Google doodles

[9A]

20 January 2019
Manlee Kongprapad’s 136th Birthday








Dance has a rich history in Thailand, dating back more than 500 years. Over the centuries, royal courts have been important patrons of classical dance, one of the region’s most celebrated art forms, which incorporates theatrical elements to interpret epic tales of history and culture.

Today’s Doodle celebrates Thai dancer Manlee Kongprapad, born in Bangkok’s Yai District on this day in 1885, who fell in love with dance at an early age and overcame a humble upbringing to distinguish herself within royal circles as a renowned performer and later as a teacher.

Kongprapad was raised by a single mother who worked in a palace kitchen. Her mother’s job gave her the opportunity to watch royal dance performances, the young Kongprapad quickly became enchanted by the dancers’ ornate costumes and graceful movements. She was so captivated that she briefly ran away from her mother to practice the choreography. Receiving training from masters of the ancient art form, she became so proficient that she was recognized as a favorite of the court—even inventing some of her own moves that are still practiced to this day.

Kongprapad would eventually become a part of the first generation of teachers to provide formal dance training at Thailand’s first School of Drama and Musicology, which was founded in 1934 and later renamed the College of Dramatic Arts. In doing so, she helped preserve the rich cultural tradition that had changed her life, opening up similar opportunities for future generations of dancers.

Happy birthday, Manlee Kongprapad!

[9A]

29 January 2019
Celebrating Brenda Lee






In honor of Brazil’s National Day of Transgender Visibility, today’s Doodle honors Brazilian human rights activist Brenda Lee, who was an advocate for the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ community. Brenda Lee founded the “Palace of Princesses,” a four-story refuge from the dangers of street life for transgender people and cross-dressers in São Paulo, Brazil. The Palace soon turned into one of the country’s first residences for persons with HIV/AIDS.

Brenda Lee was born in Bodocó, Pernambuco on this day in 1948 and moved to São Paulo at the age of 14. In 1984, Lee purchased a four-story townhouse in downtown. The following year a series of hate crimes against trans people inspired her to open her home for those at risk of violence, and a short time after, the Palace of Princesses was turned into the Casa de Apoio [Brenda Lee Support House], a care home for patients—trans or not—with HIV/AIDS. Later, in 1992, the Casa de Apoio was legally incorporated and affiliated with the Emilio Ribas Hospital. To this day, the shelter — now funded by the State Health Secretariat — provides care for those who need it most.

Here’s to Brenda Lee whose legacy lives on through the humanitarian work carried on by the Casa de Apoio.

[9A]

31 Jan 2019
Celebrating Nasi Lemak




Today’s Doodle celebrates the rich, fragrant, and spicy dish, known as Nasi Lemak. The dish — considered the national dish of Malaysia and widely eaten year-round — is what many Malaysians start their day with. Also popular in Singapore and Thailand, the humble delicacy is believed to have originated as a hearty farmer’s breakfast on the west coast of the Malaysian peninsula.

Although the name translates from Malay as “rich rice” [a reference to the coconut milk included in the recipe] there is another origin story for the name. According to legend, the daughter of a widow named Mak Kuntum accidentally spilled coconut milk into the rice pot. “What did you cook?” Mak asked and her daughter answered. "Nasi le, Mak!" [Rice, mother!]

There are many variations of the dish across the multiethnic melting pot of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and other indigenous and imported cultures, but the fundamental recipe — featured in today’s video Doodle — is rice cooked with santan or coconut milk and flavored with pandan leaf and galangal root, served with ikan bilis [fried anchovies], crispy peanuts [skin on], sliced cucumber, hard-boiled egg, and sambal [hot sauce] or a splash of tamarind juice, with an optional piece of fried chicken or beef rendang on the side. Sold at roadside stalls wrapped in a “bungkus” of banana leaf or brown paper, Nasi Lemak is so popular it’s also eaten for lunch and dinner, too!

[9A]

3 April 2016
Start of the 100th tour of Flanders








Today marks the 100th tour of Flanders, or De Ronde van Vlaanderen, an annual springtime road cycling race held in Belgium since 1913. The race was put on hold during World War I, but has been held every year without interruption since 1919. The 2016 race covers 255 km [158 mi] with 18 categorized climbs and 7 flat cobblestoned sections — a notoriously bumpy ride for cyclists.

This year’s race starts in Bruges, and Doodler Alyssa Winans has included a famous Belfry in the Grand Place, or Grote Markt where the race begins. Then, riders will head south to Torhout, where De Ronde's founder, Karel Van Wijnendaele was born.

[9A]

6 April 2016
120th Anniversary of First Modern Olympic Games





Today is the 120th anniversary of the first modern Olympic games, which started in Athens, Greece in 1896. Officially called the Games of the I Olympiad, the events took place inside the Panathenaic Stadium.

The 1896 games included 9 different sports and 43 events. Most noteworthy was the marathon — it had the greatest number of international athletes ever. Equally noteworthy was its winner, Spyridon "Spyro" Louis, the only Greek champion in the athletics division, and a national hero for the host country. His monumental victory on that historic day continues to inspire Greek pride. Today's Doodle by Olivia When shows 4 different scenes from the games; refresh the homepage to see them all.

[9A]

6 April 2015
Leonora Carrington’s 98th birthday




Mary Leonora Carrington [6 April 1917 – 25 May 2011] was a British-born Mexican artist, surrealist painter, and novelist. She lived most of her adult life in Mexico City and was one of the last surviving participants in the Surrealist movement of the 1930s. Carrington was also a founding member of the women's liberation movement in Mexico during the 1970s.Our doodle is based off her painting “How Doth the Little Crocodile.”

[9A]

28 October 2018
Simón Rodríguez’s 249th Birthday




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!

[9A]

28 October 2014
Jonas Salk's 100th Birthday





Polio is nearly a thing of the past, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Jonas Salk. In 1952, Dr. Salk discovered and developed the first successful vaccine for polio. Combined with Albert Sabin’s oral vaccination, the virus is no longer the threat to the world that it used to be.

For the art, doodler Mike Dutton wanted to focus on those that benefited from this scientific milestone. Adults and children alike are susceptible to the disease, but children were especially at risk due to how the disease was transmitted.

“In earlier concept sketches, I wanted to show polio as something being conquered,” says Dutton.

“But it was also a little weird to show this monstrous, evil thing in an illustration, even if I was showing happy, able-bodied children literally overcoming the disease by jumping over it.”

