Google doodles

[9A]

15 January 2019
Celebrating Sake Dean Mahomed





A man of many talents, Sake Dean Mahomed was an entrepreneur who made a name for himself by building cultural connections between India and England. On this day in 1794, he became the first Indian author to publish a book in English and later, to open an Indian restaurant in England—ushering in what would become one of Great Britain’s most popular cuisines. Mahomed went on to find success as the “The Shampooing Surgeon of Brighton,” opening a spa in the British seaside town that attracted the rich and royal.

In 1810, after moving to London, Mahomed opened the Hindostanee Coffee House, Britain’s first Indian restaurant. The Epicure’s Almanack—an early London restaurant guide—hailed it as a place for nobility to enjoy hookah and Indian dishes of the highest perfection. Nonetheless, Mahomed was forced to close his luxurious restaurant in 1812 and sought to reinvent himself.

Moving his family to the beachside town of Brighton, he opened a spa named Mahomed’s Baths offering luxurious herbal steam baths. His specialty was a combination of a steam bath and an Indian therapeutic massage—a treatment he named “shampooing” inspired by the Hindi word champissage meaning “a head massage.” He also published a book about the therapeutic benefits of the treatment with testimonials from his patients. In 1822, King George IV appointed Mahomed as his personal ‘shampooing surgeon’, which greatly improved his business. A portrait of Mahomed hangs in the Brighton Museum, commemorating this man who helped merge the cultures of his two homelands.

Happy Birthday, Sake Dean Mahomed!

[9A]

5 November 2018
Michael Dertouzos’ 82nd Birthday






A computer scientist who foresaw how the internet would impact the lives of everyday people, Dertouzos predicted the popularity of personal computers and helped to maximize their potential as director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Laboratory for Computer Science.

Born in Athens, Greece on this day in 1936, Dertouzos was the son of a concert pianist and an admiral in the Greek navy. Upon graduation from Athens College, he attended the University of Arkansas on a Fulbright Scholarship and earned a Ph.D. from MIT, joining the faculty in 1968.

Under Dertouzos’ guidance, the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science grew into a thriving research center employing hundreds of people collaborating on innovations like distributed systems, time-sharing computers, the ArpaNet, and RSA encryption, an algorithm used to ensure secure data transmission. Dertouzos worked to make LCS the North American home of the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C], an alliance of companies promoting the Web's evolution and interconnectivity. Dertouzos recruited Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, to run it.

As early as 1980, Dertouzos was writing about “The Information Marketplace” a concept that he expanded on in his book 1997 book What Will Be: How the New World of Information Will Change Our Lives. “If we strip the hype away,” he observed, “a simple, crisp and inevitable picture emerges -- of an Information Marketplace where people and their computers will buy, sell and freely exchange information and information work.”

Insisting on the importance of bringing “technology into our lives, and not vice versa,” Dertouzos spurred LCS to head up the 1999 Oxygen project in partnership with MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab. The goal of this massive project was to make computers "as natural a part of our environment as the air we breathe."

As reflected in the title of his final book, The Unfinished Revolution: Human-Centered Computers and What They Can Do For Us, Dertouzos’ belief in technology was always grounded in his desire to unleash the full potential of humanity.

Happy Birthday Michael Dertouzos!

[9A]

28 June 2019
185th Anniversary of the Publication of Pan Tadeusz Poem






On this day in 1834, the Polish Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz published his masterpiece, Pan Tadeusz, often considered one of the last great epic poems in European literature. Written in Paris, the 12-part saga captures the spirit of Poland at a time when much of its territory was partitioned between Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

Set during the years 1811 and 1812 in a Lithuanian village, the narrative focuses on a feud between two prominent families, complicated by the love between Tadeusz and a daughter of the rival family named Zosia. A revolt against the local Russian garrison brings the families together, inspired by a shared passion to restore Poland to its former glory: “When talk was to raise Poland again from this rubble.”

Required reading in Polish schools, Pan Tadeusz has been translated into many languages and adapted into TV and film versions, most recently in 1999 by Polish director Andrzej Wajda. Mickiewicz writes with great feeling, expressing his love and longing for all aspects of Polish life from the landscape [“These fields, painted with various grain, gilded with wheat, silvered with rye”], to the food [“mere words cannot tell of its wondrous taste, colour and marvellous smell”], to even the wildlife [“No frogs croak as divinely as Polish ones do”].

[9A]

28 June 2021
Celebrating Mary Two-Axe Earley









Today’s Doodle, created by Kanien’kehá:ka [Mohawk] guest artist Star Horn, celebrates Mary Two-Axe Earley, a Kanien’kehá:ka [Mohawk] woman from Kahnawà:ke, Mohawk Territory, situated on the southern shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from Montreal. Two-Axe Earley fought for over two decades against sex discrimination in the Indian Act, which stripped First Nations women of their Indian status if they married non-Indian men. On this day in 1985—nearly two decades after Mary began her fight against sex discrimination in the Indian Act—the Parliament of Canada passed Bill C-31, an amendment to restore Indian status to women who had lost it through marriage.

Mary Two-Axe Earley was born on October 4, 1911 on the Kahnawà:ke Reserve. At 18, she moved to New York, where she married an Irish-American engineer. Under the provisions of Canada’s Indian Act, her marriage to a non-Indigenous man meant the loss of her Indian status.The Indian Act of 1876 defines who is an “Indian” and who can belong to an “Indian band” [now referred to as First Nations].

The federal government targeted First Nations women, stripping them of their Indian status [their recognition as an Indian] if they married a non-Indian man. These laws banned First Nations women and their children who lost their status from living in their communities, denying them access to critical social programs and voting rights in their community, and severing their ties to identity and culture. Thousands of First Nations women affected by this legislation are still waiting to be recognized by Canada.

