Google doodles

[9A]

8 February 2019

65th Anniversary of the Quebec Winter Carnival




What better way to liven up Canada’s coldest season than to host a big celebration amidst the snowfall and subzero temperatures? The tradition of winter festivals dates back to the 17th-century colonies known as New France, but the first organized carnivals in modern times occurred 125 years ago in Québec City, setting the blueprint for more than a century of frosty fun.

The Québec Winter Carnival, which became an annual tradition starting in 1954, is also the oldest of the festivals held across Canada to relieve the routine of short days and chilly nights. Frank Carrel, proprietor and managing editor of the Quebec Daily Telegraph, devised the Carnival as a way to raise spirits during the winter season. Erecting an ice palace in front of the Parliament building, the Carnaval de Québec also featured a parade, concerts, sporting competitions, and a number of other activities across the city.

Now attended by more than half a million people each year, the carnival has its own official representative named Bonhomme, a large snowman who always wears a red cap, black buttons, and a ceinture fléchée, or “arrowed sash.” He lords over his own ice palace and leads a night parade along Grande Allée, which is decorated with lights and ice sculptures.

Over the years the carnival soundtrack has evolved from polkas and waltzes to rock and dance music. Today, the 65th anniversary of the Québec Winter Carnival kicks off and children throughout the city can be seen enjoying the snowy celebrations while paying homage to their favourite snowman —a scene depicted in today’s Doodle by Canadian-born, New-York-based guest artist Randeep Katari. Other festivities include the annual ice canoe race on the St. Lawrence River, axe throwing, and—for the truly intrepid—the Snow Bath, a rare convergence of snowdrifts and swimming trunks.


Joyeux Carnaval!

[9A]

8 February 2012

Ito Jakuchu's 296th Birthday





Itō Jakuchū was a Japanese painter of the mid-Edo period when Japan had closed its doors to the outside world. Many of his paintings concern traditionally Japanese subjects, particularly chickens and other birds. Many of his otherwise traditional works display a great degree of experimentation with perspective, and with other very modern stylistic elements.

Compared to Soga Shōhaku and other exemplars of the mid-Edo period eccentric painters, Jakuchū is said to have been very calm, restrained, and professional. He held strong ties to Zen Buddhist ideals, and was considered a lay brother [[koji); but he was also keenly aware of his role within a Kyoto society that was becoming increasingly commercial.

[9A]

8 February 2019

Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge’s 225th Birthday







Today’s Doodle celebrates Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, a German analytical chemist whose place in history resulted in large part from an accident followed by a chance encounter.

Runge was born outside of Hamburg on this day in 1795. The son of a Lutheran pastor, he expressed interest in chemistry from an early age and began conducting experiments as a teenager.

During one such experiment, Runge accidentally splashed a drop of belladonna extract in his eye, taking note of its pupil-dilating effects. Ten years later, while studying under renowned chemist and inventor Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner at the University of Jena, Runge was asked to reproduce belladonna’s effects as part of a demonstration for one of Döbereiner’s friends: the writer and polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Impressed by the 25-year-old chemist, Goethe handed Runge a bag of rare coffee beans and suggested he analyze their chemical makeup. Shortly thereafter, Runge isolated the active ingredient we know today as caffeine!

After earning his doctorate from the University of Berlin, Runge went on to teach at the University of Breslau until 1831 when he left academia to take a position at a chemical company. During this time, he invented the first coal tar dye and a related process for dyeing clothes. His contributions to the world also include: being one of the first scientists to isolate quinine [a drug used to treat malaria], being considered an originator of paper chromatography [an early technique for separating chemical substances], and even devising a method for extracting sugar from beet juice.

Here’s to Runge, withoutwhom the pain of forgoing one’s morning cup of coffee might never have had a scientific explanation!