Digging a little deeper, he learned that when the news of a vaccine was announced, people around the world spontaneously celebrated. Shopkeepers closed up shop for the day, factories observed a moment of silence, teachers and parents wept. “It was a pretty scary thing at the time. To go from something affecting hundreds of thousands of people around the world per year to just under a thousand cases today – it was a pretty big deal. That was my visual cue to show a town scene with both kids and adults celebrating, running around, enjoying themselves.”

Dr. Jonas Salk himself was a humble man and never patented the vaccine, forgoing an immeasurable fortune. When asked who owned the patent, Salk said it was the people that owned it, adding,”Could you patent the sun?”

Happy 100th, Dr. Jonas Salk!

[9A]

29 Oct 2014
Niki de Saint Phalle's 84th Birthday





Niki de Saint Phalle's “Nanas” are taking over our homepage for the French sculptress’s 84th birthday. Inspired by her pregnant friend, the “Nana” sculptures were de Saint Phalle’s artistic rendition of the everyday woman and became a symbol of femininity. After making her first “Nana” house—literally a gigantic figure that people could walk inside–de Saint Phalle described it as a “doll’s house for adults—just big enough to sit and dream in.” Happy 84th birthday to de Saint Phalle!

[9A]

29 October 2008
Ľudovít Štúr's Birthday




Ľudovít Velislav Štúr, known in his era as Ludevít Štúr, was a Slovakian revolutionary politician and writer. As a leader of the Slovak national revival in the 19th century, and the author of the Slovak language standard, he is lauded as one of the most important figures in Slovak history.

Štúr was an organizer of the Slovak volunteer campaigns during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. He was also a politician, poet, journalist, publisher, teacher, philosopher, linguist and member of the Hungarian Parliament.

[9A]

29 October 2014
Shin Saimdang's 510th Birthday





With a delicate touch, Korean artist and poet Shin Saimdang captivated audiences with her paintings of flowers, butterflies, and landscapes. In recognition of her contributions to Korean culture, Saimdang was selected to appear on the South Korean 50,000 won note, becoming the first woman to have the honor. Today we celebrate what would have been her 510th birthday.

[9A]

7 June 2019
Dragon Boat Festival 2019






Today’s Doodle celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Jie, which begins on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The exciting three-day event has occurred for over 2,000 years, and 10 years ago was inscribed on UNESCO’s list representing the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

The festival’s practice of racing boats originated from stories of people rowing on China’s Miluo River to try and rescue the ancient poet Qu Yuan from drowning during the third century B.C. Since then, the races have grown in popularity and spread throughout the world.

The boats are traditionally made of teak wood and can range up to 100 feet in length, accommodating as many as 80 rowers. Boats are usually decorated with dragon heads at the bow and scaly tails at the stern. A sacred ritual is held before the race when the eyes are painted on, which is said to “bring the boat to life.” During the race, a drummer sits in the front of each boat, helping the rowers to work in unison.

Families clean their homes and property in preparation for the festival, hanging bunches of mugwort and calamus on doors to ward off bad luck and disease. Aside from the race itself, there are many time-honored customs associated with the festival: eating sticky rice dumplings wrapped in lotus leaves, called zongzi; drinking wine made with the ruby-colored crystal realgar; and wearing “perfume pouches,” colorful silk bags filled with fragrant medicinal herbs.

端午节快乐!

[9A]

7 June 2008
Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Birthday



Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdonald, was influential on European design movements such as Art Nouveau and Secessionism and praised by great modernists such as Josef Hoffmann. Mackintosh was born in Glasgow and died in London. He is among the most important figures of Modern Style [British Art Nouveau style].

[9A]

7 June 2019
Lucky Akhand's 63rd Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates one of Bangladesh’s most beloved musicians, Lucky Akhand, whose timeless songs helped launch the Bangla rock movement and forge the young nation’s cultural identity. Born Laki Akhanda in Dhaka, the capital city of what was then East Pakistan, on this day in 1956, he was exposed to music early, learning piano, accordion, harmonica, and Spanish guitar from his father starting at age five.

Laki began writing his own songs as a child, appearing on children's TV and radio shows before the age of 10. The Pakistan Art Council awarded him first prize for “Modern Bangla Songs” in 1969, the year of his 13th birthday. The following year, he was employed as a composer for HMV Pakistan, and later as a musician for HMV India.

In 1971, while Bangladesh fought for its independence from Pakistan, Laki aided the cause by singing patriotic songs on Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. The free radio station boosted morale during the nine-month conflict, and teenage Laki was considered a “Freedom Fighter.” After the war he joined his brother Happy in the group Uchharon, an influential group whose music blended Eastern and Western sounds.

In 1984, he released his successful debut album Lucky Akhand and eventually adopted the optimistic name. He continued writing for other singers, including his brother Happy’s hit “Abar Elo Je Shondha,” which was featured in the Bangla film Ghuddi, and went on to become director of the national radio network Bangladesh Betar. His legacy lives on through his music, preserved in his own recordings as well as those of prominent Bengali singers, such as Fahmida Nabi.

[9A]

1 August 2021
Celebrating the Turkana human








Turkana Boy, also called Nariokotome Boy, is the name given to fossil KNM-WT 15000, a nearly complete skeleton of a Homo ergaster youth who lived at c. 1.5 to 1.6 million years ago. This specimen is the most complete early human skeleton ever found. It was discovered in 1984 by Kamoya Kimeu on the bank of the Nariokotome River near Lake Turkana in Kenya.

Estimates of the individual's age at death range from 7 to 11 years old.

[9A]

10 Jun 2019
Ahmed Khaled Tawfik’s 57th Birthday




"My English was not good enough to read horror literature, so I started writing it myself,” said Egyptian doctor and author Ahmed Khaled Tawfik. Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and work of the first and most prolific Arab writer of horror and science fiction, born in Tanta, Egypt, on this day in 1962.

Growing up in a house full of books, he read works by Somerset Maugham, Mark Twain, Chekhov, and Tolstoy from his father’s extensive library. By the age of 10, Dr. Tawfik began writing his own adventure stories.

"You write to keep your mental stability," he said in an interview. However, making a living as a writer did not seem practical to Dr. Tawfik. Instead, he attended medical school, and later earned a PhD in tropical diseases and became a professor at his alma mater.

After writing secretly for many years, he accumulated a trove of manuscripts. "Every writer has close friends who tell him he is a genius, but I did not trust them,” he said, but eventually decided to send his work to a publisher. In January 1993, he published Ostorat Masas Al Demaa’a and Ostorat Al Rajol Al Tha’eb, the first of 80 installments in his Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa series of novels for young readers.

