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12 September 2022
Gabriela Brimmer's 75th birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates Mexican-Jewish writer and disability rights activist Gabriela Brimmer on what would have been her 75th birthday. Brimmer made impactful contributions to books and films that authentically portrayed her experience as a person with cerebral palsy, ultimately creating more opportunities for those in the disabled community.
Brimmer was born in Mexico City in 1947 to parents who escaped Nazi Austria. Soon after, her parents learned she had severe cerebral palsy, a muscular disorder that can affect a person's movement, muscle tone and posture. Brimmer’scaregivers taught her to communicate through written words and poetry, as she was nonverbal.
Her left leg and foot, the only part of her body she could move, became her means of communication with the world. As depicted in today’s artwork, she wrote beautiful passages by using a typewriter that she operated with the big toe on her left foot.
Brimmer later teamed up with Mexican novelists and journalists to write three bestselling books that accurately depicted her life. She also worked with producers to repurpose her autobiography into the movie Gaby, a True Story [1987], which won Golden Globes and Oscar nominations.
Brimmer went on to found the Association for the Rights of People with Motor Disabilities and participated in many other organizations that advocated for disability rights and accessibility.
In 2016, the Gaby Brimmer National Center for Rehabilitation and Educational Integration was created in her honor.
Happy birthday, Gabriela Brimmer!
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12 September 2022
Celebrating the Lampang Rooster Bowl
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Cock-a-Doodle-Do! Today’s Doodle celebrates the iconic Lampang Rooster Bowl, a traditional tableware design featuring a black-tailed rooster with peony flowers and banana leaves. This durable kitchenware is so popular in Asia that the Thai government registered the rooster bowl as a Geographical Indication product of Lampang on this day in 2013. This means international trade law affirms the quality and reputation of rooster bowls made in the region!
The rooster bowl was imported to Thailand from China. In the original artwork, the rooster symbolized hard work while the banana leaf and red peony represented dreams of good fortune.
In 1957, entrepreneurs opened many rooster kitchenware factories in Thailand’s Lampang province. The region, teeming with clay minerals, was better suited for ceramic manufacturing.
As Lampang began mass producing tableware with rooster designs, the bowl became one of the region’s best-selling products—bringing financial stability and freedom to Lampang locals.
Although Lampang continues to manufacture rooster bowls today, few factories can afford to design rooster bowls according to the traditional style and material, causing the original hand-painted rooster bowls to become a rare collector’s item.
Be sure to check your kitchen cabinets for vintage rooster bowls—they just might bring your family good fortune!
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12 September 2014
Ernesto Carneiro Ribeiro's 175th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/uV...3eIOXN_74=s660
Fellow grammarians, today you meet your hero on our homepage in Brazil. We’re celebrating the 175th birthday of linguist, educator and physician Ernesto Carneiro Ribeiro, who worked to revise Brazil’s official grammar code to include conversational speech.
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15 Sept 2016
Jean Batten’s 107th birthday
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In the 1930s, female aviator Jean Batten took the skies by storm and brought the winds of change with her. After two failed attempts to fly from England to Australia, Jean made her comeback with a record-breaking return journey in 1934.
Her success elevated in 1935 when she became the first woman to ever fly solo across the south Atlantic, and then it soared in 1936 when Jean and her lucky black cat, Buddy, made the first-ever direct flight from England to New Zealand. She described the moment the wheels hit the turf as “the very greatest moment of my life,” proving to the world that the sky’s only the limit if you let it.
Today we celebrate what would have been this pioneering pilot’s 107th birthday with a reminder to fly fiercely towards our boldest dreams.
Doodle by Sophie Diao
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15 September 2010
Agatha Christie's 120th Birthday
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Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, [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 murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II 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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9 March 2019
Francisca Reyes-Aquino’s 120th Birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and work of Francisca Reyes-Aquino, the Filipino folk dancer and cultural researcher who helped preserve numerous Filipino cultural traditions including the tinikling— one of the country’s most well-known traditional dances. Countless other regional dance forms might have been lost forever if not for the efforts of Reyes-Aquino, who is often referred to as the “Mother of Philippine Dancing.”
Born on this day in 1899, Reyes-Aquino became interested in preserving the unique folk culture that thrived throughout the 7000+ islands that make up the Philippine archipelago. Earning a degree in Education from the University of the Philippines, she began traveling to rural communities with a small team of researchers to study the Filipino people’s unique songs, games, and dances. Recording and transcribing everything in detail, Reyes-Aquino shared her findings at recitals of the university’s folk dance troupe, helping to popularize and preserve dozens of dance forms through classes held by the university’s department of physical education.