In 1967, Two-Axe Earley founded the Equal Rights for Indian Women organization. For decades, she fought for First Nations women’s rights through associations, impassioned speeches, and letter campaigns. Her perseverance, along with other First Nations women, paved the way for the 1985 repeal of Indian Act provisions, which restored Indian status to thousands of First Nations women.

One week later, Two-Axe Earley became the first woman to have her Indian status reinstated. The Bill was effective April 17, 1985, but the movement for sex equality continues today.

In addition to an honorary doctorate and a position among the first members of the Order of Quebec, Two-Axe Earley received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 1996 for her lifetime devotion to human rights.

Thank you, Mary Two-Axe Earley, for your unyielding dedication to the rights of First Nations women and their children!

Today’s Doodle was illustrated by Kanien’kehá:ka [Mohawk] guest artist

Star Horn

.

[9A]

30 Jun 2021
Celebrating the Wadden Sea








Today’s Doodle celebrates the Wadden Sea, the world’s largest network of intertidal sand and mudflats, which spans the coastlines of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. On this day in 2009, UNESCO designated the Wadden Sea a World Heritage Site in recognition of its unparalleled ecological and geological importance and the decades of effort dedicated to its preservation.

Created by storms during the 14th and 15th centuries, the Wadden Sea is a relatively young wetland environment that comprises one of the world’s last remaining undisturbed intertidal ecosystems. This magnificent stretch of sea and sand houses numerous plant and animal species, including the grey seal and harbor porpoise. Considered one of the most critical regions globally for migratory birds, it’s estimated that the wetlands are visited by over 10 million African-Eurasian birds annually and can harbor up to 6.1 million birds at once!

The Wadden Sea isn’t just a pristine habitat for wildlife—popular ways human visitors enjoy the scenery include exploring the mudflats at low tide or touring the barrier islands by boat. However, it's vital for tourists to respect the site’s essential role in maintaining global biodiversity. Current conservation efforts are grounded in a strategic partnership between UNESCO, environmental NGOs, the Wadden Sea Forum, and the governments of Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands so that future generations can enjoy this natural phenomenon.

Here’s to the Wadden Sea and preserving over 4,000 square miles of the natural world!

[9A]

30 June 2018
José Emilio Pacheco’s 79th Birthday










Today, we celebrate José Emilio Pacheco, the Mexican poet, essayist, novelist, narrator, and translator considered among Mexico’s most important writers of the 20th century.

Born in Mexico City in 1939, Pacheco rose to prominence amidst a group of socially dedicated writers in the 1960s. His works frequently challenged Mexico’s political and literary elite, brought to light social issues, and explored the meaning of time, life, and death. Pacheco was known for his simple, direct words, which contrasted the figurative language used by many great poets of his time.

Though he received no shortage of awards, including the esteemed Miguel de Cervantes Literature Prize in 2009, Pacheco notably downplayed his talents. On what would’ve been his 79th birthday, we honor him for his innumerable contributions to Mexican literature.

In today’s Doodle by guest artist Loris Lora, the turtle shell comprising the second Google “g” references the cover of Pacheco’s first short story collection, El viento distante [The Distant Wind], published in 1963. The woman in the frame reimagines Las batallas en el desierto [Battles in the Desert]. This 1981 novella was so popular it inspired a film, a comic, and even a classic rock song. In the right corner, a ship alludes to the cover of El principio del placer [The Pleasure Principle], while the cricket represents a poem that shares its name.

Feliz cumpleaños, José Emilio Pacheco!

[ralpht]

Congratulations to 9A on her 100 thousand postings.Not bad for a forum newbie

[9A]

Friends, the Google Doodles on their home pages over the last few days have been
videos of complex games in honor of the Olympics. Wonderful graphics, but, if you are interested in playing the games, please go to Google´s home page for a given day. From
there, you can elect to play a game and tally up a grand score. Good luck.

[9A]

7 September 2019
Celebrating Marcelle Ferron

“My aim has always been modest. I wanted to transform the arranged marriage [of art and architecture] into a love match.” ​—Marcelle Ferron

Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and work of the renowned Canadian painter, sculptor, and glassmaker, whose famous installation in Montreal’s Vendôme station was unveiled on this day in 1981. Marcelle Ferron’s striking design combined colorful stained glass with a spiraling stainless steel sculpture, a unique style that inspired the Doodle’s art.

Born in 1924, Ferron studied at the École des beaux-arts de Québec, but left upon realizing she was unable to find answers to her questions about modern art. Upon meeting Québec abstract painter Paul-Émile Borduas, she joined his Automatiste group and became one of the youngest artists to sign their 1948 manifesto Refus global. Ferron went on to spend 13 years painting in Paris, exhibiting her work at the 1961 São Paulo Biennial in Brazil, where she won a silver medal.

Her meeting with glassmaker Michel Blum sparked an interest in glass as an art medium. Over time, she devised her own methods, building “walls of light” connected by invisible joints that allowed her to create large planes of color. These innovative techniques can be seen in her mural for Expo 67 and public commissions in the Champ-de-Mars train station, Sainte-Justine Hospital, and the Granby courthouse.

Throughout her 50-year career, Ferron became one of Canada’s most important contemporary artists and was made a Knight of the National Order of Québec in 1985, then promoted to Grand Officer in 2000. This restless visionary’s achievements blazed a trail for women aspiring to make a mark in what was a traditionally male-dominated space.

[9A]

7 September 2016
Brazil National Day 2016






Independence can mean many things, including liberty, strength, and peace. It can be a personal feeling of freedom or a public expression of pride. Today we celebrate two shining examples of independence: Brazil National Day and the start of the 2016 Paralympic Games. In September of 1822 on the banks of the Ipiranga Brook, Dom Pedro declared Brazil's autonomy. And in present-day Rio, the athletes of the Paralympic Games pursue their passions in more than 20 sports, including canoe and triathlon for the first time.