[9A]

8 February 2016

Dmitri Mendeleev’s 182nd Birthday






Around 400 BC, the ancient Greeks organized the worldly elements into four groups: air, water, earth, and fire. In the seventeenth century, Robert Boyle explained the material world in terms of elements, mixtures, and compounds. And in 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev made sense of the 56 elements known at the time, showing how they related to each other in a distinct pattern. His periodic table let elements fall into "periods" according to atomic mass and valence [the power that determines how they combine].

Scholars had attempted to organize the elements into a table before, but Mendeleev's work extended beyond mere chart-making. Mendeleev used the logic of his table to argue for the existence of yet-to-be discovered elements [like gallium and germanium], and even to predict their behaviors. Some of these predictions were wrong, but the basic principles behind his periodic organization continue to stand at the foundation of modern chemistry. The periodic table of the elements [now with 118 elements and counting] adorns science classrooms worldwide.

In the final illustration, artist Robinson Wood imagines Mendeleev in the act of setting down the logic of his table [which reportedly came to him in a dream]. Today, on Mendeleev's 182nd birthday, we celebrate how this visionary helped us order and understand our world.

[9A]

8 February 2018


Paula Modersohn-Becker’s 142nd Birthday





Renowned German expressionist painter Paula Modersohn-Becker was born on this day in 1876. Her art bears witness to her courage, boldness, and ambition — a temperament that greatly influenced her short but prolific career.

Exposed to the intellectual world from the time she was a young child growing up in Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Modersohn-Becker began her artistic endeavors as a student in Bremen, and at the age of 18, moved to an artist’s colony in Worpswede. There she met her future husband, but hungry to learn more, she moved to Paris to study and urged him to join her.

In the years that followed, her personal life underwent many changes. But through all the turbulence, she continued to paint, producing more than 80 pictures in 1906 alone. Her writings explain this frenetic pace as a necessity to make up for the first two ‘lost’ decades of her life.

An early expressionist, she joined the likes of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse in introducing modernism to the world. Modersohn-Becker was known for her bold choices as an artist — be it her depictions of nude female figures [among the very first women artists to do so], or those of women breastfeeding their children. She tenaciously resisted the strict expectations held of women of her era, preferring exploration and painting over more traditional pastimes.

Today’s Doodle reflects her artistic style depicting domestic subjects, and is illustrated by Berlin-based duo Golden Cosmos.

Happy Birthday, Paula Modersohn-Becker!

[9A]

9 February 2017

Carmen Miranda's 108th Birthday





Carmen Miranda is a rare example of a triple threat: talented at acting, singing, and dancing. Born in Portugal and raised in Brazil, Miranda took to the performing arts at a young age. Her father's love of opera and her mother's support led her to pursue a career in show business. Inspired by baianas, Afro-Brazilian fruit vendors, Miranda donned a "fruit hat" when she performed. It would become her signature as her star soared, first in Brazil and then, worldwide.

Miranda’s big break happened following her performance at the National Institute of Music. She landed an audition at a recording studio where she was immediately signed to put out a single. Miranda’s first album was released in 1929, and was immensely popular among Brazilians. Her performing style helped samba gain respect and a place in the Brazilian [and later, the world] spotlight.

By the time she moved to the United States in 1939, Miranda was a national star in Brazil and had the power to ensure her band could travel with her. Hollywood's famous Garuman's Chinese Theatre invited her to leave her hand prints in the cement in 1941, the first Latin American to do so.

Today, we celebrate Carmen Miranda on what would be her 108th birthday.

Doodle by Sophie Diao

[9A]

16 April 2019

Inji Aflatoun’s 95th Birthday






Today’s Doodle celebrates Inji Aflatoun, the Egyptian painter and author remembered as a trailblazing modern artist and pioneering feminist.

Born in Cairo on this day in 1924, Aflatoun was mentored by the Egyptian artist Kamel El-Telmissany, soaking up his introduction to modern art as well as his interest in social issues.

In 1942 Aflatoun exhibited with the avant-garde Art and Freedom Group. She then went on to co-found the League of Young Women in University and Institutes and wrote influential pamphlets like We Egyptian Women.