Today’s animated Doodle depicts various Philippine traditional dances Reyes-Aquino helped document and preserve including the cariñosa, singkil, pandanggo sa ilaw, and the national favorite: tinikling. Named after a small, native bird that had long been the nemesis of local rice farmers, the dance is inspired by the bird’s hopping movements. Tinikling performers hop and skip skillfully between bamboo poles, creating a rhythmic combination of footwork and arm movements.
In 1954, Reyes-Aquino was awarded the Republic Award of Merit for her “outstanding contribution toward the advancement of Filipino culture.” She was also named a National Artist of Dance in 1973.
Happy 120th birthday, Francisca!
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9 March 2013
Luis Barragan's 111th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/t3...1vY8CN0Rg=s660
Luis Ramiro Barragán Morfín [March 9, 1902 – November 22, 1988] was a Mexican architect and engineer. His work has influenced contemporary architects visually and conceptually. Barragán's buildings are frequently visited by international students and professors of architecture. He studied as an engineer in his home town, while undertaking the entirety of additional coursework to obtain the title of architect.
Barragán won the Pritzker Prize, the highest award in architecture, in 1980, and his personal home, the Luis Barragán House and Studio, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.
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8 Mar 2013
Women's Day 2013
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/MP...kckwqo-Y0=s660
Creating this Doodle, while lots of fun, was quite a challenge. After all, women make up more than half of the population. How can they be fairly represented in just one illustration? While no attempt is perfect, it took a number of tries to arrive at the final concept that you see on the homepage.
I initially thought it might be fun to simply depict some ladies having fun outside. I then tried to anthropomorphize the Google letters into women from different backgrounds and lifestyle choices. Ultimately, I didn’t feel that any of these fairly represented women as a whole.
The idea for the final illustration came to me while I was doing one of my favorite things -- sketching in a coffee shop. When drawing from life, you really observe how each human face is unique. People come in all shapes and sizes!
I realized that I could use a similar concept with the Women’s Day Doodle. Using simple shapes to write “Google” with negative space seemed to be the best way to approach this assignment; I now had far more to work with than simply replacing the 6 letters in “Google”.
I had fun painting this Doodle, and hope that others enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the creative process!
Posted by Betsy Bauer, Doodler.
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6 Mar 2018
Celebrating Semla
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Semla season is in full swing, sending fans of these storied Swedish buns, flavored with cardamom and filled with almond paste and whipped cream, into a frenzy!
Dating back to around 1541, semlor [plural of semla, because who could consume just one?] were originally eaten by Sweden’s monarchy and upper-classes, usually every Tuesday between Shrove Tuesday and Easter, prior to Lenten fasting.
King Adolf Frederick, a ruler with an enormous appetite, devoured 14 semlor in one sitting, shortly before his demise on February 12, 1771. Unlike typical buns of the time, his were soaked in hot milk [[known as hetvägg), and fancified with cinnamon and raisins. Alas, they were to be his last.
Almond paste and whipped cream further sweetened the bun in the 1930s. and over the years semlor in all shapes and sizes have filled bakery windows, from traditional semlor with cut-off tops and powdered sugar to modern takes like semmelwrap, made with flattened dough and the Princess semla, a cross between the Prinsesstårta, a traditional green layer cake, and the cardamom bun. [In other parts of Scandinavia, semlor are known as fastlagsbulle or fastelavnsbolle.]
Today’s Doodle celebrates this enduring treat in all of its delicious variations. Enjoyed during a fika [coffee break] a semla is worth flipping your lid over!
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6 Mar 2018
Gabriel García Márquez’s 91st Birthday
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Deep in the Amazonian jungle, through the lush green canopy and multi-hued vibrance of the hot and humid rainforest, look carefully and you might catch a glimpse of a city of mirrors; a city separated from the world by an expanse of water and yet reflecting everything in and about it; a city that is home to the Buendia family and the site of strange otherworldly happenings. Here, little fish made of pure gold dazzle the eye; large yellow butterflies flit through the flowers; a train chugs along once in a blue moon; and the only visitors are the all-knowing, mysterious gypsies who come bearing strange tales.
Depicted in today's Doodle is this magical city of Macondo, brought to life by the Colombian author, journalist, and Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez [affectionately known as Gabo throughout Latin America] in his book, One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Born in Aracataca, Colombia, Gabo is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. In his long literary career, he penned over 25 books, transporting readers into a world of magical realism where they find themselves in the lush, humid tropics — moldering into solitude or being slowly consumed by the throes of passion.
Gabo’s keen sense of political activism and courage also allowed him to author a number of non-fictional works that eloquently document the times that he lived in, News of a Kidnapping being among the most famous of these.