As a professor of medicine at Tanta University, Dr. Tawfik's education and career in medicine strongly influenced his work writing medical thrillers. He went on to author over 500 titles.

In this Doodle, he is depicted as writing on his desk, with some of his most notable characters in the background—Refaat Ismael, the main character of Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa in his famous suit, Alaa Abdel Azeem, the protagonist in Safari, and Abeer Abdel Rahman, the heroine of Fantazia.

Dr. Tawfik continues to be remembered as one of the most prolific Arab writers of his age.

[9A]

10 June 2021
Portugal National Day 2021






Portugal uniquely observes its national day in remembrance of one of the country’s most influential poets: Luís de Camões. Today’s Doodle commemorates this nation-wide holiday, celebrated annually by the Portuguese community around the world.

Luís de Camões’ magnum opus, the 1572 epic poem “Os Lusíadas” [“The Lusiads”], is widely considered the most significant work of literature in the Portuguese language. This literary masterpiece memorializes Camões’ travels and the Portuguese navigations of an oceanic trade route to India by explorer Vasco de Gama.

Ever since Portugal gained independence in 1640, June 10 has been observed as Dia de Camões. Traditionally on this day, the national Portuguese type of music and song known as fado can be heard echoing into the streets, as revelers celebrate this centuries-long tradition of their shared Portuguese heritage. A symbol of the nation’s culture, fado music features the Portuguese guitar, a 12-stringed chordophone depicted in the Doodle artwork.

Happy Dia de Camões, Portugal!

[9A]

10 June 2013
Portugal National Day 2013

[9A]

10 June 2016
Portugal National Day 2016




Today is Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas, which is the national day of Portugal. The day honors the country itself, the great Portuguese poet Luís de Camões, and the Portuguese language. Camões wrote Os Lusíadas, which is the country's national epic poem, celebrating centuries of achievements.

For a vivid example of Portugal's rich history, check out the subject of today's doodle by Alyssa Winans: Guimarães Castle. This medieval castle in the northern region of Guimarães is believed to be over 1,000 years old, and is associated with the foundation of the country of Portugal.

To recognize the different contributions of each region, each year the Portuguese President chooses a different city to host the celebration of their national day. Today's bounty of parades, parties, pageants, and ceremonies will be held in the capital city of Lisbon.

[9A]

10 June 2015
Portugal National Day 2015








For this year’s official Dia de Portugal celebration, we are honoring thecalçada portuguesa: the iconic Portuguese pavement style where small, flat black & white tiles are hand-laid into intricate designs. The calçada can be found in most cities in Portugal.
Illustrated by guest artist, Ana Ramírez.

[9A]

11 June 2010
Jacques Cousteau's 100th Birthday






Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. He co-developed the Aqua-Lung, pioneered marine conservation and was a member of the Académie Française.

Cousteau described his underwater world research in a series of books, perhaps the most successful being his first book, The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure, published in 1953. Cousteau also directed films, most notably the documentary adaptation of the book, The Silent World, which won a Palme d'or at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. He remained the only person to win a Palme d'Or for a documentary film, until Michael Moore won the award in 2004 for Fahrenheit 9/11.

During the 1940s, Cousteau is credited with improving the Aqua-Lung design which gave birth to the open-circuit scuba technology used today. According to his first book, The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure [1953], Cousteau started diving with Fernez goggles in 1936, and in 1939 used the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus invented in 1926 by Commander Yves le Prieur. Cousteau was not satisfied with the length of time he could spend underwater with the Le Prieur apparatus so he improved it to extend underwater duration by adding a demand regulator, invented in 1942 by Émile Gagnan. In 1943 Cousteau tried out the first prototype Aqua-Lung which finally made extended underwater exploration possible.

Cousteau's legacy includes more than 120 television documentaries, more than 50 books, and an environmental protection foundation with 300,000 members.

[9A]

30 September 2019
Harry Jerome’s 79th Birthday





“Never give up” was a fitting motto for Harry Jerome, the Canadian athlete who broke barriers as he broke records. Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Toronto-based guest artist Moya Garrison-Msingwana, depicts the statue of Jerome that stands in Vancouver’s Stanley Park. That city also hosts the annual Harry Jerome International Track Classic, a meet named in honor of the champion sprinter.

Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan on this day in 1940, Harry Winston Jerome broke a Canadian record for the 220-yard sprint at age 18, soon earning an athletic scholarship to the University of Oregon. His grandfather John “Army” Howard had been the first black athlete to represent Canada in the Olympics. Jerome and his younger sister Valerie both carried on the family legacy, traveling to Rome to compete in the 1960 Olympic Games.

Although a pulled muscle prevented him from running in the finals, Jerome went on to represent Canada at two more Olympic Games, winning the bronze medal in 1964. He also won gold medals in the Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games. Starting in 1960, Jerome would equal or break four world sprinting records over the course of his career.

In 1969 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invited Jerome to help set up Canada’s Ministry of Sport. He was awarded the prestigious Order of Canada in 1971 and later named British Columbia’s Athlete of the Century. Inspiring young athletes of color to pursue their dreams and achieve their fullest potential, Jerome traveled across Canada holding sports clinics for high school students.

His life inspired the documentary film Mighty Jerome and his legacy is celebrated each year with the Harry Jerome Awards, which recognize excellence in Canada’s black community.

Here's to a champion who never gave up.








Located on a grassy knoll by Hallelujah Point and a few steps away from the seawall, this statue is a perennial favorite of locals and tourists alike. [Note that Jerome's own daughter, Debra S., gave this monument her personal stamp of approval in her 2014 review, above. How cool is THAT?!].

Harry Jerome was one of the greatest Canadian track athletes of all time. He held seven world records, and Vancouver honors him by annually hosting the Harry Jerome International Track Classic which is a two day international track meet.

This sculpture is larger-than-lifesize and captures Jerome mid-stride in run. Despite being stationary, it appears and "feels" dynamic, truly capturing the movement of run. To me, it appears as though the sculptor captured Jerome at the finish line of a race [although my kid thinks it depicts him at the starting line when the starting gun sounds]. It's a wonderful likeness of the athlete and of the athletic pursuit of excellence.

[9A]

30 September 2016
Andrejs Jurjans’s 160th birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates a man who, in many ways, carried Latvian music forward into the 20th century.