Aflatoun exhibitied her work around the world. In 1975, she helped organize the exhibition “Ten Egyptian Women Artists in Half a Century” in honor of the International Women’s Year. In 1986, she was awarded the medal ”Cavalier of the Arts and Literature” by the French Ministry of Culture.

Today, her work hangs in major collections and museums around the world.


Happy 95th Birthday, Inji Aflatoun!

[9A]

14 August 2018

27th Anniversary of Bunaken National Park





The Indonesian government set aside five islands and surrounding waters in 1991, providing protection to the 58 different types of coral and more than 90 species of fish located in Bunaken National Park. Located to the north of the island of Sulawesi, Bunaken National Park is a place where Hawksbill turtles forage on reefs amid colorful schools of damselfish, clownfish, angelfish, and a dazzling array of marine dwellers.

Spectacular sea creatures are not the only inhabitants of the 280-square-mile marine park, located in the northern part of Sulawesi province. There are some 20,000 human beings, most of whom rely on fishing for at least part of their daily nutrition. Groupers, snappers, and napoleon wrasse feed along the vast coral walls that contain an impressive amount of biodiversity—nearly 70% percent of the marine species found in this part of the world.

Although illegal fishing still occurs, and coral is vulnerable to climate change, the Indonesian government applied for the park to be listed as one of UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites, which provides additional protections. Indonesian schools educate students about the fragility of the ecosystem they live within, ensuring that future generations learn how to safeguard this national treasure.

[9A]

11 August 2017

Mountain Day 2017




Mountain climbing as a means of peacekeeping? It’s what Japanese lawmakers envisioned as they made Mountain Day the country’s 16th national holiday.

While Japan is known partly for its hardworking culture and densely packed cities, its people maintain a kinship with nature. Shinto, a religion of the country, ascribes a sacred spirit to natural elements -- including rocks, trees, rivers, and mountains, which cover as much as 70% of the country. As the highest and most well-known mountain in Japan, for example, Mount Fuji’s 8-hour hike to the top is considered an important pilgrimage for tourists and natives alike.

Mountain Day is a time for people to take a break and get in touch with the country’s national beauty.

Doodle by Lydia Nichols

[9A]

12 October 2020

Laudelina de Campos Melo's 116th Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 116th birthday of Afro-Brazilian union activist, business owner, and domestic worker Laudelina de Campos Melo, who in 1936 founded Brazil’s first association of domestic workers. An eminent pioneer in the struggle for Brazilian workers’ rights, Melo dedicated her life to the fight against racial, class, and gender discrimination.

Laudelina de Campos Melo was born on this day in 1904 in Poços de Caldas, in Brazil’s southeastern state of Minas Gerais. Her mother served as a domestic worker and Melo became one as a teenager as well. In the process, she witnessed firsthand the racism, poor working conditions, and exploitation faced by so many workers, including her own mother— an experience that inspired her fight for change.

Melo relocated to the coastal city of Santos in 1924 and became involved in local organizations with a focus on improving the lives of Black Brazilians. This set a course of activism that she followed throughout her life. In 1936 she founded the historic Association of Domestic Workers, and she later formed a similar association in Campinas, which went on to officially earn recognition as a union in 1988.

In 2015, Melo’s movement for justice achieved another victory: when the Brazilian government passed legislation to extend labor rights to domestic workers.

Happy birthday, Laudelina de Campos Melo!

[9A]

12 October 2007

Luciano Pavarotti's 72nd Birthday





Luciano Pavarotti Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed and loved tenors of all time. He made numerous recordings of complete operas and individual arias, gaining worldwide fame for the quality of his tone, and eventually established himself as one of the finest tenors of the 20th century, achieving the honorific title "King of the High Cs".

As one of the Three Tenors, who performed their first concert during the 1990 FIFA World Cup before a global audience, Pavarotti became well known for his televised concerts and media appearances.