For all this and more, we celebrate the 91st birthday of a cultural icon whose star continues to shine brightly over the literary and journalistic worlds of Latin America and beyond.
Feliz cumpleaños, Gabo!
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5 Mar 2018
Celebrating the Edelweiss Flower
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Today's Doodle celebrates Leontopodium nivale – more commonly known as the edelweiss flower – which for centuries has beckoned soldiers, hikers, and other adventurers from the slopes of the highest mountains of Europe. The name edelweiss was first found in writing on this date in 1784, and is a direct German translation of the words ‘noble’ and ‘white’.
The flower only blooms in the summer months of June through September. Its characteristic double-star shape and wooly-white texture make it highly recognizable both in nature and in folklore.
Embarking on a quest to find the edelweiss requires bravery, determination, and a little bit of luck. Romance is also a central theme in the story of this flower because its white blooms are thought to represent deep love and devotion. In fact, the gift of an edelweiss was once the equivalent of giving an engagement ring, a true sign of adoration and faithfulness.
Once on the brink of extinction, the edelweiss is no longer at risk, and blooms more and more across the mountainous landscape of Europe.
Today’s Doodle was created by Kassel-based artist Rita Fürstenau and depicts the edelweiss flower in a traditional cross-stitch design.
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4 March 2016
42nd Anniversary of Rio-Niteroi Bridge Opening
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Completed 42 years ago today, Brazil’s Rio–Niterói Bridge beautifully exemplifies the ingenuity of the human spirit. It met with great international praise when it opened in 1974 as the second-longest bridge in the world, spanning the vast Guanabara Bay. Guest Doodler Patrick Leger has crafted a lovely recreation of the bridge on the bay with the Brazilian coast visible in the background.
At 13.29 km [8.3 mi], it remains the longest bridge in Latin America and one of the longest in the world. On the day it opened it was second only to the near-infinite Lake Pontchartrain Bridge in Louisiana [38.35 km, 28.3 miles long].
But this structure’s greatest accomplishment is connection. Carrying over 100,000 passengers daily, it unites Nieterói and Rio de Janeiro, cities with populations of 487,000 and 6.5 million respectively. With that kind of impact, the Rio–Niterói Bridge reminds us that nothing lies beyond the reaches of the human imagination.
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4 March 2014
Hatsusaburo Yoshida's 130th Birthday [born 1884]
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Hatsusaburō Yoshida was a Japanese cartographer and artist, known by his bird's-eye view maps of cities and towns. Known as the "Hiroshige of the Taisho Era," Yoshida created over 3,000 maps in his lifetime.
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17 March 2021
Celebrating Charoen Krung Road
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Today’s Doodle celebrates Charoen Krung Road, the very first paved road in Bangkok, which officially opened to travel on this day in 1864. Built alongside the banks of the Chao Phraya River, a tributary that flows through the heart of the city’s urban center, this historic thoroughfare paved the way for the modernization of the Thai capital, all while retaining the charm of its long and winding cultural history.
In the 1860s, the Bangkok economy relied mostly on its network of canals for trade. But as the Thai capital became home to foreign traders and their horse-drawn buggies, the city sought to revamp its water-based infrastructure to land transportation in order to meet the demands of international commerce. The local government answered with the 1862 construction of Charoen Krung, which loosely translates to “Prosperous City” but is also often referred to as the “New Road.”
Today, Charoen Krung serves as an asphalt artery that connects a melting pot of old and new in areas like Bangkok’s first “Creative District.” This riverside neighborhood features some of the capital’s most iconic landmarks such as the Old Customs House, where 19th century foreign traders paid taxes before entering and exiting the country, alongside an eclectic mix of everything from French bistros to international street murals. This intersection of modernity and history emphasizes how Charoen Krung has always been a progressive cultural center of Thailand; one that continues to clear the path for the ingenuity of the days to come.
Here’s to Bangkok’s oldest New Road!
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10 Mar 2021
Prof. Udupi Ramachandra Rao's 89th birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates the 89th birthday of renowned Indian professor and scientist Udupi Ramachandra Rao, remembered by many as “India’s Satellite Man.”
Born in a remote village of Karnataka on this day in 1932, Prof. Rao began his career as a cosmic-ray physicist and protégé of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, a scientist widely regarded as the father of India’s space program. After completing his doctorate, Prof. Rao brought his talents to the U.S., where he worked as a professor and conducted experiments on NASA’s Pioneer and Explorer space probes.