These occasions are centuries apart, but they share a soaring sense of independence that's worth celebrating every day.

[9A]

29 April 2017
Tama’s 18th birthday







Today’s Doodle celebrates little Tama, the beloved stationmaster of Kishi Station in Kinokawa, Wakayama, Japan.

For many years, the train station was lightly traveled, causing officials to close it in 2004. But in 2007, the railway appointed Tama the calico cat to be the stationmaster. The new local celebrity drew crowds of travelers to see her in her office, where she sometimes wore an official cat-sized cap. Not only did Tama draw tourists to her new cat-themed cafe and gift shop [even the station itself got a cat-themed makeover!], but her celebrity also kept the train service open for local residents.
Though Tama passed away in 2015, a new kitty called Nitama [or “Tama the second”] keeps the trains running and poses for selfies with passengers.

Happy birthday to the world’s first feline stationmaster!

[9A]

13 January 2018
5th African Nations Championship






Can you feel the excitement in the air? Once again, the African Nations Championship is upon us!
Today we’re celebrating the start of the 5th African Nations Championship, a football tournament drawing in teams from across Africa to compete for the coveted title. The first tournament was held in Ivory Coast in 2009, designed to showcase the football talent amongst the best African national teams. The Confederation of African Football organizes the competition every two years and only allows footballers playing for their country’s domestic team to participate. As a result, the best African talent will be on display - you won’t want to miss it!

All the action is taking place in Morocco as the first games of the 2018 tournament kick off today. Sixteen teams will descend upon various stadiums across Morocco, but only one will be crowned the champion, during the final game on February 4, played in Casablanca.

Today’s doodle features players wearing each of the flags of the countries represented. They’re practicing their skills, just like each of the African Nations have done all year.

Good luck to all the players [and fans!] across Africa!

An alternate version of the players holding traditional African shields by the artist.

[9A]

13 January 2013
Aleko Konstantinov's 150th birthday





Aleko Konstantinov was a Bulgarian writer, best known for his character Bay Ganyo, one of the most popular characters in Bulgarian fiction.

[9A]

5 October 2017
Magda Szabó's 100th Birthday








Symbolically, a door can be interpreted in countless ways. It can represent anything from the extraordinary to the mundane: the promise of a new opportunity, a mysterious gateway to the unknown, or just the point of entry to the next room. Today, we celebrate Magda Szabó, the Hungarian author whose most internationally recognized book takes its title from this symbol. Her ability to craft an evocative narrative within an everyday setting is a part of what’s made her the most translated author in Hungary, with publications reaching 42 countries and translated into over 30 languages.

Though she is recognized today as one of the most influential figures of contemporary Hungarian literature, Szabó was actually forced into literary exile during the early 1950’s by the Communist Party. Before being censured, she began her career as a poet, winning several awards for her art. After being brought back into favor by the very same group that had enforced her silence, she explored the implications of this in what became her most well known novel “The Door”. She also went on to publish well-known children’s books, collections of plays, and works of fiction and drama.

One hundred years may have passed since the day she was born, but Szabó’s works live on, thanks in large part to the timelessness of her characters, her settings, and her stories.

[9A]

5 October 2012
Brian Ó Nualláin's 101st Birthday




Brian O'Nolan , better known by his pen name Flann O'Brien, was an Irish novelist, playwright and satirist, considered a major figure in twentieth century Irish literature. Born in Strabane, County Tyrone, he is regarded as a key figure in modernist and postmodern literature. His English language novels, such as At Swim-Two-Birds and The Third Policeman, were written under the O’Brien pen name. His many satirical columns in The Irish Times and an Irish language novel An Béal Bocht were written under the name Myles na gCopaleen.

O'Brien's novels have attracted a wide following for their bizarre humour and modernist metafiction. As a novelist, O'Brien was influenced by James Joyce. He was nonetheless sceptical of the cult of Joyce, which overshadows much of Irish writing, saying "I declare to God if I hear that name Joyce one more time I will surely froth at the gob."

[9A]

5 October 2016
100th Anniversary of completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway






Composition: Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48, II. WaltzComposer: Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyRecording by: Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra

From the country’s small villages to its big cities, Russia depends on the mighty Trans-Siberian Railway to traverse more than 6,000 miles and seven time zones between Moscow and Vladivostok.

In just seven days, the railway transports travelers and cargo from western Russia, across rocky tundra and frequently impassable countryside, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Built over 26 years and completed a century ago, it remains a critical facet of Russian trade with Europe and China, and is a stalwart example of Russian engineering.

Today’s Doodle celebrates the railway that helped link a nation with the world. Doodler Matt Cruickshank relied on his first-hand experience traveling the Trans-Siberian Railway in April 2015 to bring the Doodle to life.

During the trip, Matt sketched out images of the Russian cities and countryside that would help form the foundation of the animation. “I felt compelled to echo the visual strength of Russian graphics coupled with a folk art style,” Matt explains.

The Doodle also features Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48, II. Waltz” as performed by the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. “The accompanying score gave the short film the momentum and gravitas that brought the whole project together."

Check out scene-by-scene GIFs of today’s Trans-Siberian Railway Doodle below.

[9A]

10 Oct 2016
50th Anniversary of Health and Sports Day





On Japan’s annual Health and Sports Day, everyone wins! That spirit inspired today’s Doodle, which shows Google-hued characters of all ages crossing the finish line together. First celebrated 50 years ago today, the holiday commemorates the opening of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Since the occasion is all about promoting an active lifestyle, Japanese people both young and old celebrate by going for the gold. Many schools host field days that resemble mini Olympics, featuring events like the relay, long jump, and shot put, along with obstacle courses and tug of war.

