Google doodles

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October 19, 2013

Vinicius de Moraes's 100th Birthday




Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes, also known as Vinícius de Moraes and nicknamed O Poetinha ["The little poet"], was a Brazilian poet, lyricist, essayist, and playwright. Along with frequent collaborator Antônio Carlos Jobim, his lyrics and compositions were part of the birth of bossa nova music. He recorded several albums and also served as a diplomat.

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Oct 26, 2016

Austria National Day 2016


On October 26th of each year, Austrians come together to celebrate their National Day. Its origins stretch back to post-World War II Austria, when allied forces occupied the country. After negotiations, the Austrian State Treaty was signed in 1955 and the troops moved out in the Autumn, leaving the country as an independent state.

National day celebrations in Vienna take place in Heldenplatz public square and gardens, overlooked by the Austrian Parliament building and the imperial Hofburg Palace. Many of the city’s most popular museums also offer free or cut-price admission in honor of the day.

Today’s Doodle features an image of Austria’s highest mountain, the iconic, black rock Großglockner in the High Tauern National Park. The area is home to eagles and rare butterflies, and features dramatic waterfalls and glaciers.

Happy National Day, Austria!

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Dec 28, 2012

Leonardo Torres Quevedo's 160th Birthday





Leonardo Torres y Quevedo was a Spanish civil engineer and mathematician of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Pioneer in the development of the radio control and automated calculation machines, inventor of the automatic chess, and designer of the three-lobed non-rigid Astra-Torres airship and the Whirlpool Aero Car over the Niagara Falls. With his Telekine, Torres-Quevedo created wireless remote-control operation principles. He was also a famous speaker of Esperanto.

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Jan 17, 2013

Cecilia May Gibbs' 136th Birthday





Cecilia May Gibbs was an Australian children's author, illustrator, and cartoonist. She is best known for her gumnut babies [also known as "bush babies" or "bush fairies"], and the book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.

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January 17, 2019

Abdul Hafeez Kardar’s 94th Birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates international cricketer Abdul Hafeez Kardar, affectionately known as “The Skipper.” One of the few players to have played Test cricket for both India and Pakistan, Kardar captained Pakistan’s first Test team and is widely remembered as the father of Pakistani cricket.

Born in Lahore, Punjab on this day in 1925 to a prominent cricket-playing family, Kardar was educated at Islamia College and traveled to England to represent India in Test play. A left-handed batsman and slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he went on to play for Oxford and Warwickshire County Cricket Club where he was coached by the esteemed New Zealand cricketer Martin Donnelly.

Following Pakistan’s partition from India in 1947, Kardar joined the Pakistani team and campaigned for the country to earn full Test status, which was finally granted in 1952. In 23 matches as their captain, Kardar led Pakistan to at least one victory over each of the Test teams they ever faced, including powerhouses such as Australia, India, New Zealand, and the West Indies. On his last tour in 1957, he ignored doctor’s orders and played against the West Indies with a broken finger, bowling 37 overs and scoring 57 during the match.

A fierce competitor on and off the field, Kardar was deeply engaged in the organization of Pakistani cricket, an early advocate of neutral umpires, and a passionate protester against political interference in the administration. In recognition of his contributions to Pakistani cricket, Kardar received the Pride of Performance Award from the Government of Pakistan in 1958.

Happy Birthday to The Skipper!

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Jan 20, 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!

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Jan 26, 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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Jan 31, 2015

Concepción Arenal’s 195th Birthday




Spanish activist and writer Concepción Arenal once said, “Open schools and prisons will be closed.” A staunch advocate for women’s rights and devoted to helping those marginalized in society, Arenal is remembered in Spain as a pioneer of the feminist movement and for being the first women to attend a university in her homeland.

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October 3, 2021

Dr. María de los Ángeles Alvariño González's 105th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates the 105th birthday of Spanish-American professor and marine research biologist Dr. María de los Ángeles Alvariño González, who is widely regarded as one of the most important Spanish scientists of all time.

María de los Ángeles Alvariño González was born on this day in 1916 in Serantes, a small coastal town in northern Spain’s Galician coast. Ángeles Alvariño’s love of natural history began with her father’s library and deepened as she pursued coastline oceanography research. Although the Spanish Institute of Oceanography [IEO] only accepted men at the time, Ángeles Alvariño’s university work impressed the organization that they appointed her as a marine biologist in 1952.

At IEO’s Vigo Oceanographic Center, she began her pioneering research on zooplankton, tiny organisms that serve as the foundation of the oceanic food chain and identified some species to be the best indicators of ocean health. In 1953, the British Council awarded Ángeles Alvariño a fellowship that resulted in her becoming the first woman to work as a scientist aboard a British research vessel. Following several expeditions, she furthered her studies in the U.S., where she retired as one of the world’s most prestigious marine biologists in 1987.

In addition to Ángeles Alvariño’s rigorous research, including the discovery of 22 new species of zooplankton and the publication of over 100 scientific papers, she held professorships in Brazil, the U.S., and Mexico. Today, Ángeles Alvariño is the only Spanish scientist of 1,000 in the “Encyclopedia of World Scientists,” and a modern research vessel in IEO’s fleet bears her name.

Happy birthday, Dr. María de los Ángeles Alvariño González!

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October 3, 2009

Moon Festival / Mid-Autumn Festival 2009





The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Vietnam, as well as by overseas Chinese and Vietnamese communities. Similar holidays are celebrated in Japan [Tsukimi], Korea [Chuseok], and throughout Southeast Asia.

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October 3, 2010

German Reunification Day 2010

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November 1, 2008

1000 Years of The Tale of Genji


The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written in the early 11th century by the noblewoman and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu. The original manuscript, created around the peak of the Heian period, no longer exists. It was made in "concertina" or orihon style: several sheets of paper pasted together and folded alternately in one direction then the other. The work is a unique depiction of the lifestyles of high courtiers during the Heian period. It is written in archaic language and a poetic yet confusing style that make it unreadable to the average Japanese speaker without specialized study. It was not until the early 20th century that Genji was translated into modern Japanese by the poet Akiko Yosano. The first English translation was attempted in 1882 but was of poor quality and incomplete.