As the country’s first professional composer and musicologist, Andrejs Jurjāns delved into the Latvian folk music of the past while taking the sounds of his homeland to new heights. Throughout his lifetime, he collected and analyzed thousands of folk melodies, organizing them into an anthology that was published across six volumes. He also composed the first-ever Latvian symphonic works, including an instrumental concerto and a cantata, and was well-known for his choir arrangements.

When Jurjāns wasn’t crafting original pieces, he spent much of his time teaching. From 1882 — the year he finished his own schooling at the St. Petersburg Conservatory — to 1916, he shared his knowledge of music theory and more with students. Through his instruction, research, and composition, Jurjāns inspired many of the Latvian musicians who came after him. Today we pay tribute to that legacy on what would have been the composer’s 160th birthday.

[9A]

30 September 2010
Flintstones' 50th Anniversary





As a young kid, I drew a lot of dinosaurs. My dad would bring home reams of dot matrix printer paper from work, which I'd take, fold into stapled booklets, and then fill with dinosaurs doing what dinosaurs did best — eating, leaping about, facing off in epic combat on top of spewing volcanoes. What I didn't know was that dinosaurs were also quite handy. A brontosaurus tail made an excellent water slide, you could walk up a row of plates on a stegosaurus' back like a flight of stairs, and the triceratops' horns were actually cutting-edge can openers. For these paleontological insights into Stone Aged innovation, I have the Flintstones to thank.

The Flintstones may have lived in the prehistoric town of Bedrock, but their technology was on par with much of what we use today. Everyone drove human-powered vehicles [[zero emissions!), composted scraps in a dinosaur under the kitchen sink, and even wore solar powered watches—that is, if you count sundials. In short, Bedrock was the modern city of the past... and I wanted to live in it! Unfortunately, that didn’t quite pan out, but to be able to pay tribute to one of my favorite childhood TV shows in the form of a Google doodle is easily the next best thing.

On the 50th anniversary of its first airing, we gladly salute “The Flintstones” for inspiring our imaginations and encouraging us to think outside of the box, even if it means taking a look back now and then. I hope you’ll join the rest of us here at Google in a little nostalgia to mark this fun occasion!

Oh, and if you know any saber-toothed tigers looking for an internship as a hole puncher, give me a buzz.

posted by Mike Dutton

[9A]

1 Oct 2011
Grete Waitz's 58th Birthday







Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. She won nine New York City Marathons, women's division, between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history. She won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and a gold medal at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki. Her other marathon victories included winning the London Marathon in 1983 and 1986. She was also a five-time winner of the World Cross Country Championships.

Waitz won 12 World Marathon Majors, the most for any runner.

[9A]

1 October 2006
Castellers 2006







A castell is a human tower built traditionally at festivals in Catalonia, the Balearic islands and the Valencian Community. At these festivals, several colles castelleres [teams that build towers] attempt to build and dismantle a tower's structure. On 16 November 2010, castells were declared by UNESCO to be amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

The arrangement of castellers can be into a multi-tiered structure and the highest has a height spanning of nine or ten people from ground up. The motto of Castellers is "Força, equilibri, valor i seny" [Strength, balance, courage and common sense]. This motto is taken from a verse of Els Xiquets de Valls by Josep Anselm Clavé, a Catalonian politician and composer.

• Strength: Castellers at the base of the tower are usually stocky, while those further up, though generally lighter and agile, must still be fairly strong. The first castellers were peasants that were accustomed to holding great weights and were under much physical exertion.
• Balance: Supporting those above themselves in the castell, whilst relying on those below for support, requires a strong sense of balance and trust.
• Courage: The most important characteristic for castellers, especially for young children forming the highest levels of the castell.
• Common sense: Rehearsing and performing requires a great deal of planning and reasoning. Any error can cause the structure to fail and break apart.

Fully constructed

[9A]

1 October 2015
Annie Besant’s 168th Birthday




A fierce advocate of Indian self-rule, Annie Besant loved the language, and over a lifetime of vigorous study cultivated tremendous abilities as a writer and orator. She published mountains of essays, wrote a textbook, curated anthologies of classic literature for young adults and eventually became editor of the New India newspaper, a periodical dedicated to the cause of Indian Autonomy and featured in today’s Doodle by artist Lydia Nichols.

While the woman at the center of our logo looks perfectly content rocking sweetly in her chair, her powerful speeches could whip an audience of thousands into a frenzy.

[9A]

29 November 2018
Celebrating 400º of Murillo







Bartolomé Esteban Murillo painted historical and religious scenes, portraits, and still lifes in oil and fresco during the golden era of Spanish art. Known for his dramatic lighting, radiant color palette, and versatility, Murillo brought to life a wide range of subjects, from the grandeur of his Immaculate Conception to the casual grace of Two Women at a Window.Although his exact birthdate is unknown, he was baptized on New Year’s Day 1618 in Seville’s Church of St. Mary Magdalen and lived in Seville most of his life. Studying with the accomplished painter Juan del Castillo, a relative on his mother’s side of the family, Murillo would eventually surpass his master and be considered the head of what became known as the “Sevillian School” of the Baroque era.

Renowned for his Independent spirit, Murillo cultivated his own style of painting, incorporating Flemish and Venetian influences and evolving throughout his career. During two extended trips to Madrid, he was introduced to Diego Velázquez and exposed to works by Venetian and Flemish masters, which deeply influenced his own work. In turn, Murillo’s paintings would go on to influence such future masters as Thomas Gainsborough and Jean-Baptiste Greuze.

In honor of his 400th anniversary, a series of major exhibitions celebrating Murillo’s work is opening at Seville’s Museum of Fine Arts, bringing home the artist’s work from renowned collections all over the world. Guided tours, concerts, and other cultural activities combine to make this the “Year of Murillo.”
Happy Anniversary, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo!

[9A]

29 November 2015
42nd Anniversary of the official recognition of the letter ё




On 18 November 1783 the letter "ё" received official recognition. The letter ⟨ё⟩ was first used in print in 1795 by the poet Ivan Dmitriev. It was used by such influential writers as Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin and Gavrila Derzhavin, which assured its acceptance in the literary norm.

Ë, ë [e-diaeresis] is a letter in the Albanian, Kashubian, Emilian-Romagnol, Ladin, and Lenape alphabets. As a variant of the letter e, it also appears in Acehnese, Afrikaans, Breton, Dutch, English, Filipino, French, Luxembourgish, the Abruzzese dialect of the Neapolitan language, and the Ascolano dialect. The letter is also used in Quenya, Seneca, Taiwanese Hokkien, Turoyo and Uyghur when written in Latin script.