For decades, Health and Sports Day was held on October 10th, but it was officially moved to the second Monday in October back in 2000. This year, the holiday happens to fall on its original date — just in time for its 50th birthday.

[9A]

10 October 2014
R. K. Narayan's 108th Birthday









Who’s the man behind the book on our doodle in India? It’s Malgudi’s native son, famed Indian writer R. K. Narayan. Narayan is a well known pioneer of early Indian literature and set most of his stories in the fictional town of Malgudi. Happy 108th birthday to R. K. Narayan!

[9A]

10 October 2011
Fridtjof Nansen's 150th Birthday






Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian. He led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, traversing the island on cross-country skis. He won international fame after reaching a record northern latitude of 86°14′ during his Fram expedition of 1893–1896. Although he retired from exploration after his return to Norway, his techniques of polar travel and his innovations in equipment and clothing influenced a generation of subsequent Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.

[9A]

15 Oct 2011
Italo Calvino's 88th Birthday








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!

Posted by Sophia Foster-Dimino

[9A]

21 October 2011
Mary Blair's 100th Birthday





I was greatly honored for the opportunity to create a doodle for Mary Blair's 100th birthday. Not to mention somewhat intimidated! Her work was and continues to be a major source of inspiration for a large number of artists working in animation, illustration, and fine art... and the Google Doodle team. So there was some pressure to get it right!

Of course, for all her technical mastery, from her wonderful color schemes to her deceptively simple shapes and compositions, what I've always admired most about her work is the sense of joy that went into making each picture. As a viewer, I can't help but sense that childlike enthusiasm and smile in response. This was Mary's ultimate goal, as she wrote in a letter to her husband, to "live to be happy and paint to express our happiness," and it's a goal very similar to our own as Doodlers -- to inspire happiness in our users when they see something new and unexpected on the Google homepage.

[9A]

29 Oct 2009
Asterix Comic's 50th Anniversary © 2009 Goscinny - Uderzo




Asterix or The Adventures of Asterixis a French comic book series about Gaulish warriors, who have adventures and fight the Roman Republic during the era of Julius Caesar in an ahistorical telling of the time after the Gallic Wars. The series first appeared in the Franco-Belgian comic magazine Pilote on 29 October 1959. It was written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo until Goscinny's death in 1977. Uderzo then took over the writing until 2009, when he sold the rights to publishing company Hachette; he died in 2020. In 2013, a new team consisting of Jean-Yves Ferri [script] and Didier Conrad [artwork] took over. As of 2019, 38 volumes have been released, with the most recent released in October 2019.

[9A]

20 March 2019
Gamila El Alaily’s 112th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and legacy of Egyptian poet and essayist Gamila El Alaily. Born in Mansoura, Dakahlia on this day in 1907, El Alaily was one of the leading women of Egypt’s modern art renaissance. A passionate writer, she became the sole female member of the Apollo Society, an influential group of poets, writers, and artists who came to represent the first wave of modernism in Arab literature.

Encouraged by the work of pioneering poet May Ziadah, El Alaily moved to Cairo and began contributing poetry to the Egyptian literary journal Apollo, which was launched in 1932 by Dr. Ahmed Zaki Abu Shadi. The publication was named after the Greek god of poetry, as well as truth, prophecy, healing, light, and the sun—a fitting symbol of the society’s universal vision as well as El Alaily’s Apollonian verse. After consistently contributing to the highly regarded journal, she published The Echo of my Dreams, the first of her three diwans, or volumes of poetry, in 1936. Drawing inspiration from nature, her poetry addressed the themes of love and longing as well as contemplation.
In addition to volumes of verse, El Alaily went on to write a regular column for over a quarter century in her monthly newsletter, addressing ethics, values, and ideals, including her views on the role of women in society. In this respect, as well as her prolific poetic output, she broke new ground for women in the Arab world, inspiring generations of writers to come.

Happy 112th Birthday, Gamila El Alaily!

[9A]

9 January 2018
25th Anniversary of Rafflesia Arnoldii




If screens emitted scents, you’d be in for quite the stench. The pale green fumes bursting from today’s Doodle evoke the odor of Rafflesia arnoldii, an Indonesian plant that produces the largest flower in the world. This day marks the 25th anniversary of its distinction as a national rarity in its native Indonesia.

Known as bunga bangkai, or “the corpse flower” among locals, Rafflesia arnoldii gives off the aroma of rotting flesh, which baits the carrion flies that pollinate it. Its plump, red-brown petals, freckled with white spots, only emerge from Tetrastigma, the vine-like plants that host it, when it’s ready to reproduce — making it an incredibly uncommon sight. Once in the open, Rafflesia arnoldii grows to around 3 feet [1 meter] in diameter and blooms for just a few days.

But there’s more to this parasitic plant than its pungent perfume. Rafflesia arnoldii was named an Indonesian national “rare flower” in 1993’s Presidential Decree No. 4. This wondrous species is represented in the intricate patterns of traditional Indonesian batik, especially in the Bengkulu province of Sumatra, where it is often found.

Today, we celebrate Rafflesia arnoldii’s special [and smelly] place in Indonesian history!

[9A]

9 Jan 2018
Farouk Shousha’s 82nd Birthday





"لغتنا الجميلة” [translated as “Lughatuna Al-Jamila” or “Our Beautiful Language”] was among the longest running and most popular programs on Egyptian State Radio, hosted in the smooth voice of Arabic poet and radio host, Farouk Shousha.

Born in the port city of Damietta, Shousha received his early education at a traditional kuttab elementary school. He credited this classical style of schooling for his strong foundation in Arabic, which in turn inspired his lifelong passion for safekeeping the quality and purity of the language.

