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17 May 2015
Norway National Day 2015
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eS...CcQvmZxzo=s660
Ushered in by marching bands and children’s parades, May 17th celebrates the 1814 signing of Norway’s constitution [2nd oldest in the world!], which announced its singular identity and independence from the Kingdom of Sweden. On this day Norwegians hit the streets dressed in national costumes or their Sunday best.
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29 April 2022
Toots Thielemans' 100th birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...09398.2-2x.png
A small instrument delivered soulful sounds when it was in the hands of Belgian musician and composer Toots Thielemans. Known for his chromatic harmonica skills, he made a name for himself in the genre of jazz. He also played guitar and professionally whistled his way up international charts throughout his musical career. Today’s Doodle—illustrated by guest artist Melissa Crowton—hits all the right notes by celebrating Toots Thielemans’ contributions to the jazz world on what would be his 100th birthday.
Toots picked up the accordion at three years old and quickly found himself entertaining people at an early age. He would eventually grow up and become a performing musician at his parents’ cafe. As a teenager, he got his hands on a harmonica, but it wasn’t until he heard Louis Armstrong on record that he discovered jazz. In the early 1940s, he picked up the guitar and began performing and touring with other talented musicians. Playing next to jazz and blues figures like Quincy Jones, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra, Toots made himself a staple on radio and television. He recorded 21 records, was featured in Old Spice and Firestone commercials as well as motion-picture soundtracks. One of his most recognizable harmonica solos was for the theme song on PBS-TV’s Sesame Street.
Toots is widely considered an unrivaled harmonica player and a true Jazz Master. He continued recording with other artists and performing publicly late into his life. After his passing, many collected and showcased his records, ticket stubs and autographs while museums displayed donated items and instruments from his personal collection.
Happy birthday, Toots Thielemans!
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11 January 2012
Nicolas Steno's 374th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Qx...vQTJE0NKH=s660
Known as the father of stratigraphy and geology, Nicholas Steno worked to understand history by what he could find in the ground. Rather than simply write books about his findings, Steno opted to do his own hands-on research. As an innovative thinker, he disagreed with his contemporaries in thinking that shark-tooth-shaped objects found imbedded in rocks "fell from the sky." Instead, Steno argued that these formations were fossils. His dedication to analysis, critical thinking, and creative thinking make him a great subject for a Google doodle!
Considering Steno's contributions to stratigraphy and geology, I wanted to honor his birthday with a unique take on his work. I knew that the colorful and geeky aesthetic of stratigraphy was the right direction for the doodle, but the team and I weren't sure how to apply it. Should we set the doodle in the middle of the country? Should we relate it to Google culture? Should I just make things up? Below are the exploration sketches.
After consulting a few geology nerds within Google, I decided to set the land in our very own Mountain View! I learned an interesting fact about our home-- there are no dinosaur fossils in the Bay Area [except for Stan of course].
Also staying a little more faithful to stratigraphy graphs, I formed the Google logo as though it was cut from a chunk of three dimensional land. Below are early drafts of the final direction.
There were so many different ways to think about Steno and his studies, it was a challenge and pleasure to honor such a fascinating person!
posted by Jennifer Hom
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14 Jan 2012
National Children's Day 2012
https://www.google.com/logos/2012/ch...ay-2012-hp.jpg
As doodlers, messing with the company logo is part of our job, but every once in a while we really get to mess with it by making it virtually unreadable! Since Children's Day is traditionally all about having lots of fun being kids, we tend to make this annual doodle a little – well, extra fun.
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January 7, 2013
Nanakusa Gayu [7 Herb Porridge]
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5Q...4l-h2Eusw=s660
The Festival of Seven Herbs or Nanakusa no sekku is the long-standing Japanese custom of eating seven-herb rice porridge on January 7 ; one of the Gosekku.
The seventh of the first month has been an important Japanese festival since ancient times. Jingchu Suishiji, written in the Six Dynasties China, recorded the Southern Chinese custom of eating a hot soup that contains seven vegetables to bring longevity and health and ward off evil on the 7th day of the first month of the Chinese calendar. Since there is little green at that time of the year, the young green herbs bring color to the table and eating them suits the spirit of the New Year. The custom was present in Taiwan until the mid-Qing Dynasty, and is still present in parts of rural Guangdong province.