The work recounts the life of Hikaru Genji, or "Shining Genji", who is the son of an ancient Japanese emperor [known to readers as Emperor Kiritsubo] and a low-ranking concubine called Kiritsubo Consort. For political reasons, the emperor removes Genji from the line of succession, demoting him to a commoner by giving him the surname Minamoto, and he pursues a career as an imperial officer. The tale concentrates on Genji's romantic life and describes the customs of the aristocratic society of the time. It may be the world's first novel, the first psychological novel, and the first novel still to be considered a classic.

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October 3, 2021

German Unity Day 2021





On this day in 1990, East and West Germany reunited as one state, a historic turning point in the nation’s history known in German as die Wende. Today’s Doodle honors German Unity Day or Tag der Deutschen Einheit, a national holiday that celebrates German culture and over 30 years of unification. The Gruenes Band [Green Band], a symbol of togetherness, is illustrated in the Doodle. This former border between east and west has been rehabilitated into 1,400 kilometers of protected greenspace.

The renewal of the Gruenes Band started in late 1989. Through public and private partnerships, a once inaccessible stretch of terrain has turned into a biodiverse landscape with animal habitats and vegetation flourishing. Home to rare orchids like Lady’s Slipper and birds like the Kingfisher, the Gruenes Band preserves this unique geography for generations.

Although the observances of Unity Day are scaled-down across the country, this year’s host city of the outdoor exposition, Unity Expo 2021 is Halle [Saale], and German culture is on display in a big way. Shipping container-sized glass boxes, each representative of a different region or aspect of German culture, give visitors a window into both history and the future with exhibitions about projects ranging from sustainability to digitization. Regional food and music performances top off the week.

Happy Unity Day, Germany!

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February 22, 2021

Zitkala-Sa’s 145th Birthday





Today’s Doodle—illustrated by American Indian guest artist of Osage, Kaw, Cheyenne River Sioux, and European heritage, Chris Pappan—celebrates the 145th birthday of writer, musician, teacher, composer, and suffragist Zitkala-Ša, a member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota [Ihanktonwan Dakota Oyate or “People of the End Village”]. A woman who lived resiliently during a time when the Indigenous people of the United States were not considered real people by the American government, let alone citizens, Zitkala-Ša devoted her life to the protection and celebration of her Indigenous heritage through the arts and activism.

On this day in 1876, Zitkala-Ša [Lakota/Lakȟótiyapi for “Red Bird”]—also known as Gertrude Simmons—was born on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota. At eight years old, she left the reservation to attend White’s Indiana Manual Labor Institute, a missionary boarding school where her hair was cut against her will, she was forbidden to speak her Lakota/Lakȟótiyapi language, and she was forced to practice a religion she didn’t believe in. This was a common experience for thousands of Indigenous children in the wake of the Civilization Fund Act of 1819, which provided funding for missionaries and religious groups to create a system of Indian boarding schools that would forcibly assimilate Indigenous children. While she took interest in some of the experiences in her new environment, such as learning the violin, she resisted the institutional efforts to assimilate her into European American culture—actions she protested through a lifetime of writing and political activism.

Returning back home to her reservation, Zitkala-Ša chronicled an anthology of oral Dakota stories published as “Old Indian Legends” in 1901. The book was among the first works to bring traditional Indigenous American stories to a wider audience. Zitkala-Ša was also a gifted musician. In 1913, she wrote the text and songs for the first Indigenous American opera, The Sun Dance, based on one of the most sacred Sioux ceremonies.

In addition to her creative achievements, Zitkala-Ša was a lifelong spokesperson for Indigenous and women’s rights. As an activist, she co-founded and served as first president of the National Council of American Indians in 1926. Zitkala-Ša’s work was instrumental in the passage of historic legislation, such as the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924—granting citizenship to Indigenous peoples born in the United States—as well as the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

Happy Birthday, Zitkala-Ša, and thank you for your efforts to protect and celebrate Indigenous culture for generations to come.

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February 22, 2002

Winter Olympics 2002 - Curling



Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite rocks, also called stones, across the ice curling sheet toward the house, a circular target marked on the ice. Each team has eight stones, with each player throwing two. The purpose is to accumulate the highest score for a game; points are scored for the stones resting closest to the centre of the house at the conclusion of each end, which is completed when both teams have thrown all of their stones. A game usually consists of eight or ten ends.

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September 27, 2015

Chuseok 2015




Once a year, Koreans flock from the big city to visit their ancestral hometowns to celebrate Chuseok, a time of thankfulness and memorial. Along with friends and family, they dedicate the next three days to celebrating the harvest with traditional feasts of songpyeon and hangwa, rice wines like dongdongju, and games and dances like Ssireum and Ganggangsullae.

Like other autumn equinox festivals across the world, Koreans spend Chuseok giving thanks for the good things in their lives. It’s also a time to venerate ancestors whose spirits watch over the living. After a morning memorial service and a special feast [Charye], the people of Korea honor their ancestors by visiting their gravesites [Seongmyo] and tidying up the surrounding area [Beolcho].

Created by Kevin Laughlin, today’s Doodle illustrates the vibrant variations of songpyeon, rice cakes stuffed with beans and nuts and steamed over pine needles. Songpyeon is typically the centerpiece of Chuseok feasts, garnishing the celebration with fragrance and color.

[9A]

October 9, 2021

Hangul Day 2021



In Korea, citizens and scholars alike take great pride in their unique writing script known as Hangul. So much so, in fact, that there is an annual holiday in its honor! Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Seoul, South Korea-based guest artist Soman, commemorates Korea’s Hangul Day [[한글날), the only holiday in the world for an alphabet!