Use of the character Ë in the English language is relatively rare. Some publications, such as the American magazine The New Yorker, use it more often than others. It is used to indicate that the e is to be pronounced separately from the preceding vowel [e.g. in the word "reëntry", the feminine name "Chloë" or in the masculine name "Raphaël"], or at all - like in the name of the Brontë sisters, where without diaeresis the final e would be mute.

[9A]

29 November 2017
Gertrude Jekyll’s 174th Birthday




If not for legendary horticulturist and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, the world might be a much drabber place. Born in London on this day in 1843, Jekyll spent most of her life in Surrey, England, on her family’s estate, Munstead House. Later, she moved into her own house, Munstead Wood, where she planted one of her most enchanting gardens.

A woman of innumerable talents, Jekyll was also an accomplished musician, composer, woodworker, metalworker, and botanist. Her foundation as a budding artist greatly influenced her breathtaking creations. As a student, she took inspiration from the landscapes of English Romantic painter J.M.W. Turner, capturing the seasons, the light, the textures, and the hues of every growing thing on her canvases. Jekyll brought that painterly sensibility to her life’s work, designing about 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the U.S., which were documented in photographs, over a dozen books, and thousands of magazine articles.

Today’s Doodle was created by British artist Ben Giles. Giles unites the hot and cool colors the horticulturist favored to create a lush and brilliant garden collage. From the corner of the illustration, Jekyll watches her garden grow.

Happy 174th birthday, Gertrude Jekyll!

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29 November 2019
María Ylagan Orosa's 126th Birthday






Today’s Doodle honors Filipino food scientist, war hero, and humanitarian María Ylagan Orosa, credited with over 700 recipes—including the iconic local condiment banana ketchup—on what would have been her 126th birthday.

Born in the municipality of Taal within the Batangas province, Orosa went on to become an outstanding student, winning a partial government scholarship in 1916 to attend the University of Seattle. While living in a YMCA and working odd jobs, Orosa completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry, as well as an additional degree in food chemistry.

Orosa was then offered a position as an assistant chemist for the State of Washington before returning to the Philippines in 1922 to focus on addressing the problem of malnutrition in her homeland.

Orosa’s knowledge of chemistry led to numerous culinary innovations. For instance, by fitting a traditional earthenware pot with two sheets of metal, she invented the Palayok Oven, providing remote villages lacking access to electricity with a more effective means of cooking over an open fire.
Although adobo and lumpia are synonymous with Filipino cuisine, Orosa’s banana ketchup is not far behind. Using mashed bananas as a base instead of tomatoes, she made the sauce a long-lasting hit.

Two other inventions made her a war hero: Soyalac [a nutrient rich drink derived from soya beans] and Darak [rice cookies packed with vitamin B-1, which could also prevent beriberi disease] saved countless lives during World War II.

In recognition of Orosa's contributions to Filipino society, the National Historical Institute installed a marker in her honor at the Bureau of Plant Industry in Manila in 1983.

Happy birthday, María Ylagan Orosa!

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29 November 2016
Louisa May Alcott’s 184th Birthday






"I like good strong words that mean something," says Jo March in Little Women. The same could be said of that beloved novel's author, Louisa May Alcott, who was born on this day in 1832. In addition to being a writer, Alcott was a suffragist, abolitionist, and feminist. She grew up in the company of luminaries like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau, who fostered in her a strong sense of civic duty. Alcott volunteered as a nurse during the American Civil War, and her family's home was a station on the Underground Railroad. She was active in the women's suffrage movement and became the first woman to register to vote in Concord, Massachusetts. Through it all, she wrote novels and short stories tirelessly, sometimes working 14 hours a day.

Today's Doodle portrays Beth, Jo, Amy, and Meg March, as well as Jo's best friend Laurie, their neighbor. The March family of Little Women was based on Alcott's own, and the coltish Jo was Louisa's vision of herself: strewing manuscript pages in her wake, charging ahead with the courage of her convictions, and cherishing her family above all.

Doodle by Sophie Diao

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30 November 2015
Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 141st Birthday







Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote her first novel in 1905. It was rejected by every single publishing house that received it. A few years later, Montgomery tried shopping it again and succeeded. Her story about the adventures of a red-headed girl in Prince Edward Island became a smash hit. That novel ultimately became one of Canada’s most all-time popular books, being translated into around 20 languages and selling more than 50 million copies to date. Anne of Green Gables and its many sequels made Montgomery a wildly successful author and turned PEI into a destination for the book’s thousands of fans.

One of Canada’s most celebrated writers, Montgomery also wrote hundreds of poems and short stories as well as a number of novels apart from the Anne series. She was the first Canadian woman to be made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts and was also appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Today, on what would have been her 141st birthday, we salute Lucy Maud Montgomery with a Doodle that pays tribute to her most iconic book.

Doodler Olivia When, herself an Anne of Green Gables fan, wanted to honor Montgomery by illustrating several scenes from the beloved novel, including a particularly memorable one in which Anne mistakenly bakes a cake with liniment [a medicated oil] instead of vanilla. Here’s to Anne with an “e” Shirley and her revered creator, Lucy Maud Montgomery.

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2 Dec 2015
Park Kyung-ni’s 89th Birthday







Pak Kyongni [December 2, 1926 – May 5, 2008] was a prominent South Korean novelist. She was born in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, and later lived in Wonju Gangwon Province. Pak made her literary debut in 1955, with Gyesan [계산, Calculations]. She is, however, most well known for her 16-volume story Toji [토지, The Land], an epic saga set on the turbulent history of Korea during 19th and 20th century. It was later adapted into a movie, a television series and an opera.

Pak Kyongni died from lung cancer at the age of 81 on May 5, 2008 and many literary men recollected her as a guide for their literary works and life as a writer. She was posthumously awarded the country's top medal by the newly created Culture Ministry of South Korea for her promoting South Korean arts.

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3 Dec 2011
Nino Rota's 100th Birthday






Giovanni Rota Rinaldi, better known as Nino Rota, was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. He also composed the music for two of Franco Zeffirelli's Shakespeare films, and for the first two films of Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather trilogy, earning the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Godfather Part II [1974].

During his long career, Rota was an extraordinarily prolific composer, especially of music for the cinema. He wrote more than 150 scores for Italian and international productions from the 1930s until his death in 1979 — an average of three scores each year over a 46-year period, and in his most productive period from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s he wrote as many as ten scores every year, and sometimes more, with a remarkable thirteen film scores to his credit in 1954. Alongside this great body of film work, he composed ten operas, five ballets and dozens of other orchestral, choral and chamber works, the best known being his string concerto. He also composed the music for many theatre productions by Visconti, Zeffirelli and Eduardo De Filippo as well as maintaining a long teaching career at the Liceo Musicale in Bari, Italy, where he was the director for almost 30 years.