On his show, Our Beautiful Language, he would recite and dissect Arabic poetry, popularizing it among the masses. Considered a “Guardian of Arabic,” Shousha was appointed Secretary General of the Academy of the Arabic Language. He authored 13 poetic anthologies and won the Nile Prize for Literature in 2016.

Today’s Doodle celebrates Shousha’s 82nd birthday and depicts him as he might have looked on set: distinguished with salt and pepper hair, joyously opening up a world of poetry and culture to listeners tuning in from Egypt and beyond.

[9A]

18 May 2019
Omar Khayyam’s 971st Birthday





Although he was renowned as a mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher, Omar Khayyam may be best known today for his poetry. Born in Nishapur, Persia [located in modern-day Iran] on this day in 1048, Khayyam is believed to have been the son of a tent-maker, which is the literal meaning of his name, al-Khayyam.

Endowed with a multifaceted mind, he wrote books on music, arithmetic, and algebra before the age of 25. During the Seljuk dynasty, Khayyam was invited to the city of Isfahan to build a new observatory under the sponsorship of sultan Malik-Shah. For 18 years he led a team of scientists that built a star map and measured the length of the solar year so precisely that it loses only one day every 5,000 years—more accurate than the Gregorian calendar, which loses a day every 3,330 years. Using these calculations he helped to develop the Jalali calendar, a forerunner of Iran’s modern calendar.

Many of Khayyám’s insights and ideas were not proven until centuries later. His Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra [1070] remains an essential text to this day, introducing the concept of binomial expansion and offering methods for solving cubic and quadratic equations that merged algebra and geometry by use of conic sections. Khayyam also posited the idea that a cubic equation can have more than one solution.

Though his mathematical breakthroughs are less well known, Khayyam is famous for The Rubáiyát, a collection of hundreds of short poems known as quatrains, which was first translated from Farsi into English in 1859 by Edward Fitzgerald. Versions of some of these verses can be found elsewhere in Persian literature, but many were originated by Khayyam.

Happy 971st birthday, Omar Khayyam!

[9A]

16 October 2018
Lachhu Maharaj’s 74th Birthday





Born on this day in 1944 to a family of musicians, Lachhu Maharaj [born as Lakshmi Narayan Singh], was one of the most celebrated tabla players of his time. Maharaj trained under his father, Vasudev Maharaj, and started performing at an early age. As a child, his gifts caught the attention oflegendary tabla player Ahmed Jaan Thirakwa, who was deeply impressed by Maharaj’s performance at just eight years old.

Lachhu Maharaj was best known for his inherent sense of rhythm which was best exemplified in his solo performances. Even though he played alongside nearly all the greatest tabla players of his time, his solo performance are the most remembered. Girija Devi, whom he often collaborated with, claimed that “he would play for hours without repeating himself, new gats, tukras and parans, leaving his audiences awestruck.”

Happy Birthday Lachhu Maharaj!

Doodle by guest artist Sajid Shaikh.

[9A]

16 October 2008
Queen Elizabeth II Visits Google London




Elizabeth II [Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926] is Queen of the United Kingdom and 15 other Commonwealth realms. Elizabeth is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, the longest-serving female head of state in world history, the world's oldest living monarch.





"God Save the Queen"

[9A]

16 October 2010
Oscar Wilde's 156th Birthday






Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde [16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900] was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the circumstances of his criminal conviction for gross indecency for consensual homosexual acts in "one of the first celebrity trials", imprisonment, and early death from meningitis at age 46.



Plaque commemorating the dinner between Wilde,
Arthur Conan Doyle and the publisher of
Lippincott's Monthly Magazine on 30 August 1889
at the Langham Hotel, London, that led to Wilde
writing The Picture of Dorian Gray.

[9A]

16 October 2012
Hisashige Tanaka's 213th Birthday






Hisashige Tanaka was a great inventor, born in what is today called Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan on October 16th, 1799. Tanaka’s prolific career began in his youth, when he famously engineered a set of handmade karakuri dolls; small, mechanized figurines capable of performing simple tasks, such as shooting a bow and arrow, receiving an empty teacup and returning with a filled one, and writing calligraphy with a miniature brush and inkstone. I was immediately taken by the elegance of the karakuri, and set about developing a sketch in which the calligraphy writing doll completes the Google logo by painting an ‘o’ upon his canvas.

Tanaka Hisashige [田中 久重, October 16, 1799 – November 7, 1881] was a Japanese rangaku scholar, engineer and inventor during the Bakumatsu and early Meiji period in Japan. In 1875, he founded what became the Toshiba Corporation. He has been called the "Thomas Edison of Japan" or "Karakuri Giemon.




Karakuri puppet, Yumi-Hiki Doji. Using mechanical power, a puppet shoots a target with a bow and arrow.





Japan´s first steam engine, manufactured
in 1853 by Tanaka.

[9A]

18 Oct 2012
161st Anniversary of Moby Dick's First Publishing






Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that on the ship's previous voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. A contribution to the literature of the American Renaissance, Moby-Dick was published to mixed reviews, was a commercial failure, and was out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891. Its reputation as a "Great American Novel" was established only in the 20th century, after the centennial of its author's birth. William Faulkner said he wished he had written the book himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world" and "the greatest book of the sea ever written". Its opening sentence, "Call me Ishmael", is among world literature's most famous.

When designing a cover for a classic in the book publishing world, there is usually room for some artistic experimentation and subtlety. This is for a couple of reasons. One, the readers are already familiar with the imagery in the book, which gives the artist an opportunity to reinterpret or "refresh" the imagery in a contemporary way. Two, the title itself will usually attract the reader's attention – in many cases, the reader is looking specifically for this title. This relieves some of the burden or obligation for the illustration to portray a key moment of suspense or high drama from the story in order to attract more potential buyers. Some bold examples of this approach can be seen in the work of one of my favorite designers, Alvin Lustig, whose subtle yet bold designs have evolved into classics in their own right.