So what makes Hangul important enough to warrant a holiday celebrating it? In the 15th century, many Koreans could not effectively put their thoughts down on paper as the Korean language had no dedicated writing system to express the intricacies of its spoken word. This all changed when the Korean government developed an innovative written script called Hangul that represented the sounds of spoken Korean.

Thanks to the implementation of this efficient writing system, literacy increased dramatically. Today, Korea boasts near 100% literacy nationwide! With a growing global interest in learning about Korean culture and its language, a phenomenon known as “Hallyu” or the Korean Wave, what better time than Hangul Day to try learning it for yourself?

Happy Hangul Day, Korea!

[9A]

October 9, 2012

Ivo Andrić's 120th Birthday





Ivo Andrić [ born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975] was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His writings dealt mainly with life in his native Bosnia under Ottoman rule.

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October 9, 2011

Mihajlo Pupin's 153th Birthday



Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin , also known as Michael Pupin, was a Serbian physicist, physical chemist and philanthropist based in the United States.

Pupin is best known for his numerous patents, including a means of greatly extending the range of long-distance telephone communication by placing loading coils [of wire] at predetermined intervals along the transmitting wire [known as "pupinization"]. Pupin was a founding member of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics [[NACA) on 3 March 1915, which later became NASA, and he participated in the founding of American Mathematical Society and American Physical Society.

In 1924, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his autobiography. Pupin was elected president or vice-president of the highest scientific and technical institutions, such as the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Radio Institute of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was also an honorary consul of Serbia in the United States from 1912 to 1920 and played a role in determining the borders of newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

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November 10, 2019

Friedrich von Schiller’s 260th Birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates the birthday of German dramatist, poet, historian, and philosopher Friedrich von Schiller, widely regarded as the country’s most important playwright and one of the leading lights of German literature. Schiller's theories of aesthetics influenced the thinking of great European philosophers such as Jung, Nietzsche, and Hegel, while his 1785 hymn An die Freude [“Ode to Joy”] inspired Beethoven's famous Symphony No. 9 in D minor, which was later adopted as the official anthem of the European Union.

Born in the town of Marbach on this day in 1759, Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller was the son of an army officer and attended a strict military academy in Stuttgart. He spent his free time reading the works of Rousseau, Seneca, and Shakespeare while writing his first play, Die Räuber [“The Robbers”], which he self-published in 1781. He managed to get the play produced at a Mannheim theater, delighting audiences, but angering the local Duke with its critical view of authority.

The dramatic Sturm und Drang [“Storm and Stress”] of Schiller’s early work eventually gave way to a mature style in Don Carlos, his first play in blank verse. Taking a break from drama and poetry, he focused on philosophy, working towards his belief that art’s true purpose was not just to delight readers, but to edify and uplift them.

In 1794, Schiller developed a friendship with the prominent writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who recommended him to become a professor of history at the University of Jena. The horrors of the 30 Years’ War served as the backdrop for Schiller’s masterpiece of the Wallenstein trilogy, which was soon followed by his popular historical drama Maria Stuart, based on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Made a nobleman in the early 1800s, von Schiller is considered a national icon. His stature in German literature comparable to Shakespeare’s in English literature.

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Friedrich von Schiller!

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April 23, 2017

National Sovereignty and Children's Day 2017



Turkey’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day connects two important pieces of history; it’s when the Grand National Assembly of Turkey convened for the first time in 1920; and when the Turkish Republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, dedicated the fledgling Republic to the children who would inherit it.

Happy National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, Turkey!

Illustrated by guest artist, Ipek Konak

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April 23, 2011

National Sovereignty and Children's Day 2011 - Turkey

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Apr 23, 2018

National Sovereignty & Children's Day 2018

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April 23, 2010

National Sovereignty and Children's Day 2010 - Turkey

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April 23, 2009

Girls' Day 2009 - Germany




Girls' Day [Mädchen-Zukunftstag] is a German special day for teenage girls.

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October 31, 2019

Carlos Drummond de Andrade’s 117th Birthday




“What now, José?” asked Brazilian writer Carlos Drummond de Andrade in a popular poem from his 1942 anthology, Poesias. Today’s Doodle celebrates an individual whom many consider one of the greatest poets in modern Brazilian literature. Born in the mining town of Itabira on this day in 1902, Drummond composed poems that broke formal rules in verse and expressed the stresses of modern life. He also worked as a literary critic and journalist, writing short semi-fictional newspaper essays, known as crônicas, about the lives of ordinary people, including children and the poor.

After co-founding the literary journal A Revista in 1925, Drummond spent years on his poetry collection Alguma Poesia, emerging as a leading figure in Brazilian modernism. Having earned his degree in pharmacy, he went on to work for Brazil’s Ministry of Education as well as the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Service of Brazil. Throughout his career, he published over a dozen volumes of poetry and a handful of collections of crônicas. His 1986 collection Traveling in the Family: Selected Poems includes English translations by prominent poets Elizabeth Bishop and Mark Strand.

Drummond has received many awards—including the Brazilian Union of Writers Prize—and has become a fixture of Brazilian popular culture. His “Canção Amiga” [“Friendly Song”] was printed on Brazilian currency, and a statue of the poet stands near the ocean in Rio de Janeiro.

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May 30, 2019

2019 ICC Cricket World Cup Begins!





Over 100 players, 10 teams, but only one cup.

Today’s Doodle celebrates the International Cricket Council’s 2019 World Cup, which opens at the Oval in London.​

Taking place every four years, the Cricket World Cup is the world’s leading contest in one-day cricket, and has become one of the most popular sporting events on the planet. Ten teams earn their chance to compete for the cup through a qualifying process that takes five to six years. This year’s round robin will be hosted in England and Wales.