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23 December 2020
Celebrating the National Theatre







Today’s Doodle celebrates the Thai National Theatre, an iconic arts venue located in the country’s capital of Bangkok. The theater was inaugurated on this day in 1965 with an opening ceremony of Thai dance performed before an audience that included members of the nation’s royalty—the first of many cultural events held there in the decades since.

The National Theatre was first conceived in 1932 as a space for performing artists to share Thailand’s rich cultural heritage of music and dance with audiences. Another purpose of the theater was to provide a home for locals to exchange artistic customs with visitors from abroad to build stronger international relationships. For some three decades the theater operated out of the Fine Arts Department of the National Museum, and then in 1961 construction began on the dedicated building known today.

Since its inception, the theater has showcased various traditional Thai artforms, such as the classical dance style called khon. This one-of-a-kind performance traditionally features dancers in masks and colorful costumes and integrates varied elements like music, literature, and handicraft to portray stories from the Thai epic called the Ramakien.

The National Theatre is also home to musical events including performances by traditional big bands, and even provides a venue for educational functions like arts lectures.The venue is a lasting symbol of imagination, culture, and tradition for the people of Thailand.

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24 Dec 2020
Li Tien-lu's 110th birthday






Today’s Doodle celebrates Taiwanese puppeteer, educator, and film actor Li Tien-lu, a beloved artist who helped introduce the world to the traditional hand puppetry of his homeland. Tien-lu was a charismatic symbol of Taiwanese identity who breathed new life into the artform of puppetry for over 70 years.

Li Tien-lu was born on this day in 1910 in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei and learned puppetry from his father when he was a child. He became a professional puppetry career as a young teenager, and in his early 20s he established his own troupe: I Wan Jan. Tien-lu brought together elements like Peking opera and Taiwanese Beiguan music to craft a new form of glove puppetry called Wai Jiang Pai, and the troupe achieved great success from the ‘50s to the ‘70s.

In 1973, a French scholar took an interest in Tien-lu’s craft and asked him to teach a few of the scholar’s students. Soon enough, Tien-lu had pupils from around the world who in turn helped bring global popularity to the art of Taiwanese of puppetry. He spent the rest of his life traveling the globe to promote the artform, and also acted in films like “The Puppetmaster” [1993], a biopic about his life.
In honor of his artistic contributions, Tien-lu was honored as a “Living National Treasure'' by the Taiwanese government, and in 1995 he was knighted by the French government.

Happy birthday, Li Tien-lu, and thank you for handing the gift of Taiwanese puppetry to audiences around the world.

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14 Jan 2021
Petr Semenov-Tian-Shansky's 194th birthday








Today’s Doodle celebrates the multi-talented Russian geographer, author, and statistician Petr Petrovich Semenov-Tian-Shansky. A pioneering explorer of Asia’s Tien Shan mountain system, Semenov made huge strides in varied fields including geography, botany, statistics, and economics—all while amassing a comprehensive collection of Dutch and Flemish artwork and over 700,00 insects.

Petr Petrovich Semenov was born into a wealthy family on this day in 1827 near the city of Ryazan in Western Russia. He took an interest in botany and history as a child and went on to study natural sciences at St. Petersburg University. Following his graduation, he was admitted to the prestigious Russian Geographical Society, where he set out to translate work by the famous German geographer Karl Ritter. It was this project that first inspired Semenov to explore Central Asia’s Tien Shan mountain range, which was almost entirely uncharted by western scientists.

In 1856, Semenov embarked on his legendary first expedition of the Tien Shan. Over the course of two journeys, he classified enormous areas of mountainous terrain, and discovered eight new plant species. After his return, Semenov was elected vice president of the Russian Geographical Society and encouraged a new generation to follow in his footsteps as explorers. Semenov became a senator in 1882 and went on to spearhead Russia’s first population census in 1897.

In honor of his geographic accomplishments, Semenov was given the honorific title of Tian-Shansky on the 50-year anniversary of his iconic excursion.

Happy birthday to a fearless adventurer who reached the highest peaks of scientific progress.

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Jan 14, 2021
Justicia Espada Acuña's 128th Birthday






Today’s Doodle celebrates Chilean engineer Justicia Espada Acuña, one of the first female engineers in Chile and South America. A symbol of women’s progress in Latin America, Acuña forged a path for generations of women to pursue careers in engineering.

Justicia Espada Acuña Mena was born in the Chilean capital of Santiago on this day in 1893. Her father was a civil builder who encouraged Acuña and her seven siblings to follow their dreams and challenge unjust societal norms. After high school, she studied mathematics, but she soon took an interest in engineering instead. In 1912, she became the first woman to join the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Chile, and she made history when she graduated with a degree in civil engineering seven years later.

The next year, Acuña began her trailblazing career as a calculator for the State Railways’ Department of Roads and Works [Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado]. Excluding a break to raise her seven children, she worked for the company until her retirement in 1954.

To honor her legacy, the College of Engineers of Chile inducted Acuña into its Gallery of Illustrious Engineers in 1981, and around a decade later the Institute of Engineers created an award in her name for outstanding female engineers. In addition, in 2018 the Faculty of Physical Science and Mathematics of the University of Chile renamed its central tower after Acuña to memorialize the faculty’s first female student.

Happy birthday, Justicia Espada Acuña, and thank you for helping engineer a brighter future for women in science.

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September 20, 2020
Notaila Rashed’s 86th Birthday






Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Jordanian-American guest artist Sara Alfageeh, commemorates the 86th birthday of pioneering Egyptian translator and children’s author Notaila Rashed. Known affectionately as “Mama Loubna,” Rashed devoted her life to the creation and promotion of children’s literature. She helmed the influential Arabic children’s magazine “Samir” for decades and authored numerous beloved literary works for children and young adults alike. Through her books and short stories, she aspired to highlight ancient Egyptian literary traditions while showcasing the rich cultural heritage of contemporary life in her home country.

Notaila Ibrahim Rashed was born on this day in 1934 in Cairo, Egypt. She went on to study at Cairo University, where she wrote her first children’s stories. By 1953, her work had jumped off the pages and onto the airwaves through radio broadcasts. Just a few years later, Rashed helped found the groundbreaking educational magazine “Samir,” and she later oversaw the publication as its editor-in-chief.