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21 Oct 2012
Jonas Maciulis-Maironis' 150th Birthday




Maironis is one of the most famous Lithuanian poets and was also a Catholic priest and educator.

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22 Oct 2012
Abu Simbel






Abu Simbel is two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel, Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. They are situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230 km [140 mi] southwest of Aswan [about 300 km [190 mi] by road]. The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Nubian Monuments", which run from Abu Simbel downriver to Philae [near Aswan]. The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. They serve as a lasting monument to the king Ramesses II. His wife Nefertari and children can be seen in smaller figures by his feet, considered to be of lesser importance and were not given the same position of scale. This commemorates his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. Their huge external rock relief figures have become iconic.

The complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968 under the supervision of a Polish archaeologist, Kazimierz Michałowski, from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw, on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. The relocation of the temples was necessary or they would have been submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the River Nile. The project was carried out as part of the UNESCO Nubian Salvage Campaign.

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26 Oct 2012
Austria National Day 2012






Every year on October 26 Austrians celebrate their country's declaration of permanent neutrality after World War II and its regained status as an independent and sovereign nation on October 26, 1955.

The declaration was a result of the joint occupation of Austria by France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union during 1945 and 1955. It is known that if Austria had not declared its neutrality following the withdrawal of the allied forces from the country, the Soviet Union would not have signed the Austrian State Treaty in May 1955. On October 25, 1955, the remaining foreign troops left Austria.

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27 Oct 2012
Sugarloaf Cable Car's 100th Anniversary








The Sugarloaf Cable Car is a cableway system in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The first part runs between Praia Vermelha and Morro da Urca [at 722 feet [220 m]], from where the second rises to the summit of the 1,299-foot [396 m] Sugarloaf Mountain.

The cableway was envisioned by the engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos in 1908 who sought support from well-known figures of Rio's high society to promote its construction. Opened in 1912, it was only the third cableway to be built in the world. In 1972 the cars were updated, growing from a capacity of 22 to 75, and in 1979 it featured in an action scene for the James Bond film Moonraker. Today it is used by approximately 2,500 visitors every day. The cable cars run every 30 minutes, between 8 am and 10 pm.

[9A]

26 February 2015
José Mauro de Vasconcelos' 95th Birthday






For Brazilian writer José Mauro de Vasconcelos’ 95th Birthday, our doodle takes a page from his most famous novel My Sweet Orange Tree.

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26 February 2017
25th Anniversary of Ujung Kulon Park





There are only about 50 Javan rhinos left in the world, and today, we honor their home: Ujung Kulon, a wildlife refuge at the westernmost tip of Java. Twenty-five years ago, it was named one of Indonesia’s national parks. Spanning 475 square miles, the lush peninsula and neighboring islands are home to a number of other endangered species, too, including the banteng [wild cattle] and the Javan leopard.

Although the park is just a few decades old, some of the land has been protected for nearly a century. In 1883, the eruption of the nearby Krakatoa volcano left the area covered in ash, wiping out wildlife and forcing all humans to evacuate. The people never returned, but eventually, the plants and animals did. Once the jungle was thriving again, the land was declared a nature reserve in 1921. Now, the park boasts Java’s largest remaining lowland forest, as well as pristine sandy beaches and coral reefs.

Showing a one-horned rhino splashing with its calf, today’s Doodle pays tribute to the natural beauty and preservation of this important national park.

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20 January 2020
Mufidah Abdul Rahman's 106th Birthday






Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Cairo-based guest artist Deena Mohamed, celebrates Egyptian lawyer Mufidah Abdul Rahman on her 106th birthday. Born in Cairo on this day in 1914, she was among the first women to graduate from Cairo University’s Faculty of Law and became the premier female attorney in Egypt. Her determined efforts in and out of the courtroom helped forge the path to political equality for Egyptian women.

While practicing law, Mufidah built relationships with like-minded women advocates and was inspired to co-found the National Feminist Party, a women’s organization fighting for universal suffrage in Egypt. Her social advocacy led her to be recruited into Bint al-Nil [“Daughter of the Nile”], a feminist union seeking to overcome sociocultural repressions that the women of this era faced.

In 1951, Bint al-Nil founder Doria Shafik led an interruption of the Egyptian Parliament to demand women’s right to vote and hold political office. In response, Shafik was summoned to court and handpicked the esteemed Abdul Rahman to defend her.

Considered to be a case against not only Shafik but also the Egyptian women’s rights movement as a whole, the trial presented a critical opportunity for advocates to have their voices heard. Mufidah’s impassioned defense of Shafik fanned the flames of the cause, and this landmark case helped Egyptian women win their right to vote in 1956.

This Doodle also highlights the more personal moments in Abdul Rahman’s life, from being the young lawyer who received payment in eggs and fruits to the mother who enjoyed a rich family life with her nine children and supportive husband.

Throughout her distinguished career, Abdul Rahman defended over 400 court cases, became a member of Egyptian Parliament, and never stopped fighting justice.

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19 May 2020
Nicholas Winton's 111th birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates the 111th birthday of British humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton, who organized the escape of over 600 children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia in the lead-up to World War II.

Nicholas Winton was born Nicholas George Wertheim in London, England on this day in 1909. In 1938, with World War II looming over Europe, Winton was inspired to do something to help.

He set in motion a huge rescue effort to save primarily Jewish children from the threat of German occupation in present-day Czechia by transporting them to Britain. The dangerous operation required Winton and his collaborators to find homes for the children with British families, raise money, bribe officials, and even forge documents. In March 1939, the first train left Prague, and over the next few months, a total of 669 children were rescued to safety.