Now England’s official national sport, it is said that cricket began as a children’s game in the Weald of rural England. Cricket spread to North America by the 17th century, eventually arriving in the British colonies of the West Indies, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa and has since spread around the world.

The world’s first international cricket match, between Canada and the United States, took place in 1844. The first World Cup tournament was held in 1975, won by the West Indies team, who repeated the feat in 1979. This year’s defending champions are Australia, a perennial powerhouse that has won five of the eleven cups.

No matter how heated the competition may get, cricket is highly respected for maintaining high standards of fair play and good sportsmanship. Hence the phrase “It’s just not cricket,” which describes anything considered unfair.

May the best team win!

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May 30, 2013

Potato Day 2013 [Peru]





The potato was the first domesticated vegetable in the region of modern-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia between 8000 and 5000 BC. Cultivation of potatoes in South America may go back 10,000 years, but tubers do not preserve well in the archaeological record, making identification difficult. The earliest archaeologically verified potato tuber remains have been found at the coastal site of Ancón [central Peru], dating to 2500 BC. Aside from actual remains, the potato is also found in the Peruvian archaeological record as a design influence of ceramic pottery, often in the shape of vessels. The potato has since spread around the world and has become a staple crop in many countries.

It arrived in Europe sometime before the end of the 16th century by two different ports of entry: the first in Spain around 1570, and the second via the British Isles between 1588 and 1593. The first written mention of the potato is a receipt for delivery dated 28 November 1567 between Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Antwerp. In France, at the end of the 16th century, the potato had been introduced to the Franche-Comté, the Vosges of Lorraine and Alsace. By the end of the 18th century it was written in the 1785 edition of Bon Jardinier: "There is no vegetable about which so much has been written and so much enthusiasm has been shown ... The poor should be quite content with this foodstuff." It had widely replaced the turnip and rutabaga by the 19th century. Throughout Europe, the most important new food in the 19th century was the potato, which had three major advantages over other foods for the consumer: its lower rate of spoilage, its bulk [which easily satisfied hunger] and its cheapness. The crop slowly spread across Europe, becoming a major staple by mid-century, especially in Ireland.

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December 2, 2020

December Holidays [Days 2 - 30]




While in other countries the only holidays included in the "season" are Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, St. Stephen's Day/Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and Epiphany, in recent times, this term in the U.S. began to expand to include Yule, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

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Feb 1, 2017

Celebrating Edmonia Lewis




Edmonia Lewis wasn’t afraid to reshape convention. As the first woman of African American and Native American heritage to achieve international fame as a sculptor, Lewis is known for incorporating African American and Native American cultural themes into her Neoclassical style sculpture.

Born in New York in 1844 to a father of Afro-Haitian descent and a mother of Mississauga Ojibwe and African American descent, Lewis was adopted by her maternal aunts after her parents’ death when she was nine years old. At age 15, Lewis enrolled in Oberlin College, which is where she became passionate about art. Unfortunately however, her time at Oberlin was fraught with discrimination by many of her peers and the surrounding community. It was due to this that she was prevented from enrolling in her final term, and therefore was unable to receive her degree.

After her time at Oberlin, Lewis moved to Boston in 1864 to pursue a career as a sculptor. She was consistently denied apprenticeship until she met Edward A. Brackett, a sculptor whose clients included some of the most well-known abolitionists of the time. Lewis worked under Brackett until 1864, when she launched her first solo exhibition. Her work paid homage to the abolitionists and Civil War heroes of her day, including John Brown and Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Her work was very well received and with her success, she traveled to Rome, Italy.

In Rome, Lewis joined a circle of expat artists and established her own studio. During this time, Lewis began sculpting in marble, focusing on naturalism and themes relating to African American and Native American people. Her work commanded large sums of money, and she continued to receive international acclaim until her death in 1911.

Today’s Doodle art depicts Lewis sculpting one of her most famous works, The Death of Cleopatra, which is on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Her realistic portrayal of Cleopatra’s death received acclaim from critics, who called it “the most remarkable piece of sculpture in the American section" of the show. The vibrant colors of the Google letters also pay tribute to Lewis’s Native American roots - her Native American name was Wildfire.

Decades later, Lewis’s legacy continues to thrive through her art and the path she helped forge for women and artists of color. Today, we celebrate her and what she stands for – self-expression through art, even in the face of adversity.

Doodle by Sophie Diao

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January 28, 2019

200th Anniversary of Singapore's Founding



Today’s Doodle marks Singapore's Bicentennial. The occasion commemorates the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles in Singapore, a key milestone in the nation’s history. While 1819 was a turning point for the development of the island, the Bicentennial is also a chance for Singaporeans to rediscover the rich history of the island before Raffles—which spans as many as 500 years prior to the British stateman’s arrival. A heptagon surrounds the Singapore skyline in today’s Doodle, in honor of the 700 years of development that the island nation has undergone.

Singapore’s long and diverse history will be at the center of the celebration through a calendar of events and exhibitions spanning most of 2019. The Bicentennial will culminate with a multimedia sensory experience at the Fort Canning Centre where Singaporeans can walk through key historical periods including the settling of early communities, the arrival or Raffles, and augmented reality tours of the Singapore River and Fort Canning Park.

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Dec 12, 2018

"Baya" Fatima Haddad’s 87th Birthday



Born in Bordj El Kiffan, a suburb of Algiers, on this day in 1931, Fatima Haddad was an Algerian artist known simply as Baya. Her vivacious watercolors, gouaches, and ceramics depict powerful images of women and nature in an expressive and personal style that defies easy categorization.

Orphaned as a young girl, Baya was adopted in 1942 by the French art collector Marguerite Camina Benoura, who employed Baya’s grandmother as a housekeeper. Showing talent from an early age, Baya made “fascinating small animals and strange female figures” in the sand of her beachside hometown. She was exposed to Benoura’s collection of modern art, including works by Matisse, and by age nine she was painting as well.