Throughout her esteemed career, Rashed wrote and translated countless children’s stories, and collaborated with a diverse list of Arabic youth magazines, television shows, and radio programs. Among her most famous works is the 1979 two-part book “The Diary of Yasser Family,” which inspired the first children’s film created by the Egyptian National Council of Culture.

Rashed received a variety of awards in honor of her contributions to Egyptian literature and society, including the Medal of the Council of the Ministry of Culture in 2002.

Thank you, Notaila Rashed, for fostering a love of literature across generations.

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Sep 21, 2010
Juan de la Cierva's 115th Birthday






Juan de la Cierva y Codorníu, 1st Count of la Cierva, was a Spanish civil engineer, pilot and aeronautical engineer. His most famous accomplishment was the invention in 1920 of the first helicopter called Autogiro, a single-rotor type of aircraft that came to be called autogyro in the English language. In 1923, after four years of experimentation, De la Cierva developed the articulated rotor, which resulted in the world's first successful flight of a stable rotary-wing aircraft, with his C.4 prototype.

De la Cierva's work on rotor dynamics and control made possible the modern helicopter, whose development as a practical means of flight had been prevented by these problems. The understanding that he established is applicable to all rotor-winged aircraft.

In 1966, De La Cierva was inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame for his innovation in rotor blade technology, using them to generate lift and control with precision an aircraft's height.





Pitcairn PCA-2 autogyro, built in the US under Cierva license, 1961.

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October 1, 2018
Mary Prince’s 230th Birthday





On this day in 1788, Mary Prince was born in Brackish Pond, Bermuda. Sold from master to master throughout her life, Prince ended up on the island of Antigua in 1815 where she joined the Moravian church in 1817 and learned to read. Despite not having received a formal education, Prince went on to be recognized as a National Hero of Bermuda for her work to abolish slavery.

In December 1826 Prince married Daniel James, a former slave who had managed to buy his freedom. Her master at the time punished her for marrying a free black man with permission and in two years time the husband and wife were separated because Prince’s family moved to England taking her with them.

After the passage of Great Britain’s Slave Trade Act in 1807, slavery was no longer allowed in England, although the institution of slavery continued in the British colonies. Prince was legally free on British soil, but she had no means to support herself. Under the prevailing rules of the time, if she tried to return home to her husband, she would risk being enslaved again.

In 1829 Prince became the first woman to present a petition to Parliament, arguing for her human right to freedom. That same year some of her associates in the anti-slavery “abolitionist” movement introduced a bill proposing that any West Indian slave brought to England by his or her owners must be freed. It did not pass, but momentum was beginning to shift in favor of the abolitionist cause.

Two years later Prince published her autobiography, making her the first black woman to publish a slave narrative in England. Her book played a decisive role in turning British public opinion against the centuries-old institution of human enslavement.

“I have been a slave myself,” Prince wrote in The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave. “I know what slaves feel—I can tell by myself what other slaves feel, and by what they have told me. The man that says slaves be quite happy in slavery—that they don't want to be free—that man is either ignorant or a lying person. I never heard a slave say so.”

Published in 1831, the book caused a sensation, going through three printings in the first year alone. In one of the book’s many heartbreaking passages, Prince recalled being sold “like sheep or cattle” on the same day as her younger sisters Hannah and Dina were sold to different masters. “When the sale was over, my mother hugged and kissed us, and mourned over us, begging of us to keep up a good heart, and do our duty to our new masters. It was a sad parting; one went one way, one another, and our poor mammy went home with nothing.”

Two lawsuits for libel were filed against the book’s publisher in 1833, and Mary Prince testified at both, effectively rebuking any claims that the book was inaccurate or defamatory. After that there is no record of her movements—she may have stayed in England or returned home to her husband in Bermuda.

On August 1, 1838, some 800,000 slaves living in British colonies throughout the Caribbean were finally set free, following the passage of Great Britain’s Slavery Abolition Act, which was passed by Parliament two years after the publication of Mary Prince’s book.

Happy Birthday Mary Prince!

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October 1, 2018
Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy's 100th Birthday





"Attachment to your village, your hospital, your state or country—that must go. You must live in your soul and face the universal consciousness. To see all as one. To have this vision and work with strength and wisdom all over the world...to give sight for all."

-Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy

Known as Dr. V to colleagues and patients, Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy, founded the Aravind Eye Hospital, which started as an 11-bed facility and has grown into a network of clinics providing life-changing care to citizens of a nation struggling with high rates of blindness. Born on this day in 1918, Govindappa Venkataswamy was raised in Vadamalapuram, a rural village in Southern India. He began his education at a school with no paper or pencils—spreading sand from the riverbank on the ground, students would write with their hands. From such humble beginnings he went on to earn a B.A. in chemistry from American College in Madurai, an M.D. from Stanley Medical College in Madras in 1944.

Joining the Indian Army Medical Corps straight out of medical school, Dr. V’s plans for a career in obstetrics were derailed when he was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis so severe that he was confined to his bed for a year. Simple acts like walking or holding a pen became a serious challenge, but somehow he managed to return to school and study for a degree in ophthalmology in 1951.

Despite his health issues, he learned how to perform surgery to remove cataracts—the leading cause of blindness. Dr. V could perform 100 surgeries in a day. Addressing the problem of blindness in a holistic fashion, he set up eye camps in rural communities, a rehab center for blind people, and a training program for ophthalmic assistants, personally performing over 100,000 successful eye surgeries. In 1973 he received the Padmashree award from the Government of India for outstanding service to the nation.

Facing mandatory retirement at age 58, Dr. V began the next phase of his career in 1976, establishing the GOVEL Trust in order to fund the first Aravind Eye Hospital. The 11-bed facility was financed by doctors mortgaging their homes and donating their own furniture. The vision was to devote six beds to those patients who could not pay anything and to cover those costs with the other five beds, serving patients paying only as much as they could afford.

Today Aravind Eye Hospital has nearly 4,000 beds performing over 400,000 eye surgeries each year, with 70% of patients paying little or nothing. This seemingly miraculous result has been made possible by a relentless focus on efficiency and good management. Dr. V lowered the cost of cataract operations to nearly $10 per patient. His team of paramedicals do most of the prep work required for each surgery, freeing doctors to do what they do best. Each year Aravind performs 60% as many eye surgeries as the NHS in Great Britain, doing so at one-one thousandth of the cost.

As Dr V said, “Intelligence and capability are not enough. There must also be the joy of doing something beautiful.”

Happy 100th Birthday Dr. V!