On his return to India in 1966, Prof. Rao initiated an extensive high energy astronomy program at the Physical Research Laboratory, India’s premier institution for space sciences, before spearheading his country’s satellite program in 1972. Motivated by the practical applications of aerospace technology to solve societal problems such as poverty and food shortages, Prof. Rao supervised the 1975 launch of India’s first satellite—“Aryabhata”—one of over 20 satellites he developed that transformed much of rural India by advancing communication and meteorological services.
From 1984 to 1994, Prof. Rao continued to propel his nation’s space program to stratospheric heights as chairman of India’s Space Research Organization. Here, he developed rocket technology such as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle [[PSLV), which has launched over 250 satellites. Prof. Rao became the first Indian inducted into the Satellite Hall of Fame in 2013, the same year that PSLV launched India’s first interplanetary mission—“Mangalyaan”—a satellite that orbits Mars today.
Happy Birthday, Prof. Rao! Your stellar technological advancements continue to be felt across the galaxy.
Art by David Lu.
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10 Mar 2021
Dr. Wu Lien-teh's 142nd birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates the 142nd birthday of Chinese-Malaysian epidemiologist Dr. Wu Lien-teh, who invented a surgical face covering that is widely considered the precursor to the N95 mask.
Born into a family of Chinese immigrants in Penang, Malaya [[modern-day Malaysia) on this day in 1879, Wu went on to become the first student of Chinese descent to earn his MD from Cambridge University. Following his doctoral studies, he accepted a position as the vice director for China's Imperial Army Medical College in 1908. When an unknown epidemic afflicted north-eastern China in 1910, the Chinese government appointed Wu to investigate the disease, which he identified as the highly contagious pneumonic plague that spread from human to human through respiratory transmission.
To combat the disease, Wu designed and produced a special surgical mask with cotton and gauze, adding several layers of cloth to filter inhalations. He advised people to wear his newly invented mask and worked with government officials to establish quarantine stations and hospitals, restrict travel, and apply progressive sterilization techniques; his leadership contributed greatly to the end of the pandemic [known as the Manchurian plague] by April 1911—within four months of being tasked with controlling its spread.
In 1915, Wu founded the Chinese Medical Association, the country’s largest and oldest non-governmental medical organization. In 1935, he was the first Malaysian—and the first person of Chinese descent–nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work to control the pneumonic plague. A devoted advocate and practitioner of medical advancement, Wu’s efforts not only changed public health in China but that of the entire world.
Happy birthday to the man behind the mask, Dr. Wu Lien-teh!
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10 March 2013
Joseph von Eichendorff's 225th Birthday
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Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff [10 March 1788 – 26 November 1857] was a German poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, translator, and anthologist. Eichendorff was one of the major writers and critics of Romanticism. Ever since their publication and up to the present day, some of his works have been very popular in Germany.
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7 Mar 2013
Volodymyr Dakhno's 81st Birthday
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Volodymyr Dakhno [ March 7, 1932 — July 28, 2006, Kyiv, Ukraine] was a Ukrainian animator, animation film director and scriptwriter. He was a laureate of the Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine [1988], and a People's Artist of Ukraine [1996]. Dakhno was best known for the animation series Cossacks [[Козаки) which featured characters who were Zaporozhian Cossacks. He worked at Kievnauchfilm, also translated Kyivnaukfilm, which has since been renamed Ukranimafilm.
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4 Mar 2013
Miriam Makeba's 81st Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xL...i9hg-uGJL=s660
South African singer and civil rights activist Miriam Makeba was born in 1932 in Johannesburg. Unfortunately, her early life was marred by tragedy and hardship; when she was just 18 days old, her mother was sent to prison and Makeba went with her. Makeba later lived with her grandmother in Pretoria and joined her church and school choirs. In the 1950s, she moved to Sophiatown, where music filled the streets — big band, African jazz, and anything else that moved people to sing. Thanks to her musical talent, by the end of the decade, she had made a name for herself throughout the country.
Makeba performed with a few different bands and embarked on an acting career. In 1959, she appeared in a documentary that angered the South African authorities; as a result, her passport was revoked. The advent of apartheid led her to leave South Africa. She found success in the United States however, winning a Grammy Award in 1965 and joining Paul Simon on his Graceland tour in the 1980s. She used her newfound fame to draw attention to the suffering and oppression of South Africa under apartheid.
Makeba continued making music and fought for humanitarian causes throughout the rest of her life. Upon her passing, Nelson Mandela said, "Her haunting melodies gave voice to the pain of exile and dislocation which she felt for 31 long years. At the same time, her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us."
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1 Mar 2013
Ramón Gómez Cornet's 115th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/fc...iQNgJexxQ=s660
Ramón Gómez Cornet [1 March 1898 - 9 April 1964] was an Argentine painter. He was one of the forerunners of the modern Argentine painting.