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Aug 23, 2014
25th Anniversary of the Baltic Way
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/qC...HZ79JnzqQ=s660
On August 23, 1989, 2 million people held hands and formed a human chain that stretched 370 miles across the three Baltic states, proving that the call for independence from the Soviet Union was a matter of peace, not violence. Today, we mark the 25th anniversary of the Baltic Way on our homepages in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
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Aug 25, 2014
Uruguay Independence Day 2014
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DN...Ol6EQ0bQs=s660
Uruguay is most known for its “fútbol” history and its summer beaches when it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Less widely known is the local dish shown in today’s doodle commemorating Uruguay’s declaration of independence. The “Chivito” is made with churrasco beef plus lots of tasty treats served either in a sandwich [called “al pan”] or without bread [called “al plato”].
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Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's 200th Birthday
27 January 2014
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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22 Feb 2012
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz's 155th Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/2012/hertz-2011-hp.gif
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism. The unit of frequency, cycle per second, was named the "hertz" in his honor.
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23 Nov 2022
Celebrating Myrtle Gonzalez
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...7110009-2x.png
Today’s Doodle celebrates Mexican American actress, Myrtle Gonzalez and was illustrated by Bay Area-based guest artist, Ana Ramírez González. Myrtle Gonzalez starred in an astounding 80 silent films in just five years between 1913 and 1917. On this day in 1914, one of Myrtle Gonzalez’s most well-known films, The Level, was released.
Gonzalez was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 28, 1891. She had a lovely soprano voice, often singing in church and at local charity events as a young girl.
As movie production shifted from New York to Los Angeles, which offered more diverse scenic landscapes for filmmakers, Gonzalez seized the opportunity to get involved in film. She participated in a few local plays before joining a silent motion picture studio called Vitagraph Company of America, where she made her film debut in The Yellow Streak.
After a few years, she moved to Universal Studios and performed in feature films like The Secret of the Swamp and The Girl of Lost Lake. Many of the bold, outdoorsy heroines she played lived in the wilderness, forcing the city girl to adapt to filming in new, treacherous climates. As shown in today’s Doodle, Gonzalez once acted in three feet of snow!
Gonzalez was proud of her Hispanic heritage, and throughout her career, she played strong women who persevered through adversity with strength and dignity.
While much of her work was lost over the years, the Library of Congress preserved a few of her films. She is remembered as one of the first Latina actresses to break into Hollywood.
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3 October 2022
German Unity Day 2022
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...7109515-2x.png
Today’s Doodle celebrates German Unity Day, which marks the day when East and West Germany reunited.
Following WWII, Germany was divided into East and West sectors by the occupying forces. After the founding of the German Democratic Republic in 1949, the government built the Berlin wall 1961 and closed all borders to prevent its population from escaping the country. When the GDR opened up its borders for travel again—after months long peaceful protests by citizens in 1989—German people tore down the structure until the wall was no more. Almost a year later, a unification treaty was signed and it went into effect on this day in 1990. As a result, The German Unification spurred nationwide celebrations and ended the period of protests.
After decades of separation, cultural and economic gaps between East and West Germany became apparent. Following reunification, Germans grow closer each year, creating a woven culture and shared understanding. Today, many Germans gather to reflect on the significance of their hard-earned reunification. No matter the differences in views, East and West Germans will always be banded together by history. Today’s Doodle artwork represents this sense of unification and togetherness.
Happy German Unity Day to all!
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10 Sept 2022
Chuseok 2022
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...7109495-2x.png
Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Seoul-based guest artist Dasom Yun, celebrates Chuseok. Also known as the full moon festival, this three-day holiday always begins on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. This year, September 10th marks the day when Koreans return to their ancestral hometowns and celebrate with loved ones.
Chuseok, meaning autumn evening, originated from Korea’s past as an agricultural society. Whenever a full moon appears in a mid-autumn sky, it signals that the harvest season has ended—it’s now time to relax and thank their ancestors for an abundant harvest.
Traditionally, Koreans celebrate Chuseok with special meals and folk games. In the morning, many families hold a memorial service called charye to honor their ancestors with offerings like freshly harvested rice and songpyeon [bite-sized rice cakes]. People also enjoy delicious meals with foods like jeon—a pancake-like dish that can be made with fish, meat or vegetables. In modern times, gift-giving has become a new way for Koreans to show their appreciation for relatives, friends and co-workers.
Happy Chuseok, everyone!