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August 6, 2017
Luang Pradit Phairoh’s 136th Birthday








136 years ago, Luang Pradit Phairoh was born Sorn Silapabanleng to a musician's family in the Amphawa District of Thailand. As a young boy, he accompanied his father and performed as part of a traditional Thai piphat [musical ensemble] across the countryside. At one of these soirees, his musical genius was discovered by a nobleman, and he encouraged 19-year-old Sorn to move to the capital to study music.

Today, he is regarded as the greatest composer of traditional Thai music.
Luang Pradit tutored some of Thailand’s finest musicians and composers, including King Rama VII and Her Majestic Queen Rambhai Barni. In 1925, he was titled ‘Luang’ [a title similar to ‘Sir’], and in keeping with the tradition of the times, was also renamed with the honorific, Pradit Phairoh – loosely translated as [‘Master of Symphony’].

Today’s Doodle depicts Luang Pradit Phairoh, against the backdrop of the ranat ek – a type of xylophone that forms the centerpiece of a traditional piphat. Luang Pradit was particularly known for his mastery of this instrument.

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August 6, 2002
Andy Warhol's 74th Birthday


Andy Warhol [ born Andrew Warhola; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987] was an American artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture that flourished by the 1960s, and span a variety of media, including painting, silkscreening, photography, film, and sculpture. Some of his best known works include the silkscreen paintings Campbell's Soup Cans [1962] and Marilyn Diptych [1962], the experimental films Empire [1964] and Chelsea Girls [1966], and the multimedia events known as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable [1966–67].

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Warhol initially pursued a successful career as a commercial illustrator. After exhibiting his work in several galleries in the late 1950s, he began to receive recognition as an influential and controversial artist. His New York studio, The Factory, became a well-known gathering place that brought together distinguished intellectuals, drag queens, playwrights, Bohemian street people, Hollywood celebrities, and wealthy patrons. He promoted a collection of personalities known as Warhol superstars, and is credited with inspiring the widely used expression "15 minutes of fame".

In the late 1960s he managed and produced the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground and founded Interview magazine. He authored numerous books, including The Philosophy of Andy Warhol and Popism: The Warhol Sixties. He lived openly as a gay man before the gay liberation movement.

In 2002, the U.S. Postal Service issued an 18-cent stamp commemorating Warhol. Designed by Richard Sheaff of Scottsdale, Arizona, the stamp was unveiled at a ceremony at The Andy Warhol Museum and features Warhol's painting "Self-Portrait, 1964". In March 2011, a chrome statue of Andy Warhol and his Polaroid camera was revealed at Union Square in New York City.

A crater on Mercury was named after Warhol in 2012.






Statue of Andy Warhol in Union Square, New York City

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August 6, 2016
Bolivia Independence Day 2016






Today Bolivians come together for carnivals, marches and other patriotic festivities to celebrate “Dia de la Patria” or Independence Day. The country’s Declaration of Independence was signed on August 6th,1825 following centuries of Spanish occupation and 16 years of conflict. It was at this time that Bolivia was officially named in honor of Venezuelan resistance leader Simón Bolívar for his role in leading the fight for independence.

Today’s Doodle features an illustration of Bolivia’s ancient Incallajta ruins, once an Incan fortress, located in a remote site surrounded by mountains to the east of Cochabamba city.

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August 6, 2010
Bolivia Independence Day 2010

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August 6, 2015
Adoniran Barbosa's 105th Birthday






Music tells stories, stirs emotions, and inspires change, all while getting us to nod our heads along or burst into wild swings. The right mix of melody and message is a language all its own.

Adoniran Barbosa spoke that language fluently. In Brazil, he's known as one of the most influential samba singers the genre's ever seen. But he did more than craft toe-tapping tunes. Adoniran uplifted the working men and women of São Paulo with his expressive storytelling, bringing the city's malocas and tenements to life through iconic songs like Saudosa Maloca ["Shanty of Fond Memories"].

In his time, other artists and composers criticized Adoniran for using “wrong” Portuguese, the vernacular of the common people. Like most of history's influencers, his unique musical identity resonated with his listeners through its brand of honesty and authenticity, vindicating his art as a musical milestone and a cherished relic of Brazilian samba. Adoniran's drive to be different is why his music continues to inspire generations of samba composers.

Today's doodle takes its inspiration from Trem das Onze [ "The 11 pm Train"], one of Adoniran's most beloved and recognizable songs. In Doodler Leon Hong's early sketches, you can see all of the concepts come together visually: the hands of the clock pointing to 11, the approaching train on his music staff train tracks, and the cartoon of Adoniran himself as a part of his creation.

Listen to Adoniran Barbosa, along with the musicians he inspired and who inspired him, on Google Play Music's Adoniran Barbosa Radio .

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August 6, 2014
Anna Castelli Ferrieri's 94th Birthday





Our homepage in Italy today celebrates pioneering architect Anna Castelli Ferrieri, born this day in 1918. Ferrieri found success using alternative materials like metal and plastic in her designs.

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October 18, 2020
Mihail Sebastian’s 113th Birthday







Today’s Doodle celebrates the 113th birthday of Jewish-Romanian author, playwright, essayist, journalist, and lawyer Mihail Sebastian, widely revered as one of the most significant Romanian writers of the 20th century. Sebastian’s 1934 novel “De două mii de ani”[“For Two Thousand Years”] and his diaries “Journal 1935-1944”–posthumously published in 1996–are today considered seminal chronicles of the rise of anti-Semitism in 20th-century Europe.

Sebastian was born Iosif Mendel Hechter to a Jewish family on this day in 1907 in the Romanian port town of Brăila. He began to study law in 1927, first in Bucharest and later in Paris. He simultaneously embarked upon a prolific career in journalism, taking on literary and socio-cultural topics under the pen name Mihail Sebastian.

Sebastian developed a penchant for prose and had begun his literary rise in 1934 when he published his major work “De două mii de ani,” a semi-autobiographical novel about an unnamed Jewish student navigating Romanian life during the ‘20s. Over the following decade he released numerous novels, while also channeling his own experiences into his now-famous journals, which were clear-eyed yet hopeful accounts of this difficult period in history. Through it all, Sebastian never lost his sense of humor and achieved success with bitterly comedic plays like “Jocul de-a vacanța” [“Holiday Game”, 1938].

For his historic and courageous journals, Sebastian was posthumously awarded Germany’s prestigious Geschwister-Schollprize in Munich in 2006.

Happy birthday, Mihail Sebastian!