For nearly 50 years, the world knew nothing of what Winton had done – not even his wife. That all changed in 1988, when she discovered documents in their attic referencing the daring rescues. Today, Winton’s story serves as an shining example of the power of selfless action to bring about incredible change.

Special thanks to Nicholas Winton’s Family. Below, they share the story of Winton’s life:
“Don’t be content in your life just to do no wrong, be prepared every day to try and do some good.“ –Nicholas Winton

Sir Nicholas George Winton is primarily known for organising the rescue of endangered children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939. He was born on this day in London in 1909 to Rudolf and Barbara Wertheim, both from German-Jewish families. The family name was changed to Winton in 1938. He followed his father into banking, and in the late 1930s, he worked at the London Stock Exchange.

In December 1938, he was called to Prague by a friend, Martin Blake, who was there helping refugees of the German occupation, including politicians, intellectuals, Jews, and Roma. This effort, spearheaded by Doreen Warriner, was to evacuate to safety those who had fled from the borderlands [called Sudetenland] of Czechoslovakia when German forces had occupied the region after the Munich Agreement in September 1939.

While in Prague, Nicholas witnessed the suffering of the Sudeten and German refugees who were living in atrocious conditions in camps set up around Prague. He decided he had to help and drew up a plan, with the encouragement of Doreen Warriner, to try and bring endangered children, most of whom were Jewish, to safety in Britain.

The British government had agreed in November 1938 to allow Jewish children from Germany and Austria into the UK on a Kindertransport, but Czechoslovakia had not been included in that scheme. Nicholas obtained Government permission to bring Czechoslovak children to safety on condition he found a foster family and a repatriation bond of £50 [approximately $3,000 today] for each child. With the help of Trevor Chadwick, an English schoolteacher, and other volunteers, he organised eight transports bringing 669 children to the UK through the spring and summer of 1939.

A large transport of 250 children, due to leave Prague on September 1st, was cancelled when Germany invaded Poland that day and closed all borders. Two days later, war was declared.

In 1988, the story became public via a TV programme, “That’s Life!”, where Nicholas was reunited with some of those children, now in their 60s, who had not known till then how they had come to be saved. From then on, until his death in 2015 aged 106, he met hundreds of ‘his’ children, along with their own children and grandchildren. Many became close friends.

In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for Services to Humanity. However, he always protested that he only did what anyone would have done had they witnessed the conditions in those refugee camps in 1939. He continued all his life to do charity work to help others and believed it was the most satisfying and meaningful way for anyone to spend their time.

Nicholas Winton’s primary legacy is the 669 children rescued and their descendants: approximately 7000 people who are alive today because of that Kindertransport. However, his story is also about individuals taking action when a need is seen, and his family believes his legacy is also one of inspiration.

Nicholas believed that talking about history was only useful if it had a positive influence on how people acted today. We hope that people will be inspired by his story to take action themselves today to help others – in their own communities or internationally.


–Barbara Winton [daughter], on behalf of the Winton Family

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23 May 2014
Otto Lilienthal's 166th Birthday





A crowd gathers to watch the “Gilder King” Otto Lilienthal in flight on our homepage in Germany today. A pioneer in aviation, Lilienthal is known for his work on heavier-than-air flight, and was an inspiration for the Wright Brothers among others.

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26 January 2020
Australia Day 2020





January 26th means different things for Australians all around the country. This year, we’re going through a particularly difficult summer, with devastating bushfires affecting many parts of the country.

Today's Doodle on Australia Day is inspired by the spirit of resilience and mateship that binds the country together.

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26 January 2019
Australia Day 2019




Today’s Doodle celebrates the natural beauty of the Fitzgerald River National Park, located on Western Australia’s rugged south coast. The land around the coastal hills known as “the Barrens” is teeming with life. Stretching across the Shires of Ravensthorpe and the Jerramungup, the park protects one of the most biodiverse regions in the world.

More than 1,800 species of plants live in the park—75 of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The park is also home to 184 bird species, 41 reptile species, 12 frog species, and 22 mammal species, including the adorable honey possum featured in today’s Doodle. These mouse-sized marsupials, also known as “Noolbenger,” have prehensile tails longer than their bodies, pointed snouts, and long tongues covered with bristles to help them drink nectar from native flowers like the Banksia. Tiny but thirsty, one honey possum can drink up to 7 milliliters of nectar per day—roughly equivalent to a human drinking 50 liters of soda! They also help the plants reproduce by spreading pollen as they feast

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26 January 2018
Australia Day 2018




Today’s Doodle celebrates the unique and beautiful national parks that bring Australians together.
Australia has more than 500 national parks, each populated with extraordinary plants and animals you won’t find anywhere else. For example, millions of people flock to Port Campbell National Park and Twelve Apostles Marine National Park [featured in today's Doodle] for the stunning scenery.
Located along the southwest coast of Victoria, the parks’ cliffside viewpoints overlook their most iconic sight: seven pillars of stacked limestone, battered by wind and waves, that still rise above the crashing surf to give the marine national park its name.

But below the surface, the full force of the Southern Ocean has created a seascape of canyons, caves, arches, and fissures. Nutrients delivered by perpetually churning waves provide the energy needed to maintain the subtidal and intertidal reefs, which support the greatest diversity of invertebrates on limestone reef in Victoria.

Swirling kelp forests are home to sea urchins, lobsters, and abalone, while a little deeper, the offshore reefs are inhabited by colorful sponges, and of course, fish. This marine metropolis is visited by the flippered forms of local fur seals and commuting little penguins.

Back on the beach, lucky human visitors may spot the rare hooded plover feeding at the water’s edge [also featured in today's Doodle]. The bird is one of the continent’s tens of thousands of endemic species — i.e., found only in Australia — that call the parks and surrounding areas home.
Happy Australia Day 2018!