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28 October 2018
Simón Rodríguez’s 249th Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...2720768-2x.png
Today’s Doodle honors the life and legacy of Simón Rodríguez, a scholar, humanist, philosopher, and educator who traveled the world seeking knowledge, building schools, and working tirelessly to further the principles he held dear.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela on this day in 1771, Rodríguez was a gifted and precocious student, deeply inspired by the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, particularly his landmark treatise Emile, or On Education. In 1791 Rodríguez received his first teaching position in Caracas, and three years later presented a critique of the school system as well as a plan for its reform.
The young teacher proposed creating new schools, with well-trained and fairly compensated instructors and incorporating more students of all ethnicities and social backgrounds. Among his students was Simón Bolívar, to whom he became a friend and mentor as well, shaping the sensibilities of the future statesman known throughout South America as El Libertador.
Reunited with his student as an adult, Rodríguez worked alongside Bolívar during his quest to create independent states in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and the Republic of Bolivia, always focused on the importance of education as a fundamental human right.Within a few years, Rodríguez fled from Venezuela under an assumed name, having provoked the powerful elites with his unwavering dedication and unwillingness to compromise his ideals.
After setting up a what he called a “workshop-school” in Columbia, Rodríguez was summoned to Peru by Bolívar. Rodríguez soon became its “Director for Public Education, Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Arts" as well as "Director of Mines, Agriculture and Public Roads.”
Rodríguez traveled restlessly in search of a place to apply his ideas, living in Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. In 1828 he began publishing Sociedades Americanas, subtitled “how they are and how they should be in the centuries to come.” The work comprised a summary of his ideas about on education, human rights, and citizenship in practice.
Applying in South America the bold educational ideas that transformed Europe, Rodríguez devised innovative methods of childhood education that shaped the future of his homeland for centuries to come.
Happy Birthday, Simón Rodríguez!
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5 July 2018
Venezuela Independence Day 2018
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...3668864-2x.png
From the beaches of Margarita Island to the villages of the Andes mountains, Venezuela National Day is celebrated with fireworks and most importantly, family. Today’s Doodle celebrates Venezuela’s festive culture with a couple in traditional garb dancing the joropo.
A lively dance derived from the Spanish fandango, joropo developed into a distinctly Venezuelan fusion of South American and Caribbean influences. Widely considered Venezuela’s national dance, the joropo is usually accompanied by stringed instruments — guitars, harps, and the cuatro — a four-stringed Venezuelan guitar played by cuatristas.
Dancing joropo on this day also comes in handy to work off the calories from feasting on some of the country’s traditional dishes including: arepas, plantains, griddled white cheese, and the national dish: pabellon criollo — beans, rice, plantains, and spicy shredded beef with an egg on top. On Independence Day it’s often plated to look just like the national flag!
¡Feliz día de la independencia, Venezuela!
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October 4, 2017
Violeta Parra’s 100th Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...4552704-2x.png
Today we celebrate the 100th birthday of Violeta Parra, the Chilean composer, folk singer, social activist, author, and artist.
Born in the small, southern Chilean town of San Fabián de Alico, Parra picked up the guitar at an early age and began writing songs with her siblings. She started her career performing in small venues, later traveling across Chile to record a large breadth of traditional Chilean folk music. Her increasing popularity eventually earned her her own radio show and an invitation to perform at a youth festival in Poland. While in Europe, she also explored the visual arts, creating oil paintings, wire sculptures, ceramics, and burlap tapestries called arpilleras which were exhibited in the Louvre Palace in Paris in 1964.
She is perhaps best remembered as the “Mother of Latin American folk,” pioneering the Nueva canción chilena, a renewal of Chilean folk traditions that blossomed into a movement which celebrated the fight for social justice throughout Latin America. Upon her return to Chile in 1965, she established Centro Cultural La Carpa de La Reina, a community center for the arts and political activism.
Violeta’s artistic legacy shines through in this selection from “Gracias a la vida”:
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto
Me dio dos luceros que cuando los abro
Perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco
Y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado
Y en las multitudes el hombre que yo amo
Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me two stars, which when I open them,
Perfectly distinguish black from white
And in the tall sky its starry backdrop,
And within the multitudes the one that I love.
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7 Nov 2013
Ary Barroso's 110th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jx...ynZPNx_5k=s660
Ary de Resende Barroso, better known as Ary Barroso, was a Brazilian composer, pianist, soccer commentator, and talent-show host on radio and TV. He was one of Brazil's most successful songwriters in the first half of the 20th century. Barroso also composed many songs for Carmen Miranda during her career.
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April 15, 2012
Wilhelm Busch's 180th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Hi...7o0KIko9Q=s660
Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day.