From the beginning of his professional career as a tenor in 1961 in Italy to his final performance of "Nessun dorma" at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Pavarotti was at his best in bel canto operas, pre-Aida Verdi roles, and Puccini works such as La bohème, Tosca, Turandot and Madama Butterfly. He sold over 100 million records, and the first Three Tenors recording became the best-selling classical album of all time. Pavarotti was also noted for his charity work on behalf of refugees and the Red Cross, amongst others. He died from pancreatic cancer on 6 September 2007.





Luciano Pavarotti performing on 15 June 2002 at a
concert in the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille




Pavarotti welcomes Diana, Princess of Wales,
in Modena during the 1995 Pavarotti & Friends

[9A]

12 October 2014

Children's Day 2014 [Brazil]

[9A]

2 October 2019

Sir William Ramsay’s 167th Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and work of Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsey, whose research led to the discovery of an unknown group of elements known as the noble gases. Born in Glasgow on this day in 1852, Sir Ramsay’s work led to groundbreaking advances in thermodynamics and nuclear physics.

After traveling to Germany, where he earned his doctorate at the University of Tübingen, Ramsay returned home with a reputation for innovative experimental techniques. As chair of chemistry at University College, London, he published numerous papers and books on liquids and vapors.

Ramsay was intrigued when another British physicist, Lord Rayleigh, observed that nitrogen in the earth’s atmosphere had a higher atomic weight than nitrogen in the laboratory. In 1894, he and Lord Rayleigh announced the discovery of a chemically inert gas, which they named argon.

While searching for argon, Ramsay found helium, which had been previously thought to exist only in the sun. Ramsay’s 1896 book The Gases of the Atmosphere predicted the existence of at least 3 more noble gases. Reducing air to low temperatures at high pressure, his team proceeded to identify neon, krypton, and xenon, reshaping the periodic table of elements forever.

Because of their chemical inertness, noble gases proved useful in many ways. For instance, helium replaced flammable hydrogen for lighter-than-air travel, and argon was used in lightbulbs.

Described by many as the “greatest chemical discoverer of his time,” Ramsay became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1888, was knighted in 1902, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904.

[9A]

2 October 2019

Bill Robinson’s 81st Birthday





“There’s only one rule, and that is ‘Try, try, try,’” said Dr. William Robinson, widely hailed as one of New Zealand’s most versatile and accomplished scientists. Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Wellington-based guest artist Jez Tuya, celebrates the inventor of the “quake breaker,” a lead-rubber bearing that is still used to protect large buildings from seismic waves, preventing earthquake damage.

Born on this day in 1938 into a working-class family, Robinson went on to study Mechanical Engineering at Auckland University. In 1974, Robinson designed a device made from rubber and steel with lead at its core, intending to fit his invention to the foundations of large structures in order to isolate them from ground movements.

Robinson’s invention is now used on many buildings and bridges around the world, including Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. Following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the device saved many lives at Christchurch Women’s Hospital, as the building’s foundation swayed gently instead of collapsing in the quake.

In 1995, Robinson founded Robinson Seismic, a company specialising in isolation technology. He also pursued research in other fields, including high-temperature superconductivity. A fellow of New Zealand’s Royal Society, in 1998 Robinson received the Rutherford Medal, his country’s most prestigious science and technology award. In 2014, the Robinson Research Institute was established in his honor at Victoria University in his hometown of Wellington.

“I’ve invented more devices which have failed than devices which have been a success,” said Robinson in a 2007 interview. “You’ve gotta be willing to actually try and fail and learn from your failure.”

Thanks to an innovator who never stopped trying—and whose work will continue saving lives for many decades to come.

[9A]

2 October 2009


Birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi




Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule and in turn inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā [Sanskrit: "great-souled", "venerable"], first applied to him in 1914 in South Africa, is now used throughout the world.


Born and raised in a Hindu family in coastal Gujarat, Gandhi trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, and was called to the bar at age 22 in June 1891. After two uncertain years in India, where he was unable to start a successful law practice, he moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. He went on to live in South Africa for 21 years. It was in South Africa that Gandhi raised a family and first employed nonviolent resistance in a campaign for civil rights. In 1915, aged 45, he returned to India. He set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and above all for achieving swaraj or self-rule.