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1 Mar 2013
Ryunosuke Akutagawa's 121st Birthday
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Ryūnosuke Akutagawa was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story", and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him.
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27 January 2014
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's 200th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/i_...Lxf-x4xBQ=s660
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was a French architect and author who restored many prominent medieval landmarks in France, including those which had been damaged or abandoned during the French Revolution. His major restoration projects included Notre-Dame de Paris, the Basilica of Saint Denis, Mont Saint-Michel, Sainte-Chapelle, and the medieval walls of the city of Carcassonne, and he planned much of the physical construction of the Statue of Liberty [Liberty Enlightening the World]. His later writings on the relationship between form and function in architecture had a notable influence on a new generation of architects, including Victor Horta, Hector Guimard, Antoni Gaudí, Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright.
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27 January 2022
Arkhip Kuindzhi's 180th birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates the 180th birthday of Russian artist Arkhip Kuindzhi. By integrating emerging discoveries in physics and chemistry with the contemporary styles of Impressionism and Romanticism, Kuinzhi developed a new painting technique that captured the natural world like never before.
Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi was born on this day in 1842 in the coastal town of Mariupol, Ukraine, into a family of cobblers and goldsmiths. To support his family, Kuindzhi worked odd jobs growing up while fostering his early interest in drawing on his off time. Historians believe a bread merchant was the first to notice Kuindzhi’s talent as an artist and encouraged him to apprentice under Ivan Aivazovsky, a popular painter of maritime scenes.
Kuindzhi walked over 250 miles from his hometown to Aivazovsky’s studio in Feodosia, Ukraine. Despite Aivazovsky denying him an apprenticeship, Kuindzhi pursued an education at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, where he took classes on the physical effects of light with famed Russian chemist Dmitrii Mendeleev. Due to its limited focus on European painting methods, the academy’s rigid traditions frustrated Kuindzhi. He left the school to paint natural landscapes of the Russian countryside and co-founded an organization for nomadic painters known as the “Society of Itinerant Artists” in 1870.
Kuindzhi became known for capturing massive, empty scenes of contemporary Russia, such as the seascape painting “Red Sunset on the Dnieper, 1905-8,” which remains his most famous work to date. Today, his former living quarters in St. Petersburg host many of his paintings and have been opened to the public as The Arkhip Kuindzhi Apartment Museum.
Here’s to a painter who shined a new light on contemporary art—Arkhip Kuindzhi!
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25 June 2022
Honouring Anne Frank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ru3SRmjmvA
This post includes mentions of the Holocaust, which may be sensitive to some readers.
Today's slideshow Doodle honors globally renowned Jewish German-Dutch diarist and Holocaust victim Anne Frank. Although only written between the ages of 13-15, her personal account of the Holocaust and events of the war remains one of the most poignant and widely-read accounts to date. Today's Doodle features real excerpts from her diary, which describes what she and her friends and family experienced in hiding for over two years. Today is the 75th anniversary of the publication of her diary, which is widely considered one of the most essential books in modern history.
Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany, but her family soon moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands to escape the increasing discrimination and violence faced by millions of minorities at the hands of the growing Nazi party. World War II ignited when Anne was 10 years old, and soon after, Germany invaded the Netherlands, bringing the war to her family’s doorstep. Jewish people were particularly targeted by the Nazi regime, experiencing imprisonment, execution, or forced relocation to inhumane concentration camps. Unable to live and practice freely and safely, millions of Jews were forced to flee their homes or go into hiding. In the spring of 1942, Anne’s family did just that, hiding in a secret annex in her father’s office building to avoid persecution.
The Frank family, like millions of others, were forced to act quickly and leave nearly everything behind to seek protection. Among Anne’s few possessions was an unassuming gift she had received on her thirteenth birthday just weeks earlier: a checkered hardback notebook. It soon became her vehicle to change the world forever. Over the following 25 months in hiding, she filled its pages with a heartfelt account of teenage life in the “secret annex,” from small details to her most profound dreams and fears. Hopeful that her diary entries could be published after the war, Anne consolidated her writing into one cohesive story titled “Het Achterhuis” [“The Secret Annex”].
On August 4, 1944, the Frank family was found out by the Nazi Secret Service, arrested, and taken to a detention center where they were forced to perform hard labor. They were then forcibly deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland where they lived in cramped, unhygienic conditions. A few months later, Anne and Margot Frank were transported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. In addition to the brutal, intentional killings of prisoners by Nazi forces, deadly diseases spread rapidly. Eventually, Anne and Margot succumbed to the inhumane conditions they were forced to live in. Anne Frank was just 15 years old.