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May 28, 2019
Dorina Nowill’s 100th Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...3110400-2x.png
Today’s Doodle celebrates the 100th birthday of Brazilian educator and advocate Dorina de Gouvêa Nowill, whose tireless efforts made Brazil more responsive to the needs of visually impaired.
An unfortunate illness left Nowill blind at the age of 17. As the first blind student to enroll in a regular school in São Paulo, she found it difficult to find the books she needed. As a result, she began advocating for all students’ access to culture and information. Becoming a teacher at her alma mater, Nowill implemented training for education of the blind and won a scholarship to further her studies at Columbia University in the United States. In 1946 she and some friends established the Foundation for the Book of the Blind in Brazil with the country’s first large Braille press, enlisting volunteers to transcribe various publications.
After working to found the Department of Special Education for the Blind, Nowill helped pass a law guaranteeing blind people’s right to an education. Such accomplishments led to new opportunities on a wider scale. Elected president of the World Council of the Blind in 1979, she went on to speak at the United Nations General Assembly and campaigned for the creation of the Latin American Union of the Blind.
Having won numerous philanthropic awards, Nowill’s legacy lives on in the work of her nonprofit organization, Fundação Dorina Nowill, which prints braille editions for Brazil’s Ministry of Education as well as everything from menus to airline safety cards. The foundation also distributes audio and digitally accessible books to schools and libraries all over Brazil, ensuring the just and inclusive society that Dorina Nowill foresaw.
Happy birthday, Dorina Nowill!
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24 August 2023
Celebrating the first landing on the moon’s south pole!
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...0163.2-2xa.gif
Today’s Doodle celebrates the first ever landing on the moon’s south pole! The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota Range, Andhra Pradesh, India on July 14, 2023 and successfully touched down near the lunar south pole region on August 23, 2023. Moon landings are no easy feat. Previously, only the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union have completed soft landings on the moon — but no country has made it to the southern pole region before now.
The moon’s south pole has been an area of heightened interest for space explorers as they suspected the existence of ice deposits located inside permanently shadowed craters. Chandrayaan-3 has now confirmed this prediction to be true! This ice offers the potential of critical resources for future astronauts such as air, water, and even hydrogen rocket fuel.
And what were Chandrayaan-3’s first thoughts after achieving this historic feat?: “India, I reached my destination and you too!” Back on Earth, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO] stating, "The success belongs to all of humanity… It will help moon missions by other countries in the future. I'm confident that all countries in the world can all aspire for the moon and beyond. The sky is not the limit!”
Congratulations to the Chandrayaan-3 space mission! We’re over the moon for you!
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31 May 2013
Julius Richard Petri's 161st Birthday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTnbX65wpNg
The vast majority of living things around us are invisible to the naked eye. The bottom of a shoe, the inside of a mouth, the surface of a piece of cheese – all of these are miniature ecosystems for a variety of cellular life, but in the course of our day-to-day we rarely notice them.
Taking samples from the world around us and inoculating a petri dish is an effective and easy way to see these miniature ecosystems in full swing. The petri dish, invented by Julius Richard Petri in the late 1800s, allows a scientist – or any casual observer – to easily see bacterial growth suspended in a plane of agar [a gelatinous substance that bacteria find delicious].
In a labratory setting, this setup can be used to test the resilience of certain strains of bacteria. But a hobbyist can use petri dishes to check out the delightfully gross bacteria hanging out in their pet's mouth, on their plate, or on a doorknob!
For this doodle we worked with Google's video team, Studio G, to set up a makeshift lab on campus. After swabbing the dishes, we took a photo every twenty minutes for two weeks to get the timelapse above. As you can see from these behind-the-scenes shots, we had a wide variety of samples and picked the best ones at the end of the photoshoot.
It was a blast to do this little science experiment, and we hoped it inspired you to try it for yourself! Many thanks to my collaborators: Mark Ivey, Jesse Eisenhardt, Michelle Ortega, and Tyler Watkins.
Posted by Sophia Foster-Dimino, Doodler
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Jun 18, 2019
Celebrating Michaelina Wautier
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...7525248-2x.png
Today’s Doodle celebrates the Belgian artist Michaelina Wautier, born 415 years ago. Although many of Michaelina’s paintings were once misattributed to other artists, including her own brother, she’s now known as “Baroque’s leading lady.”