Also in 1921, Gandhi adopted the use of an Indian loincloth [short dhoti] and a shawl [in the winter] woven with yarn hand-spun on a traditional Indian spinning wheel [charkha as a sign of identification with India's rural poor. He also began to live modestly in a self-sufficient residential community, ate simple vegetarian food, and undertook long fasts as a means of self-purification and political protest. Bringing anti-colonial nationalism to the common Indians, Gandhi led them in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km [250 mi] Dandi Salt March in 1930 and in calling for the British to quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned many times and for many years in both South Africa and India.

Gandhi's vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism was challenged in the early 1940s by a new Muslim nationalism which demanded a separate Muslim homeland carved out of India. In August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, the Hindu-majority India and the Muslim-majority Pakistan. As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in the Punjab and Bengal.

Eschewing the official celebration of independence in Delhi, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to provide solace. In the months following, he undertook several hunger strikes to stop religious violence. The last of these, undertaken on 12 January 1948 when he was 78, also had the indirect goal of pressuring India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan. Some Indians thought Gandhi was too accommodating.

Among them was Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist who assassinated Gandhi on 30 January 1948 by firing three bullets into his chest.

Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Nonviolence. Gandhi is commonly, though not formally, considered the Father of the Nation in India and was commonly called Bapu [Gujarati: endearment for father, papa].

Mahatma Gandhi 1931

[9A]

2 November 2019

Day of the Dead 2019





Today’s Doodle celebrates the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos [Day of the Dead], an occasion when families welcome the spirits of deceased loved ones back home for a sweet reunion with music and dancing during the first two days of November. Despite some similarities to Halloween and starting just one day later, the Day of the Dead is a completely different holiday, more joyful than scary.

The tradition can be traced back thousands of years to Aztec rituals blended with the cultures of medieval Spain and the Roman Catholic Church, which celebrates All Saints Day and All Souls Day on November 1st and 2nd, respectively.

Calacas y calaveras [skeletons and skulls], seen all throughout Mexico during this time, are an essential part of the festive decor. In particular, the finely dressed skeletal woman La Calavera Catrina, also known as Mexico's “Grand Dame of Death,” has become an icon of the season. Depicted in the Doodle artwork wearing her signature hat with feathers and flowers, La Calavera Catrina was created by illustrator José Guadalupe Posada, who was inspired by Mictecacíhuatl, the Aztec goddess of the underworld.

In Mexican communities worldwide, November 1st is reserved for los angelitos, inviting the spirits of little children into their homes first, with adult spirits arriving the day after. To honor the memory of close friends, relatives, and loved ones, families put up ofrendas, or altars adorned with portraits, clothing, and playthings, incense, and favorite drinks and food including the traditional sweet bread known as Pan de Muertos. Trails of marigold flowers lead the way from the cemetery to the front door, making sure the dearly departed can find their way home.


¡Feliz Día de los Muertos!

[9A]

2 November 2020

Day of the Dead 2020






Today’s Doodle commemorates Mexico’s annual Day of the Dead, known in Spanish as Día de los Muertos, a joyful multi-day celebration of the cyclical nature of life and the loved ones who have passed away.

Day of the Dead traces its origins back several thousand years to the rituals of the Aztec and other Indigenous Nahua civilizations of what is now central Mexico. Today, many people observe the holiday through the traditions of the past, like setting out offerings of flowers, such as la flor de cempasúchil [the Mexican marigold] depicted in today’s Doodle, candles, and traditional foods including the sweet and aptly-named pan de muerto [bread of the dead].

Since 2008, the holiday has been recognized by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in honor of this celebration that keeps Mexico's rich history and traditions alive.

iFeliz Día de los Muertos, México!

