill!
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September 10, 2008
Large Hadron Collider
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The Large Hadron Collider [LHC] is the world's largest and highest-energy particle collider. It was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research between 1998 and 2008 in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and hundreds of universities and laboratories, as well as more than 100 countries. It lies in a tunnel 27 kilometres [17 mi] in circumference and as deep as 175 metres [574 ft] beneath the France–Switzerland border near Geneva.