On this day last year, the definitive monograph on Wautier’s work was published by two institutions in Antwerp—Rubenshuis and Museum aan de Stroom—who also collaborated to showcase the first-ever Wautier retrospective, an exhibition of some 30 works that shed new light on “mysterious Michaelina.”
Contemporaries of Flemish masters like Rubens and Van Dyck, Michaelina and her younger brother Charles Wautier grew up in a well-to-do family, moving around 1640 from their birthplace of Mons to Brussels, where they lived in a stately townhouse near the Kappellekerk. Neither sibling married, devoting themselves to painting.
While researching her brother, art historian Pierre-Yves Kairis discovered Michaelina’s work, struck by her mastery of portraiture, historical paintings, and genre pieces during a time when female painters were, as he put it, “at best tolerated for painting flowers.” During her lifetime, she impressed prominent patrons like Archduke Leopold-Willem, who collected four of her paintings.
Her large-scale work The Triumph of Bacchus, widely considered her masterpiece, offers a glimpse of the artist’s personality. Michaelina painted herself into the scene, disguised as a half-naked bacchante, staring boldly at the viewer without apology.
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Aug 4, 2014
Kishore Kumar's 85th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Mq...5a2i0m0sQ=s660
Popular Indian singer and actor Kishore Kumar celebrates his 85th birthday on our homepage in India. Kumar is considered the Hindi film industry’s most successful playback singer. He currently holds the record for winning the most Filmfare Awards [similar to the Oscars] for playback singing.
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January 14, 2010
Festival of Kites 2010
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/nl...89S_sKbCw=s660
Every year, Gujarat celebrates more than 200 festivals. The International Kite Festival [Uttarayan] is one of the biggest festivals celebrated. Months beforehand, homes in Gujarat begin to manufacture kites for the festival.
The festival of Uttarayan marks the day when winter begins to turn into summer, according to the Indian calendar. It is the sign for farmers that the sun is back and that harvest season, Makara Sankranti/Mahasankranti, is approaching. This is considered one of the most important harvest days in India as it also marks the end of winter and the beginning of the harvest season. Many cities in Gujarat organize kite competitions among their citizens.
In this region of Gujarat and many other states, Uttarayan is such a huge celebration that it has become a public holiday in India lasting two days. During the festival, local food such as undhiyu [a mixed vegetable including yam and beans], chikki [sesame seed brittle] and jalebi are served to the crowds. Days before the festival, the market is filled with participants buying their supplies.
In 2012, the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat mentioned that the International Kite Festival in Gujarat was attempting to enter the Guinness World Records book due to the participation of 42 countries in it that year.
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4 Nov 2019
Virginia Gutiérrez de Pineda’s 98th Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...6741760-2x.png
Today’s Doodle celebrates Virginia Gutiérrez de Pineda, the acclaimed Colombian anthropologist and educator whose pioneering research reshaped traditional family structures and folk culture of Colombia.
Born in the town of El Socorro on this day in 1921, she was among the first generation of Colombian women allowed to pursue higher education. After studying at Bogotá’s Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Gutiérrez then traveled to attend the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a master's degree in Social and Medical Anthropology before returning home to Colombia to complete her Doctorate of Social and Economic Sciences.
Making the most of her educational opportunities, Gutiérrez went on to author a dozen book-length studies that laid out a fundamental understanding of the lives of Colombia’s people, including women and children of lower social and economic status. Her study of the street children of Medellín led to an interest in solving social problems by focusing on the family unit.
In books like La familia en Colombia, Gutiérrez explored different cultural nuances within the various communities of the Andean, Santandereano, Antioqueño, and coastal-mining regions. She also undertook academic surveys of popular medicine in Colombia and traditional remedies known as curanderismo.
Other than studying families, Gutiérrez also raised a family of her own after marrying fellow anthropologist Roberto Pineda Giraldo, whom she met at university. For her invaluable contributions to Colombian society, Gutiérrez was awarded Colombia’s Woman of the Year award in 1967, as well as the 1983 Gold Medal for Scientific Merit from the Inter-American Family Congress.
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12 Jun 2016
Philippines Independence Day 2016
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...72384-hp2x.jpg
Today marks Philippine Independence Day, and the first month since their national elections. In today's Doodle by Robinson Wood, we can see elated citizens celebrating on a jeepney: an iconic Filipino traveling vehicle. You can see these types of buses all over Manila, which is the capital and the center of many of today's festivities. One of the most important Freedom Day traditions is the raising of the flag, and cities all over the Philippines will proudly hoist the blue, red and white.