Although Anne Frank did not survive the horrors of the Holocaust, her account of those years, commonly known as “The Diary of Anne Frank,” has since become one of the most widely read works of non-fiction ever published. Translated into upwards of 80 languages, Frank’s memoir is a staple in today’s classrooms, utilized as a tool to educate generations of children about the Holocaust and the terrible dangers of discrimination and tyranny.
Thank you, Anne, for sharing a critical window into your experience and our collective past, but also unwavering hope for our future.
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17 Jan 2014
Tomás Carrasquilla's 155th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_c...sDQWE8iTn=s660
Tomás Carrasquilla Naranjo was a Colombian writer who lived in the Antioquia region. He dedicated himself to very simple jobs: tailor, secretary of a judge, storekeeper in a mine, and worker at the Ministry of Public Works. He was an avid reader, and one of the most original Colombian literary writers, greatly influencing the younger generation of his time and later generations. Carrasquilla was little known in his time, according to Federico de Onís, a scholar of Carrasquilla's works. It was only after 1936, when he was already 78 years old, when he was awarded with the National Prize of Literature, that Carrasquilla got a national recognition. Tomás Carrasquilla Library Park is named in his honor.
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17 January 2022
Forges' 80th birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates Spanish cartoonist, author, television writer, and film director Antonio Fraguas de Pablo–better known by his pen name Forges–who is widely considered among the nation’s most significant graphic humorists of his era. In his signature style of simple, thick, black outlines, Forges provided the Spanish public with a satirical yet compassionate lens into some 50 years of the country’s history.
Antonio Fraguas de Pablo was born in Madrid, Spain on this day in 1942, and from a young age, he knew he wanted to become a cartoonist. At 14, he began to work as a technician for the public broadcaster Televisión Española, and while there, he published his first cartoon in the newspaper Pueblo in 1964. He continued to publish his cartoons over the following years, and in 1973, he finally left his job to realize his childhood dream of becoming a full-time cartoonist.
Forges quickly rose in popularity, filling newspaper pages with a subversive cast of cartoon characters who helped the public to process an unfolding evolution in Spanish society. Over the decades that followed, he put out many thousands of cartoons that explored everything from new technology to the discovery of the Higgs boson particle. A true creative powerhouse, Forges also directed films, wrote scripts for television comedies, published books of cartoons, and even wrote a novel.
Forges received countless accolades throughout his career, including Spain’s Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts in 2011.
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17 January 2013
Cecilia May Gibbs' 136th Birthday
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Cecilia May Gibbs was an Australian children's author, illustrator, and cartoonist. She is best known for her gumnut babies [also known as "bush babies" or "bush fairies"], and the book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.
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27 November 2022
Ronit Elkabetz's 58th birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates what would have been Ronit Elkabetz’s 58th birthday, and was illustrated by Israeli guest artist Maya Shleifer. One of the most acclaimed actresses of her time, the Mizrahi star is considered an icon across Israel and France for her work on both sides of the camera.
Elkabetz was born on this day in Beersheba, Israel, in 1964. She grew up speaking Hebrew, Arabic, and French thanks to her Moroccan roots. With piercing good looks and poise beyond her years, 17-year-old Elkabetz began her career as a fashion model in Tel Aviv.
In 1990, Elkabetz auditioned for what she believed was a commercial—it was actually for the film, The Appointed. Despite having no acting training or experience, Elkabetz won the lead role that set her film career into motion. Next, she starred in Sh'Chur as the older sister in a family caught up in superstitions, for which she won her first Ophir Award [the Israeli Oscars].
In 1997, she moved to Paris to study acting at Theatre du Soleil and supported herself by working as a waitress. After completing her training, she starred in the French film Origine contrôlée. Months later, she earned her second Israeli Ophir Award for Late Marriage. Elkabetz's ability to capture emotionally rich characters made her an in-demand actress in both Israeli and French cinema.
After starring in Or, which won the Camera d’Or at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Elkabetz became interested in other parts of the filmmaking process. In that year she worked on her debut film as a director and screenwriter, To Take a Wife, which would become the first of a film trilogy she created with her brother, director and actor Shlomi Elkabetz. The Elkabetz trilogy, an Israeli-French co-production, also includes the films Shiva and Golden Globe nominated Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem. It had a tremendous impact on Israeli society and culture, featuring the first authentic portrayal of a Mizrahi family in Israeli cinema and promoting the plight of Jewish women denied a divorce in the rabbinical court system in Israel.