The art dealer Aimé Maeght, known for representing Miró, Calder, Léger, Braque, Giacometti, and Chagall, exhibited Baya’s first solo show of paintings at his Paris gallery when she was only 16 years old. “I speak not as others have, to deplore an ending, but rather to promote a beginning,” wrote the influential poet and critic André Breton in her exhibition catalog. “And at this beginning, Baya is queen.”

Picasso invited her to work with him in 1948, and traces of her influence can be seen in his Women of Algeria series. She married the musician El Hadj Mahfoud Mahieddine and raised a family during a time of revolution in Algeria, but declined an offer to move to France, in affirmation of her Algerian identity. Baya became so beloved in her homeland that a portrait of the artist and one of her paintings appeared on Algerian postage stamps in 2008.

Breaking conventional rules of composition and perspective, Baya’s bold, colorful paintings explode with energy, evoking a world of ecstatic women with their eyes wide open.

Happy Birthday, Baya!

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Dec 11, 2014

Annie Jump Cannon's 151st Birthday





American astronomer Annie Jump Cannon spent her life studying the night sky. Today our homepage in the U.S. is gazing at the stars Cannon loved so much for her 151st birthday. A pioneer in astronomy, Cannon developed the Harvard Classification Scheme with Edward C. Pickering, which organized and categorized stars based on their temperatures.

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December 11, 2010

Carlos Gardel's Birthday



Carlos Gardel [born Charles Romuald Gardès; 11 December 1890 – 24 June 1935] was a French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was one of the most influential interpreters of world popular music in the first half of the 20th century. Gardel is the most famous popular tango singer of all time and is recognized throughout the world. He was notable for his baritone voice and the dramatic phrasing of his lyrics. Together with lyricist and long-time collaborator Alfredo Le Pera, Gardel wrote several classic tangos.

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December 11, 2015

Sunčana Škrinjarić’s 84th Birthday





Upon wandering into the forest and establishing his easel beneath the shade of an elm tree, Peter Palette begins to paint. Feeling dreamy, he gives up his work in favor of a nap, and abruptly slips into a deep sleep. This elm tree, as it happens, is enchanted; when he awakes, he suddenly finds himself speaking with the creatures of the forest.

So begins the inspiration for today’s Doodle, and the book that made Sunčana Škrinjarić one of Croatia’s most beloved storytellers. Lydia Nichols remembers the author on her 84th birthday with some imagery from her greatest tale, Čudesna šuma, which she created using screen printing techniques and a simple, vibrant palette. Here’s to magic, whimsy, and our favorite childhood stories.

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June 12, 2018

Füreya Koral’s 108th Birthday




If you’ve ever felt you were still searching for your life’s true calling, draw some inspiration from the life of Füreya Koral, Turkey’s foremost modern ceramist. While seeking treatment for tuberculosis in Lausanne, Switzerland, the 37-year-old took interest in ceramics after attending a workshop. What started as a hobby soon became a passion that would reinvigorate her life with new purpose.

Born 108 years ago on June 12, 1910, Koral grew up in a house situated between a church and a mosque. This intersection of Western and Ottoman cultures inspired her to experiment with different textures of clay to create ceramic works that intertwined elements of abstract Western art and the Islamic culture of Turkey, as well as influences from neighboring East Asian nations.

Molding the clay to fit her artistic vision, Koral made statuettes, imaginative kitchenware large ceramic panels that would adorn the walls of national institutions, hospitals, and universities from the Turkish capital of Ankara to Istanbul.

Her work endures as a testament that age is only a number and that it’s never too late to discover your passion. Happy 108th birthday, Füreya Koral!

[9A]

July 14, 2015

New Horizons Pluto flyby






Earth is getting its first chance for an up close and personal peek at Pluto, the ball of rock and ice orbiting at the furthest edge of our solar system.

It’s all thanks to New Horizons, a thousand-pound space probe NASA sent spinning through space at 31,000 miles per hour. The probe’s interstellar jaunt spanned more than 9 years and 3 billion miles. That’s one heck of a commute!

The pictures New Horizons will send back to Earth are the first of their kind, painting scientists a more vivid picture of the far-off dwarf planet. Armed with these new insights, we’ll be able to pave a path for the next milestone in mankind’s journey of cosmic discovery.

Today’s Doodle was created by Kevin Laughlin in honor of New Horizons’ intrepid voyage to Pluto’s distant corner of the solar system. Celebrate this scientific breakthrough on NASA’s New Horizons YouTube page, where you’ll find videos detailing the extraordinary discoveries the space probe uncovers.

[9A]

May 4, 2015

Bartolomeo Cristofori’s 360th Birthday



You may have never heard of Bartolomeo Cristofori, but you definitely know his invention. Cristofori was an Italian musical instrument maker credited with inventing the pianoforte, or: the piano. One of his biggest innovations was creating a hammer mechanism that struck the strings on a keyboard to create sound. The use of a hammer made it possible to produce softer or louder sounds depending upon how light or hard a player pressed on the keys. In fact, that’s how Cristofori’s new instrument got its name -- in Italian, piano means soft, while forte means loud. Being able to change the volume was a major breakthrough. And that’s exactly what Doodler Leon Hong wanted to highlight in this interactive Doodle. We talked to Hong to get the inside scoop on how this musical Doodle came to be.

Though the piano is one of the most popular instruments, the name Bartolomeo Cristofori isn’t widely known. How did you first learn of him?

The topic was first suggested by the Google team in Italy. I was also astonished I had never heard of him given that he'd had such a large impact on music. We're always trying to find topics that are educational, fun, and surprising – Cristofori is an ideal topic. Hopefully after the doodle, people will think of Cristofori everytime they see a piano.

What music is playing in the doodle ? How did you go about recording it?

The melody is from Johann Sebastian Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. It was important to me to have a piece that was from the same time period as Cristofori's life. In addition, I was also looking for a memorable tune composed of notes with all the same duration so it would fit nicely with the animations. The timing and loudness had to be precise and consistent so I plotted the notes using software and rendered the sound files with a virtual piano instrument.