As Filipinos rally around their new President, Vice President and senators, we hope today's Doodle inspires a sense of bayanihan — a sense of working together for a common cause. The brilliant colors of the Doodle and the hopeful faces reflect the bright future of this great nation and its people.
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Nov 28, 2020
Celebrating Henri Salvador
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...7108281-2x.png
In honor of a French entertainer par excellence, today’s Doodle, illustrated by Toulouse, France-based guest artist Sébastien Gravouil, celebrates multi-talented singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and comedian Henri Salvador. Salvador established himself as a beloved French figure across a seven-decade career and is widely credited with helping to introduce rock ‘n’ roll to France. On this day in 2000, he received the prestigious Prix in honorem award from France’s Charles Cros Academy. Today’s Doodle artwork highlights Salvador’s wide-ranging contributions to French culture, including his beloved rock ‘n’ roll music, children’s lullabies, and animated character voice overs.
Henri Gabriel Salvador was born July 8th, 1917 in Cayenne, French Guiana and at the age of 12 moved to Paris with his family. Inspired by the music of Belgian jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, Salvador soon took up the guitar and began to perform in Parisian cafes. Before long he caught the attention of Reinhardt himself, who invited Salvador to join his band.
After several years in the French Army during World War II, Salvador joined French bandleader Ray Ventura on a years-long South American tour, and upon his return to Paris, he saw success from his very first recording in 1947. Salvador was invited twice in 1956 to perform on the famous television showcase “The Ed Sullivan Show” in New York. In the U.S. he experienced the excitement of rock ‘n’ roll, which he helped to channel into some of France’s very first rock hits. In addition, Salvador’s 1957 song “Dans Mon Île” [On My Island] was credited by Brazilian musician Antonio Carlos Jobim as his inspiration in developing the iconic bossa nova style.
Among many accolades, Salvador was named Commander of the Legion of Honour in 2004. Salvador released his final album in 2006.
Merci, Henri Salvador!
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28 November 2016
Drs. Suyadi's 84th Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...81824-hp2x.jpg
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.
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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17 February 2016
Rene Laennec’s 235th Birthday
https://www.google.com/logos/doodles...74752-hp2x.jpg
Late in 1816, while examining a patient suffering complications of the heart, René Laennec’s memory of a stroll taken months prior came rushing back. Walking the courtyard of the Louvre that day, he observed two children playing with a long stick--one scraped it with a pin while the other listened giddily to the amplified sound on the other end.
Recalling this, Laennec rolled up a piece of paper and pressed it to his patient’s chest. The beating of her heart was suddenly audible and clear, and the stethoscope--an innovation that would fundamentally change the detection and diagnosis of lung and heart problems--was born.
After several prototypes, he settled on an instrument that resembled a long, wooden tube. Using his invention, Laennec continued his research on sound in diagnostic medicine and made several important contributions to the field. To celebrate what would have been his 235th birthday, artists Helene Leroux and Olivia When depicted Laennec’s very first stethoscope beside the one we know today.
Happy birthday, Dr. Laennec.
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Oct 2, 2019
Sir William Ramsay’s 167th Birthday
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Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and work of Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsey, whose research led to the discovery of an unknown group of elements known as the noble gases. Born in Glasgow on this day in 1852, Sir Ramsay’s work led to groundbreaking advances in thermodynamics and nuclear physics.
After traveling to Germany, where he earned his doctorate at the University of Tübingen, Ramsay returned home with a reputation for innovative experimental techniques. As chair of chemistry at University College, London, he published numerous papers and books on liquids and vapors.
Ramsay was intrigued when another British physicist, Lord Rayleigh, observed that nitrogen in the earth’s atmosphere had a higher atomic weight than nitrogen in the laboratory. In 1894, he and Lord Rayleigh announced the discovery of a chemically inert gas, which they named argon.
While searching for argon, Ramsay found helium, which had been previously thought to exist only in the sun. Ramsay’s 1896 book The Gases of the Atmosphere predicted the existence of at least 3 more noble gases. Reducing air to low temperatures at high pressure, his team proceeded to identify neon, krypton, and xenon, reshaping the periodic table of elements forever.
Because of their chemical inertness, noble gases proved useful in many ways. For instance, helium replaced flammable hydrogen for lighter-than-air travel, and argon was used in lightbulbs.
Described by many as the “greatest chemical discoverer of his time,” Ramsay became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1888, was knighted in 1902, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904.