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26 January 2013
Australia Day 2013

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13 April 2018
177th Anniversary of Semper Opera House




One hundred seventy-seven years ago today, the Semper Opera House [[or Semperoper) opened its doors for the first time. Originally designed by the famous German architect Gottfried Semper, it has served as the stage for opera, ballet, and performances of many kinds during its nearly 200-year-long history.

The Semperoper has newly opened its doors not once, but three times: first after its original construction in 1841, and twice more after rebuilding due to both a devastating fire in 1869 and the WWII firestorm in 1945. The architecture evolved from its first construction – an eclectic blend of early Renaissance, Baroque, and and Greek classical styles – to the familiar Neo-Renaissance elements seen today. Semper’s consideration of the audience is evident in the design, too; all tiers sit equidistant to the stage and no partitions exist between sections. Without much to block the performers, everyone gets a good seat!

The creator of today’s Doodle, Frederik Jurk, employed gentle colors and soft, flowing lines to capture the dreamy scenes and romantic characters so frequently featured on this famous stage. "Since the subject of the doodle is already about art," he says, "letting everything speak for itself felt very natural." All set against the backdrop of the iconic architecture, the image couples the art of the building’s construction with the creativity of the artists themselves.

Thanks to the dedication of Germany’s arts community, Semperoper stands today as a storied monument to some of the country’s most influential composers, conductors, and singers.

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20 October 2008
35th Anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Opera House





The Sydney Opera House is an opera house and iconic building on the shores of Sydney Harbour, in Sydney, Australia. It is shaped like the sails of a boat. Many concerts and events take place there, with 2000 performances a year presented by Opera Australia, Australia's national opera company. It is a famous tourist attraction.

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20 October 2014
Christopher Wren's 382nd Birthday







It took 33 years to build St. Paul’s Cathedral in London but today, on our homepage in the U.K, it happens in a matter of seconds. Completed in 1720, the cathedral is considered to be English architect Christopher Wren’s magnum opus. But, with a portfolio featuring British landmarks like the Royal Observatory of Greenwich and Kensington Palace, Wren’s legacy stands tall throughout England.

Happy 382nd birthday to Christopher Wren!

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4 May 2016
Jane Jacobs’ 100th birthday



Jane Jacobs was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities [1961], argued that "urban renewal" and "slum clearance" did not respect the needs of city-dwellers.

Jacobs organized grassroots efforts to protect neighborhoods from "urban renewal" and "slum clearance", in particular, plans by Robert Moses to overhaul her own Greenwich Village neighborhood. She was instrumental in the eventual cancellation of the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have passed directly through an area of Manhattan that later became known as SoHo, as well as part of Little Italy and Chinatown. She was arrested in 1968 for inciting a crowd at a public hearing on that project. After moving to Toronto in 1968, she joined the opposition to the Spadina Expressway and the associated network of expressways in Toronto that were planned and under construction.

As a woman and a writer who criticized experts in the male-dominated field of urban planning, Jacobs endured scorn from established figures. Routinely, she was described first as a housewife, as she did not have a college degree or any formal training in urban planning; as a result, her lack of credentials was seized upon as grounds for criticism, however, the influence of her concepts eventually was acknowledged by highly respected professionals.

To commemorate what would have been Jacobs' 100th birthday, Google has created a customised logo in its that depicts the author among colourful buildings that vaguely spell out the search engine's name.

Displayed to users in the US on the search engine's homepage, the illustration is drawn to look like New York's Greenwich Village and includes landmarks like the Washington Square Arch.

She was involved in the cancellation of the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have also involved the demolition of parts of SoHo and Little Italy, and was arrested in 1968 for inciting a crowd at a public hearing about the project.
Born Jane Butzner in 1916, Jacobs had no formal training in urban planning but became a prominent writer and critic in the male-dominated field.

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1 May 2019
Celebrating the New Era








Today’s Doodle celebrates the dawning of a new era in Japan as the Reiwa period begins! The name of the nation’s 248th era consists of two Japanese kanji characters that can be translated into English as “beautiful harmony.”

Historically, each gengō — as the names of eras are known – has been inspired by classical Confucian texts and debated by high-ranking officials of the imperial court in a time-honored process known as nanchin. The gengō aims to express a vision for the future and speak to the hopes and dreams of the Japanese people.

The previous Heisei era [which means “achieving peace”] began when Emperor Akihito succeeded his father, Emperor Hirohito, on January 8, 1989. Emperor Akihito announced plans to step down in 2016, a departure from the tradition that emperors reign throughout their life.

The name Reiwa was taken from the Man'yōshū [“Collection of 10,000 Leaves”], which is the oldest surviving collection of Japanese poetry. The specific passage reads “It is now the choice month of early spring, the weather is fine, the wind is soft. The plum blossom opens...”

Happy new era, Japan!

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1 May 2015
175th anniversary of the Penny Black stamp





Before 1st May 1840, posting a letter was a very complicated and expensive affair. It could cost the equivalent of a days wage, and it was charged by how many sheets of paper were used and how far it had to travel. Normally the recipient had to pay the cost.

Sir Roland Hill was responsible for reforming the British postal system, and as part of this a competition was held for the public to design the world’s first adhesive postage stamp. However none of the entries were thought suitable, so instead they used the profile sketch of a then 15 year old Queen Victoria. This image was used on stamps until the end of her reign. Because the Penny Black was the first postage stamp in the world, it did not show a country of origin, and to this day British stamps are the only stamps in the world that do not state what country they are from.

However, the Penny Black only remained in circulation for a year, as it was soon found that it was possible to remove the ink of the red cancellation mark and re-use the stamp, so the Treasury switched to the Penny Red and black cancellation ink.