[9A]

May 8, 2013

Saul Bass' 93rd Birthday


Music: Dave Brubeck - "Unsquare Dance"

I've always been interested in the work of Saul Bass and was delighted to get the opportunity to celebrate his birthday on the Google homepage. From the outset I wanted to celebrate a number of his film credits in succinct succession, as well as a nod in the direction of his poster work. Film rights can be problematic so I wasn't completely sure of the order of cutting, but as it turned out every studio was a pleasure to work with. Corresponding with Jennifer Bass was inspirational and led to hearing that Saul Bass was a Dave Brubeck fan. Although I hadn't synched animation to music we found a Brubeck track that managed to hit the right notes. Again, the Brubeck estate were superb to work with.





I drew everything in Illustrator before animating in After Effects. I hope I found a way to merge Google with Bass' graphic sensibilities. But I shouldn't have the last word:

"Failure is built into creativity… the creative act involves this element of ‘newness’ and ‘experimentalism,’ then one must expect and accept the possibility of failure.”

“I want everything we do to be beautiful. I don’t give a damn whether the client understands that that’s worth anything, or that the client thinks it’s worth anything, or whether it is worth anything. It’s worth it to me. It’s the way I want to live my life. I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares.”

—Saul Bass, Logo Designer

"His titles are not simply imaginative identification tags; when his work comes on the screen, the movie itself truly begins,"

—Martin Scorsese


Posted by Matthew Cruickshank, Doodler

[9A]

June 22, 2017

Oskar Fischinger’s 117th Birthday



Today we celebrate the 117th birthday of the influential filmmaker and visual artist Oskar Fischinger.




Film-Flip book, 1970.
Courtesy of Angie Fischinger

I first discovered Fischinger's work in a college class on visual music. His films, most of which were made from the 1920s to 1940s, left me awed and puzzled — how could he make such magic without computers?

In the world of design, Fischinger is a towering figure, especially in the areas of motion graphics and animation. He is best known for his ability to combine impeccably synchronized abstract visuals with musical accompaniment, each frame carefully drawn or photographed by hand. A master of motion and color, Fischinger spent months — sometimes years — planning and handcrafting his animations.



Outward Movement, 1948.
Favorite painting of Angie Fischinger, Oskars youngest child.
Courtesy of Angie Fischinger

Although mostly known for his films, Fischinger was also a prolific painter, creating numerous works that capture the dramatic movement and feeling of his films within a single frame. Unsatisfied with traditional media, he also invented a contraption, the Lumigraph, for generating fantastic chromatic displays with hand movements — a sort of optical painting in motion and a precursor to the interactive media and multi-touch games of today.

Even with the advanced technology that now exists, emulating Fischinger's work is an impossible task. His colors and motion are so carefully planned yet naturally playful, his timing so precise yet human. So today's Doodle aims to pay homage to him, while allowing you to compose your own visual music. I hope it inspires you to seek out the magic of Fischinger for yourself.

— Leon Hong, Creative Lead

Special thanks to Angie Fischinger, Oskar's youngest child, who played an integral role in making this project possible. Below, she shares some thoughts about her father's work and life:

My parents were German immigrants. They were forced to leave Germany in 1936 when it became clear that my father could not pursue his work as a filmmaker there [avant-garde was considered degenerate by Hitler and his administration]. But many people who had already seen his films recognized his greatness. He received an offer to work at MGM and stayed in Hollywood after the war.

My father was incredibly dedicated to his art — some even called him stubborn. His passion and honesty were part of his brilliance, but they could also make him a bit difficult to work with. Sometimes our family struggled financially as a result, so everybody pitched in — the kids got paper routes or did babysitting. We were raised in a healthy, hard-working environment. We were happy, intellectually stimulated, and dedicated to education. Thanks to my family's support and encouragement, I graduated from San Jose State and taught in the public school system for 30 years.

I feel incredibly proud of my family and am delighted to be the daughter of Oskar and Elfriede Fischinger. It means so much to me to see this celebration of my father's art. It’s wonderful to know that his work, which has been steadily praised since the 1920s, will continue to receive worldwide recognition.

[9A]

Mar 2, 2019

Bedřich Smetana’s 195th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates the son of an amateur violinist who became an eminent composer and conductor. Bedřich Smetana’s operas and symphonic poems, which are still performed all over the world, captured the character of his homeland and helped define the Czech national style of music.

Born in Leitomischl, Bohemia [now Litomyšl, Czech Republic] on this day in 1824, Smetana was performing as a pianist by the time he was six years old. His childhood friend [and future wife] Katerina Kolar helped him secure piano lessons with the composer Josef Proksch. In 1840 he wrote in his diary that he aspired to be “a Mozart in composition and a Liszt in technique." His early compositions impressed Franz Liszt enough that the Hungarian composer offered to find him a publisher.

Smetana spent several years in Sweden conducting the Gothenburg Philharmonic. It was during a visit with Liszt that he was inspired to become an original Czech composer, using music to tell stories drawn from history and literature. Smetana returned home in 1861 where his second opera, Prodaná nevěsta [The Bartered Bride], became a major success and he eventually became conductor of the national opera. Even after losing his hearing due to illness, he continued composing at a prolific rate. “In these three years of deafness,” he later remarked, “I have completed more music than I had otherwise done in ten.”

During this period he completed what many consider to be his greatest work, Má Vlast [My Homeland], a series of six tone poems. One of these tone poems, Vltava [The Moldau], is featured in today’s animated video Doodle and has been compared to watching the Czech river flow from its source in the mountains and through the city of Prague. Today’s Doodle explores this journey, depicting imagery such as the river, the Czech countryside, a farmers wedding, and views of Prague — all ending with look at Smetana conducting his iconic work.