Elkabetz was nominated for thirteen Ophir Awards over the course of her career. She was also awarded the French Legion of Honor for her work. Leaving behind a groundbreaking legacy of strong female leads, Elkabetz conquered complex roles and multiple art forms while popularizing Israeli cinema.
Happy birthday, Ronit Elkabetz!
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28 November 2016
Drs. Suyadi's 84th Birthday
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Drs. Suyadi, known widely by his alter-ego's name: Pak Raden, created books and animated films for children. His career spanned many years, creating his first book in 1952 at university and completing his last book, Petruk Jadi Raja, in 2008 at the age of 76.
In addition to books and films, Suyadi is perhaps best known for creating a children's puppet show called “Unyil.” The show aired on the Indonesian national station TVRI every Sunday from 1981 - 1993. To this day, the puppets are remembered fondly across Indonesia, especially Pak Raden, the grumpy character played by Suyadi himself. Never seen without his cane and false mustache, Pak Raden was one of the Unyil’s most popular puppets.
Today’s Doodle celebrates Drs. Suyadi on what would be his 84th birthday. Thank you for creating joy and inspiring curiosity in children and adults alike!
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7 Dec 2016
340th Anniversary of the Determination of the Speed of Light
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While working in the Royal Observatory in Paris in 1667, Danish astronomer Ole Rømer discovered that the speed at which light travels could be measured. His theory built on earlier ideas by Galileo, and the observance of how the timings between Jupiter’s moon eclipses changed depending on its distance from the Earth. His theories gained support from other great scientific minds of the time, including Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley.
Rømer also made significant contributions to Copenhagen, where he spent his later years, having introduced oil lamp street lighting and proper sewers to the city. Another achievement includes the invention of the mercury thermometer in 1709, which was said to have inspired Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit to invent the temperature scale still in use today.
Today’s Doodle shows Rømer hard at work in his observatory 340 years ago.
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7 Dec 2016
Abd al-Rahman Al-Sufi's [Azophi] 1113th Birthday
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Abd al-Rahman Al-Sufi forever changed the way we look at the stars in the sky. As one of the world’s most influential astronomers, he dedicated his life to furthering our understanding of the stars and constellations. The lunar crater "Azophi" and the minor planet "12621 Alsufi" are named after him.
One of Al-Sufi's greatest works involved fact-checking the Greek astronomer Ptolemy's measurements of the brightness and size of stars. In the year 964 AD, Al-Sufi published his findings in a book titled Kitab al-Kawatib al-Thabit al-Musawwar, or The Book of Fixed Stars. In many cases, he confirmed Ptolemy’s discoveries, but he also improved upon his work by illustrating the constellations and correcting some of Ptolemy’s observations about the brightness of stars.
Today's Doodle celebrates Al-Sufi on what would be his 1,113th birthday with a representation of the constellation Cancer, also known as “the crab.” The artwork closely mirrors what appeared in Al-Sufi’s manuscript, The Book of Fixed Stars.The words around the crabs indicate the cardinal directions of North, South, East, and West, with the smaller labels providing additional assistance in viewing the constellations.
More than a millennium later, Al-Sufi's keen observations and detailed work still informs our view of the night sky.
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7 December 2014
250th Anniversary of the Hermitage Museum
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The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest art museum in the world by gallery space. It was founded in 1764 when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. The museum celebrates the anniversary of its founding each year on 7 December, Saint Catherine's Day. It has been open to the public since 1852. The Art Newspaper ranked the museum 6th in their list of the most visited art museums, with 1,649,443 visitors in 2021.
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7 December 2014
Akiko Yosano's 136th Birthday
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Yosano Akiko was the pen-name of a Japanese author, poet, pioneering feminist, pacifist, and social reformer, active in the late Meiji era as well as the Taishō and early Shōwa eras of Japan. Her name at birth was Shō Hō. She is one of the most noted, and most controversial, post-classical woman poets of Japan.
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21 September 2020
Celebrating Jovita Idár
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Today’s Doodle celebrates Mexican-American journalist, educator, nurse, and activist Jovita Idár, a pioneer in the fight for Mexican-American civil rights at the turn of the 20th century. During the First Mexican Congress, which met the week of September 14 to 22 in 1911, Idár was elected president of the League of Mexican Women, a feminist organization ahead of its time in uniting women around the critical educational, social, and political issues facing the Mexican-American community.
Jovita Idár was born in the border city of Laredo, Texas in 1885 at a time when Mexican-Americans faced rampant discrimination in the state. Determined to stand up for her community, she became a teacher in 1903 but later resigned to join her father’s influential activist newspaper, La Crónica [The Chronicle]. Through her articles, Idár spoke out against discrimination, fought for women’s suffrage, and affirmed the importance of Mexican culture.