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October 3, 2014
Kenojuak Ashevak's 87th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hW...F-8aatTUA=s660
Our doodle in Canada pays tribute to Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak, who would have been 87 today. Ashevak’s work brought national attention to indigenous art and thrusted the ever-humble artist into the spotlight. For her contribution to art and Canadian culture, Ashevak was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.
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Oct 15, 2011
Italo Calvino's 88th Birthday
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_8...CaFvYnjDE=s660
I was overjoyed to be able to celebrate one of my favorite authors, Italo Calvino. Ostensibly a science fiction writer, Calvino is more of a fabulist, using scientific notions as a jumping-off point for whimsical, delightfully far-fetched, extremely warm and compassionate little tales. The first work of Calvino's that I read was Invisible Cities, an imagined dialogue between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan that meditates on the different ways of conceptualizing cities.
For this doodle, however, I decided to illustrate the first story from my favorite Calvino collection, Cosmicomics. Cosmicomics is an audacious series of myths and legends that covers everything from the creation of the universe, to the evolution of land vertebrates, to the social lives of dinosaurs.
In this story, The Distance of the Moon, the protagonist tells of time when the moon orbited so close to the Earth that it was possible to row out into the middle of the ocean and climb onto the surface of the Moon with a ladder. Once on the moon, the protagonists and his friends would frolic and cartwheel while the Moon's gravity gently pulled jellyfish and crabs up out of the sea. It's a fantastic image, and hopefully one that's very evocative to readers of Calvino.
If you haven't yet, please consider investigating his work!
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5 Oct 2021
Galina Vishnevskaya's 95th birthday
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Today’s Doodle, illustrated guest artist Darya Shnykina, celebrates the 95th birthday of one of the greatest Russian opera singers of the 20th century—Galina Vishnevskaya.
Galina Pavlovna Ivanova was born on this day in 1926 in Leningrad, Russia [modern-day St. Petersburg] and became enthralled with opera at 10 years old after hearing Tchaikovsky’s epic “Eugene Onegin.” While walking the streets of Leningrad in the early 1950s, Vishnevskaya stumbled upon an invitation to audition for the Bolshoi Theater—Russia’s most prestigious opera hall. She blew the judges away with her audition, earning a spot as the year’s only auditioner accepted into the Bolshoi troupe.
In 1953, her childhood dreams were realized at the Bolshoi as she portrayed the lead character Tatyana in “Eugene Onegin” with a fresh interpretation of a classic character that became her signature role. This marked the genesis of a virtuosic opera career that took Vishnevskaya to venues around the world—often with her beloved dachshund Pooks in tow—from New York’s Metropolitan Opera to Helsinki’s Finnish National Opera. It was at the latter venue that she gave her final performance of Tatyana before retiring in 1982.
As a devoted humanitarian, Vishnevskaya founded the non-profit children’s welfare organization Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation in 1991 alongside her husband, the world-class cellist Maestro Rostropovich. She also founded the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre in 2002 to provide a home for aspiring opera singers. Both organizations carry on her legacy of helping and inspiring others to this day.
Happy birthday, Galina Vishnevskaya!
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9 March 2016
Clara Rockmore’s 105th Birthday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNE0BKSlTL4&t=3s
Clara Rockmore made music from thin air. Trained from a young age as a violinist, Rockmore ultimately gave up the violin due to physical strain. This led her to discover the theremin, a gesture-controlled instrument named after its inventor, Léon Theremin. Not only did Rockmore become the instrument's most well-known performer, she also influenced its development. She convinced Theremin that it should be made more responsive and offer a greater range of notes [5 octaves instead of 3]. Though electronic music was uncommon in formal music settings in the 1930s, Rockmore performed as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony.
Today's interactive Google Doodle was created by artist Robinson Wood, interaction designer Kevin Burke, and engineers Will Knowles and Kris Hom [with support from the larger Doodle engineering team]. The team translated the movement used to play the theremin—one hand controlling pitch and the other volume—to an interactive module, where a point of light controls volume and pitch. Sound designer Manuel Clément helped with the button sound effects.
Engineer Will Knowles explained that the first attempt at recreating the theremin sound was fairly straightforward: just a "single oscillator producing a wave at a given frequency." But Knowles and his team wanted to create a sound quality that resembled Rockmore's own playing. "To accomplish this," he said, "we worked with the Chrome WebAudio team and theremin expert Mark Goldstein to create smooth sliding between frequencies and scaling vibrato to simulate her masterful play style." They also used filters to get across a "a softer, more aged feel."