Smetana’s original manuscripts are preserved at a museum in Prague and his legacy lives on through the music to which he devoted himself.

Happy 195th birthday, Bedřich Smetana!

[9A]

March 14, 2011

Alam Ara's 80th Anniversary




Alam Ara [transl. Ornament of the World] is a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves on a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a fakir [Muhammad Wazir Khan] tells the king that the former wife will give birth to a boy, later named Qamar [Master Vithal], but the child will die following his 18th birthday if Navbahaar cannot find the necklace he asks for. Meanwhile, the king finds out that Dilbahaar falls for the senapati Adil [Prithviraj Kapoor], leading the king to arrest him and evicts his pregnant wife, who later gives birth to Alam Ara [Zubeida].

Irani was inspired to make Alam Ara, after watching the 1929 American part-talkie Show Boat. The story was adapted from the Bombay-based dramatist Joseph David's play of the same name. Made on a budget of ₹40,000 [equivalent to ₹10 million or US$140,000 in 2020], principal photography was handled by Adi M. Irani within four months in Bombay [present-day Mumbai]. Because the studio was located near a railway track, it was filmed mostly during the nighttime to avoid noise from the active trains. Following filming, Ardeshir Irani finished the sound recording using the single-system recording. Firozshah Mistry and B. Irani served as the music director.

Alam Ara was released on 14 March 1931 and performed well at the box office. Critics were appreciative, with the performance and songs got the most attention though some of whom criticised the sound recording. In addition to the successes, the film was also widely considered a major breakthrough for the Indian film industry and Ardeshir Irani's career with its status as the country's first sound film. Although no print or gramophone record of the film is known to survive, thereby making it a lost film, surviving artefacts include its stills and posters. In 2017, the British Film Institute declared it as the most important of any lost films produced in India.

[9A]

November 30, 2021

Celebrating Lotfi Zadeh




Today’s Doodle celebrates world-renowned Azerbaijani-American computer scientist, electrical engineer, and professor, Lotfi Zadeh. On this day in 1964, Zadeh submitted “Fuzzy Sets,” a groundbreaking paper that introduced the world to his innovative mathematical framework called “fuzzy logic.”

Lotfi Asker Zadeh was born on February 4, 1921 in Baku, Azerbaijan [then a Soviet Socialist republic], and at 10 years old moved with his family to his father’s homeland of Iran. His exceptional academic achievements brought him to the U.S. to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his graduate studies. He went on to earn his doctorate in electrical engineering in 1949, and later taught systems theory at Columbia University in New York. In 1959 he became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley–which remained his academic home throughout his career and where he made his most famous and fuzzy breakthrough.

In 1965, he published “Fuzzy Sets,” which has since been cited by scholars nearly 100,000 times. The theory he presented offered an alternative to the rigid “black and white” parameters of traditional logic and instead allowed for more ambiguous or “fuzzy” boundaries that more closely mimic the way humans see the world. This concept has since been applied to a huge range of technological applications—from a Japanese subway system to the anti-skid algorithms that keep cars safe on the road.

Known as a gracious yet brilliant thinker, Zadeh received countless accolades throughout his career, including an honorary professorship from the government of Azerbaijan in 1993.

So here’s to you, Lotfi Zadeh! There’s nothing fuzzy about your huge impact on the scientific world.

[9A]

November 30, 1999

'Uncle Sam' Search #1








J. M. Flagg's 1917 poster was based on the original British Lord Kitchener poster of three years earlier. It was used to recruit soldiers for both World War I and World War II into the US Army. Flagg used a modified version of his own face for Uncle Sam, and veteran Walter Botts provided the pose.

Uncle Sam [which has the same initials as United States] is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general that, according to legend, came into use during the War of 1812 and was supposedly named for Samuel Wilson. The actual origin is obscure. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of the US government in American culture and a manifestation of patriotic emotion. While the figure of Uncle Sam represents specifically the government, Columbia represents the United States as a nation. The image has also developed notoriety for its use in military propaganda.

The first reference to Uncle Sam in formal literature [as distinct from newspapers] was in the 1816 allegorical book The Adventures of Uncle Sam, in Search After His Lost Honor by Frederick Augustus Fidfaddy, Esq.

[9A]

Nov 30, 1999

'Uncle Sam' Search #2






The precise origin of the Uncle Sam character is unclear, but a popular legend is that the name "Uncle Sam" was derived from Samuel Wilson, a meatpacker from Troy, New York, who supplied rations for American soldiers during the War of 1812. There was a requirement at the time for contractors to stamp their name and where the rations came from onto the food they were sending. Wilson's packages were labeled "E.A.—U.S." When someone asked what that stood for, a co-worker jokingly said, "Elbert Anderson [the contractor] and Uncle Sam," referring to Wilson, though the U.S. actually stood for "United States". Doubts have been raised as to the authenticity of this story, as the claim did not appear in print until 1842. Additionally, the earliest known mention definitely referring to the metaphorical Uncle Sam is from 1810, predating Wilson's contract with the government. As early as 1835, Brother Jonathan made a reference to Uncle Sam, implying that they symbolized different things: Brother Jonathan was the country itself, while Uncle Sam was the government and its power.

By the 1850s, the names Brother Jonathan and Uncle Sam were being used nearly interchangeably, to the point that images of what had previously been called "Brother Jonathan" were being called "Uncle Sam". Similarly, the appearance of both personifications varied wildly. For example, one depiction of Uncle Sam in 1860 showed him looking like Benjamin Franklin, while a contemporaneous depiction of Brother Jonathan looks more like the modern version of Uncle Sam, though without a goatee.




Columbia

[9A]

July 17, 2018

Georges Lemaître’s 124th Birthday





Most people have heard of the Big Bang theory, but fewer recognize the name Georges Lemaître, the man who came up with the hypothesis that transformed our understanding of astrophysics.