In 1911, she and her family helped establish the First Mexican Congress to organize Mexican-Americans across Texas in the fight for civil rights. Building upon the female participation in the congress, Idár then founded the League of Mexican Women and served as its president.
In 1914, Idár continued her groundbreaking journalism career at El Progreso [The Progress] newspaper. Never afraid to make her voice heard, she expressed her criticism of the US army's involvement in the Mexican Revolution in an editorial, which resulted in an attempt by Texas Rangers to shut the publication down. When officers rode up to the El Progreso office, Idár stood in their way and forced them to turn back—a scene recreated in today's Doodle artwork.
Despite Idár’s bravery, the Rangers returned the next day and shut down El Progreso, but Idár refused to be silenced. She returned to La Crónica and eventually ran the paper with her brothers, using its pages to continue her pursuit for justice. In 1917, she moved to San Antonio, Texas, where she carried her activism forward as a prominent leader in the city’s community, including opening a free kindergarten, serving as a Spanish translator at a local hospital, and teaching childcare and feminine hygiene.
Gracias, Jovita Idár, for dedicating your life to the pursuit of equality and justice.
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15 February 2020
Nise da Silveira's 115th birthday
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“To navigate against the current, these rare qualities are needed: a spirit of adventure, courage, perseverance, and passion.”
—Nise da Silveira
Today’s Doodle celebrates visionary Brazilian psychiatrist Nise da Silveira on her 115th birthday. One of the few women in medicine in her time, she boldly challenged established psychiatric practices, pioneering a more humane approach to patient care.
Born on this day in 1905, in the northeastern city of Maceió, da Silveira completed her medical degree in 1926 at just 21 years old, as the only woman in her class. When she began work at a national psychiatric center in 1933, she was discouraged by the harsh medical procedures that doctors were relying upon to treat mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.
Bravely challenging the status quo, da Silveira instead began to study and advocate for more compassionate rehabilitative treatments. She developed art workshops for patients to express the inner workings of their minds through painting and sculpting, and she later became one of the first to incorporate animals into her practice as “co-therapists.” Da Silveira’s new approach proved highly successful in her patients’ rehabilitation, paving the way for an entirely new way of thinking about psychiatric care.
Da Silveira’s Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente [“Images of the Unconscious Museum”] remains open to this day, maintaining a collection of over 350,000 pieces of patient-created artwork. Her work has inspired countless others, leading to the establishment of therapeutic institutions both in Brazil and around the world.
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15 February 2022
Lantern Festival 2022
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Today’s Doodle celebrates the Lantern Festival on the first full moon of the Lunar calendar. Traditions call for celebrants to light lanterns and send them floating into the sky as a symbolic act that honors one’s ancestors and symbolizes the release of the past while shining a light on the year to come.
Modern-day celebrations of the Lantern Festival have ancient roots. Stretching back over 2,000 years to the start of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the customs that characterize the holiday are a testament to the power of China’s oral storytelling traditions. The most common type of lantern seen across the skies today are small orbs, but many artisans create unique designs that take on all sizes and shapes—from giant dragons to lanterns small enough for children to carry.
To add an extra element of fun, many people slip small pieces of paper inscribed with riddles inside their lanterns. Some riddles are even made so difficult, they’ve earned the nickname “lantern tigers,” as it’s said it's easier to fight a tiger than solve them!
Happy Lantern Festival!
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15 February 2015
50th anniversary of the Canadian flag
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The Maple Leaf flag became Canada's flag on 15 February 1965.
Before this, Canada used the British Red Ensign with Canada's coat of arms on it. Flag experts say that the Red Ensign was defaced by the coat of arms.
Flag and heraldry experts also call the design of the flag a Canadian Pale. This is because the white stripe in the middle [called a pale in heraldry] was not the usual narrow stripe but was half the width of the flag. This was the first time a design like this was used.
On some days the Canadian government flies the Royal Union Flag next to the Maple Leaf Flag. The Royal Union Flag is the British Union Jack, and is a symbol that Canada is a member of the Commonwealth, and that Canada and Britain share a history and a monarch.
The Queen of Great Britain, had some say in what the flag was to be. She thought that the maple leaf greatly represents the country of Canada.
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3 Feb 2015
Setsubun 2015
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Setsubun is the day before the beginning of spring in the old calendar in Japan. The name literally means 'seasonal division', referring to the day just before the first day of spring in the traditional calendar, known as Setsubun; though previously referring to a wider range of possible dates, Setsubun is now typically held on February 3 [in 2021 it was on 2nd February], with the day after – the first day of spring in the old calendar – known as Risshun.