[9A]

2 November 2013

Day of the Dead 2013

[9A]

2 November 2010

Melbourne Cup 2010






The Melbourne Cup is Australia's most famous annual Thoroughbred horse race. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world and one of the richest turf races. The event starts at 3:00 pm on the first Tuesday of November and is known locally as "the race that stops the nation".

The Melbourne Cup has a long tradition, with the first race held in 1861. It was originally over two miles [3.219 km] but was shortened to 3,200 metres [1.988 mi] in 1972 when Australia adopted the metric system. This reduced the distance by 18.688 metres [61.312 ft], and Rain Lover's 1968 race record of 3:19.1 was accordingly adjusted to 3:17.9. The present record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3:16.3.

[9A]

2 November 2012

Odysseas Elitis' 101st Birthday




Odysseas Elytis was a Greek poet, essayist and translator, regarded as a major exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. He is one of the most praised poets of the second half of the twentieth century, with his Axion Esti "regarded as a monument of contemporary poetry". In 1979, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

[9A]

23 May 2012

Robert Moog's 78th Birthday





In the mid-1960s, Dr. Robert Moog unleashed a new universe of sounds into musicdom with his invention of the electronic analog Moog Synthesizer. The timbre and tones of these keyboard instruments [true works of art in and of themselves] would come to define a generation of music, featuring heavily in songs by The Beatles, The Doors, Stevie Wonder, Kraftwerk and many others.

When people hear the word “synthesizer” they often think “synthetic”—fake, manufactured, unnatural. In contrast, Bob Moog’s synthesizers produce beautiful, organic and rich sounds that are, nearly 50 years later, regarded by many professional musicians as the epitome of an electronic instrument. “Synthesizer,” it turns out, refers to the synthesis embedded in Moog’s instruments: a network of electronic components working together to create a whole greater than the sum of the parts.







With his passion for high-tech toolmaking in the service of creativity, Bob Moog is something of a patron saint of the nerdy arts and a hero to many of us here. So for the next 24 hours on our homepage, you’ll find an interactive, playable logo inspired by the instruments with which Moog brought musical performance into the electronic age. You can use your mouse or computer keyboard to control the mini-synthesizer’s keys and knobs to make nearly limitless sounds. Keeping with the theme of 1960s music technology, we’ve patched the keyboard into a 4-track tape recorder so you can record, play back and share songs via short links or Google+.

Much like the musical machines Bob Moog created, this doodle was synthesized from a number of smaller components to form a unique instrument. When experienced with Google Chrome, sound is generated natively using the Web Audio API—a doodle first [for other browsers the Flash plugin is used]. This doodle also takes advantage of JavaScript, Closure libraries, CSS3 and tools like Google Web Fonts, the Google+ API, the Google URL Shortener and App Engine.

Special thanks to engineers Reinaldo Aguiar and Rui Lopes and doodle team lead Ryan Germick for their work, as well as the Bob Moog Foundation and Moog Music for their blessing. Now give those knobs a spin and compose a tune that would make Dr. Moog smile!

Posted by Joey Hurst, Software Engineer

[9A]

9 Interactive Google Doodles You Can Use In Your Music Classes





Since 1998, Google has periodically decorated the company logo to celebrate notable events, anniversaries and historical figures and over the years more than 2000 Google Doodles have been created.

Early Google Doodles were simple illustrations, but over the years have become more complex, more frequent and best of all – more interactive. In 2010, the first interactive Google Doodle was created to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man and features a “playable” online version of the game.

My favourite Google Doodles though are the music-related ones – especially those that allow you and your students to learn more about an artist or event and also to create your own music. Here are 9 excellent Google Doodles that you can use in your music classes.

https://midnightmusic.com.au/2017/08...music-classes/

By Katie|August 16th, 2017|Chromebooks, Elementary Ideas, iPads, Macs and PCs, Middle and High School Ideas

[9A]

Google’s first AI-powered Doodle lets you make music like Bach





Even if you think you have no musical ability — orespecially if you think that — you can compose a beautiful bit of music today, thanks to AI, Google, and Johann Sebastian Bach.