Born on this day in 1894, Lemaître was a Belgian Catholic priest who proposed that the universe began as a single primordial atom, or “Cosmic Egg.” Although his thesis was based on calculations derived from Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, Einstein initially dismissed Lemaître’s work, remarking, "Your calculations are correct, but your physics is atrocious." Two years later, Einstein changed his mind.

Lemaître’s 1927 paper theorizing that the universe was expanding was soon substantiated by Edwin Hubble’s observations, which were published in 1929. Trained in physics at Cambridge, Harvard, and MIT, Lemaître accurately estimated the numerical value that astronomers would come to call the Hubble constant—a unit of measurement that describes the universe’s rate of expansion. Compared to Lemaître’s small scientific readership in Belgium, Hubble’s work received much wider circulation. As a result, Hubble’s name is more often associated with the Big Bang, which birthed a whole new branch of science known as relativistic cosmology.

Lemaître was not completely overlooked in his day. In 1934 he received the prestigious Francqui prize, the highest scientific accolade in Belgium [one of his nominators was Einstein himself!]. Several other international scientific awards honored Lemaître’s legacy, and a crater on the moon was named for him in 1970.

Today’s animated Doodle depicts Lemaître within the constantly expanding universe that he first envisioned, surrounded by galaxies expanding outward just as he said they would.

Happy Birthday Georges Lemaître!

[9A]

December 5, 2017

Veronika Dudarova’s 101st Birthday



In today’s Doodle, Google-hued lights shine on a group of musicians led by Veronika Dudarova, the first Russian woman to conduct an orchestra.

Born in 1916, Dudarova spent her formative years studying piano and musicology in the company of some of Russia’s most renowned musical talents. In 1947, she graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, joining the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra as a junior conductor. She spent 13 years in that role before taking over as principal conductor in 1960. In 1991, Dudarova formed the Symphony Orchestra of Russia, which she led until 2003.

One of the very few female conductors in the world, Dudarova holds the Guinness World Record as the only woman to lead a major symphony orchestra for more than 50 years. During her career, she won the State Russian Music Award, was named the People’s Artist of the USSR, and even had a minor planet named after her.

On what would’ve been Dudarova’s 101st birthday, we honor the conductor’s dramatic style as she leads the Google letters in a passionate, homepage-worthy performance.

[9A]

December 5, 2010

St. Nicolas Eve 2010





Mikulás [or Szent Miklós] is the Hungarian version of Saint Nicholas, and a similar figure to Santa Claus and Sinterklaas. In many cities, Mikulás is getting more conflated with Santa Claus. Still, it is believed that Mikulás arrives to celebrate his day, December 6 [while some countries celebrate it December 5], and leaves before Christmas. This tradition is also well known in Romania [Moș Nicolae], Slovenia [Miklavž], the Czech Republic, Slovakia [both Mikuláš], Croatia [Sv. Nikola] and Poland [Mikołaj].

[9A]

November 10, 2018

Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu’s 131st Birthday




“The future of women in engineering is great,” declared a 1912 edition of Romania’s daily newspaper Minerva, reporting the news that “Miss Elisa Leonida passed the last final exam with great success, obtaining a Diploma in Engineering.”

On this day in 1887, Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu was born in the Romanian port city of Galați. After graduating with high marks from the Central School of Girls in Bucharest, she earned a baccalaureate from Mihai Viteazul High School. But when she applied to the School of Highways and Bridges, she was rejected because of her gender.

Undeterred, she applied to the Royal Technical Academy in Berlin, where one of the deans said she would be better off focusing on “Kirche, kinder, and kuche” [Church, children, and cooking]. She persisted in earning her degree in three years to become one of the first woman engineer in Europe.

Becoming the first female member of A.G.I.R. [General Association of Romanian Engineers], eventually running laboratories for the Geological Institute of Romania. Zamfirescu oversaw numerous Economic Studies analyzing Romania’s supply of natural resources like coal, shale, natural gas, chromium, bauxite and copper. She was known for paying special attention to the training of staff and spending long hours mentoring young chemists.

The mother of two daughters, she also taught physics and chemistry at the Pitar Moş School of Girls as well as at the School of Electricians and Mechanics in Bucharest. In 1993, her legacy was commemorated in Romania’s capital city by naming a street in her honor.

Happy Birthday, Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu!

[9A]

November 10, 2021

Celebrating Ismail Marzuki




Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Indonesia-based guest artist Ykha Amelz, celebrates Indonesian composer Ismail Marzuki, whose patriotic songs established him as a national hero during the nation’s independence movement. On this day in 1968, the Indonesian government honored his legacy with the inauguration of what is now the Jakarta Art Center - Taman Ismail Marzuki [TIM], which serves as a hub for the preservation of Indonesia’s cultural heritage and creative innovation in fine arts, music, theatre, dance, and film.

Ismail Marzuki was born in Kwitang, Central Jakarta, Indonesia on May 11, 1914, when the region was under Dutch colonial rule. Although musical professions were uncommon in this community, Marzuki grew up practicing up to five hours a day to master eight instruments: harmonica, mandolin, guitar, ukulele, violin, accordion, saxophone, and piano. At 17, he composed the first of the over hundreds of songs he would produce throughout his career.

Marzuki’s songs captured the Indonesian struggle for independence with melancholic overtones while representing the nation’s resilience through soaring melodies. He filled Indonesian hearts with pride for years by broadcasting his songs [nine of which became national anthems] on public radio. In 1955, Marzuki took over as the leader of the prestigious Jakarta Studio Orchestra and composed the General Election song, the musical theme of Indonesia’s first independent elections.

To honor his cultural contributions, the Indonesian government named Marzuki a National Hero in 2004. Today, visitors can learn more about Marzuki at TIM, which exhibits his personal collection including handwritten songs and a few of his many instruments.

Here’s to you Ismail Marzuki—thank you for writing the soundtrack for Indonesian independence!