Robinson Wood and Kevin Burke also reflected Rockmore's world in the visual design of the Doodle, with Art Deco-styled imagery and other period details. "We wanted to give the theremin's controls a feel of realism," Burke said, "so the knob textures were rendered to mimic Bakelite, the early plastic. We chose the wood texture for its similarity to the wood of Clara's RCA theremin."
Today's celebration of Clara Rockmore is a natural accompaniment to Google Creative Lab's launch of the Chrome Music Lab. In the words of designer Alex Chen, the Music Lab aims to "create simple ways for anyone, of any age, to explore how music works."
Have fun playing the theremin! Your playing commemorates Rockmore's 105th birthday.
Very special thanks to the Nadia Reisenberg & Clara Rockmore Foundation and Delos Records.
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7 March 2013
Volodymyr Dakhno's 81st Birthday
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Volodymyr Dakhno [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. He worked at Kievnauchfilm, which has since been renamed Ukranimafilm.
Dakhno was born on March 7, 1932, in Zaporizhzhia, USSR. After school he entered the Kyiv Medical Institute but almost immediately, he transferred to the Kyiv Civil Engineering Institute where he studied in the class of prominent Ukrainian architect Joseph Karakis.
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9 August 2023
Singapore National Day 2023
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Today’s Doodle celebrates Singapore National Day. On this day in 1965, Singapore officially gained independence from the Federation of Malaysia and became a sovereign nation.
On the eve of National Day, the Prime Minister delivers an official address to citizens that celebrates its triumphs and articulates goals for the future. Today, Singapore’s National Day Parade attracts thousands of people from all over the country — and for good reason. The Parade features a breathtaking aerial show with the Singapore Armed Forces’ helicopters and fighter planes. At night, many Singaporeans gather with families and friends near the Parade to witness a visual spectacle of skyscraping fireworks against the Singaporean skyline.
Today’s Doodle features Clarke Quay, a historical riverside quay that played a pivotal role in Singapore’s history. Situated along the Singapore River, the quay used to house warehouses that facilitated mercantile activity since the country’s pre-independence years. Today, with its restored shophouses in iconic pastel, Clarke Quay has been transformed into a scenic district with vibrant nightlife. The Doodle’s red frame is inspired by the city-state’s red and white national flag, which decorates homes and buildings leading up to and during the celebratory period.
Happy National Day, Singapore!
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1 Nov 2021
Celebrating Georgette Chen
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Today’s Google Doodle honors Singaporean artist Georgette Chen, a founder of the post-Impressionist Nanyang painting style, on the 91st anniversary of her first exhibition at the Salon d’Automne in Paris.
Georgette Chen Li Ying was born in Zhejiang, China in October 1906. She grew up mostly in Paris but traveled frequently throughout China and to New York. This cosmopolitan upbringing exposed her to the mixture of cultures that would eventually shape her pioneering art. Chen’s debut followed an invitation to showcase her artwork at an exhibition hosted in one of Paris’ most prestigious modern art salons, the Salon d’Automne, which began on this day in 1930.
In 1953, Chen settled in Singapore, where she helped found the Nanyang style of painting–an experimental style that combined Asian subjects and themes with Western styles and techniques. Chen was among the generation of Chinese-born artists who emigrated to Singapore to join the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, where she taught for 26 years. She became renowned for her refined brushwork, which infused her paintings with a dreamlike quality.
Chen produced numerous works that received global acclaim including “Mosque in Kuala Lumpur” [1957] and “Singapore Waterfront” [1958]. Her work was exhibited around the world, from New York to Kuala Lumpur. The Doodle artwork evokes Chen’s Nanyang style. Starting from the left: A basket of rambutan, an easel, the artist herself, a dried chili plant, a bitter melon, and then a teapot—all elements inspired by her work.
In 1982, she received the Cultural Medallion—a national award that honors the achievements of major contributors to Singapore’s artistic and cultural landscape. As a contributing member to her local community, Chen was the administrator for the Lee Foundation Fund for the Encouragement of Local Talent in the Fine Arts and on the council of the Singapore Arts Society. Singaporean children still learn about the country’s culture from the 2009 book “Georgette’s Mooncakes,” which explores Chen’s “Still Life: Moon Festival Table'' [1965-1968].
Thank you for your contributions to the global art scene in the face of an ever-changing world, Georgette Chen!