To celebrate the birthday of Bach, a beloved German composer born on March 21, 1685, Google has launched its first ever AI-powered Doodle. All you have to do is plunk down a few notes and the Doodle will add harmony to them in the signature style of Bach. I’ve got zero formal musical training, but I gave it a try. My little composition came out sounding surprisingly great!

It’s not really surprising, though, if you know a bit about machine learning, the process Google used to make this possible. Machine learning is a type of AI that involves feeding computers example after example of something, until they “learn” to create their own example — without ever having been given explicit instructions to follow.

In this case, 306 chorale harmonizations composed by Bach were fed into a model. His chorales make for great training data because their structure is pretty consistent and concise — they all contain four voices, which take on a pleasing depth when layered on top of one another. After the model “learned” Bach’s style by picking out the patterns, the machine learning system was refitted to run within the confines of your humble web browser.
As a result, you can make your own Bachian music with just a few quick clicks. So go on, give it a whirl!


https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/3/21/18274957/google-doodle-ai-bach-music

[9A]

20 April 2021

Luther Vandross's 70th birthday






Today’s video Doodle, created by Atlanta-based guest artist Sam Bass, celebrates the 70th birthday of multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer Luther Vandross—the “Velvet Voice” whose silky-smooth tenor ballads romanced generations with inimitable style and grace.

Born on this day in 1951 in New York City, Luther Ronzoni Vandross grew up inspired by soul music giants such as Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, and Dionne Warwick. At the age of five, he showed a sharp interest in singing, often using the coin-operated recording booths found in stores sprinkled throughout New York City at the time. He truly knew music was his destiny after a Warwick performance blew him away at 13—so he began to write his own songs. After high school, Vandross showcased his tunes at Amateur Night at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. Although he never won first place, he joined the theater’s performing arts group “Listen My Brother Revue,” who sang on the 1969 pilot episode of the children’s show “Sesame Street” and gave Vandross his first taste of widespread exposure.

Vandross’s next big break came when his original composition “Everybody Rejoice” was featured in “The Wiz,” a 1974 Broadway musical later adapted into an Academy Award-winning film. From there, Vandross launched himself into dozens of collaborative projects with artists like David Bowie, Ringo Starr, Whitney Houston, and Ben E. King. His knack for infectious hooks also landed him gigs singing commercial jingles for Juicy Fruit and several other major brands.

In 1981, Vandross launched his solo career and took full creative control to compose, write, and produce his debut studio album “Never Too Much”—the soundtrack of today’s Doodle and the first of 14 studio albums that went either platinum or multi-platinum! A fine-tuned maestro of performance, Vandross took his passionate songs on world-wide tours, where he poured his style into all aspects of live production, from the design of background singers sparkling gowns to the mood-setting stage lights. In 1989, Vandross’s devotion to the live experience set an international milestone when he became the first male artist to sell out 10 consecutive shows at London’s Wembley Arena.

Vandross’s successful music career culminated in eight Grammy Awards [out of 33 nominations], a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a 1997 Super Bowl half-time show performance, and eight Billboard Top 10 albums.

Happy birthday, Luther Vandross! The joy your music brings to the world is never too much.

[9A]

20 April 2012

Eduard Slavoljub Penkala's 141st Birthday



Slavoljub Eduard Penkala was a Croatian engineer and inventor of Dutch-Polish descent.

He became renowned for further development of the mechanical pencil - then called an "automatic pencil" - and the first solid-ink fountain pen. Collaborating with an entrepreneur by the name of Edmund Moster, he started the Penkala-Moster Company and built a pen-and-pencil factory that was one of the biggest in the world at the time. The company, now called TOZ Penkala, still exists today.

He also constructed the first Croatian aircraft to fly in the country, the Penkala 1910 Biplane, flown by Dragutin Novak, who was also the first Croatian pilot. He constructed and invented many other products and devices, and held a total of 80 patents.

Among his patented inventions were:

• a hot water bottle - his first patented invention, the "Termofor"
• a type of bluing detergent
• a rail-car brake
• an anode battery

He also founded another company called the Elevator Chemical Manufacturing Company, which produced various chemicals such as detergents, sealing wax, and "Radium Vinovica", a patent-medicine – like product that was billed as curing rheumatism.

[9A]

20 April 2010

Independence Day Israel 2010



Independence Day [Hebrew: יום העצמאות‎ Yom Ha'atzmaut, lit. "Day of Independence"] is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies and observances.

Because Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, which corresponded with the Hebrew date 5 Iyar in that year, Yom Ha'atzmaut was originally celebrated on that date. However, to avoid Sabbath desecration, it may be commemorated one or two days before or after the 5th of Iyar if it falls too close to the Jewish Sabbath. Yom Hazikaron, the Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day is always scheduled for the day preceding Independence Day.

In the Hebrew calendar, days begin in the evening. The most recent occurrence of Yom Haatzmaut took place from sunset to sunset, 14-15 April 2021.

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22 Apr 2010

Earth Day 2010





Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org [formerly Earth Day Network] including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries.

In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be observed on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day of nature's equipoise was later sanctioned in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations. A month later United States Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed the idea to hold a nationwide environmental teach-in on April 22, 1970. He hired a young activist, Denis Hayes, to be the National Coordinator. Nelson and Hayes renamed the event "Earth Day". Denis and his staff grew the event beyond the original idea for a teach-in to include the entire United States. More than 20 million people poured out on the streets, and the first Earth Day remains the largest single day protest in human history.

Key non-environmentally focused partners played major roles. Under the leadership of labor leader Walter Reuther, for example, the United Auto Workers [UAW] was the most instrumental outside financial and operational supporter of the first Earth Day. According to Hayes, "Without the UAW, the first Earth Day would have likely flopped!" Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in recognition of his work.

The first Earth Day was focused on the United States. In 1990, Denis Hayes, the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international and organized events in 141 nations.

On Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and 120 other countries. This signing satisfied a key requirement for the entry into force of the historic draft climate protection treaty adopted by consensus of the 195 nations present at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.

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22 April 2015

Earth Day 2015

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22 April 2009

Earth Day 2009

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5 July 2020

Phraya Si Sunthon Wohan's 198th birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates Thai author, poet, and teacher Phraya Si Sunthon Wohan, who has been credited as the top authority on the Thai language during the rule of King Rama V in the late 19th century. Sunthon Wohan authored some of the country’s first Thai language textbooks, which were used to educate the country’s youth and members of the royal family.

Phraya Si Sunthon Wohan— born Noi Achan Yangkun on this day in 1822 in the Thai province of Chachoengsao— moved to Bangkok at the age of 13 to begin his lifelong linguistic journey. Over the next eight years, he studied at one of the capital city’s most ancient temples, the golden Wat Saket, where he mastered a handful of languages, including Thai, Khmer [the official language of neighboring Cambodia], and Pāli [a classical language that originated in India].

Phraya Si Sunthon Wohan’s talents ultimately attracted the attention of King Rama V, and he was appointed to the esteemed role of permanent secretary. He authored the country’s first textbook, which he used to teach the royal family at Suan Kulaab, the rose garden school in Bangkok’s Grand Palace. A poet at heart, Sunthon Wohan is also credited with writing Thailand’s very first national anthem.

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5 July 2008

Tour de France 2008

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5 July 2014

World Cup 2014 #51

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5 July 2014


World Cup 2014 #53

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21 July 2017

Belgium National Day 2017






On this day, Belgium commemorates the inauguration of King Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians. Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a German prince, embraced his royal role on June 26th, 1831, and pledged his allegiance to the fledgling country just a few weeks later, on July 21.

Previously known as Southern Netherlands, Belgium had been governed by various foreign countries over the centuries, including Spain and France. It also withstood the Dutch Period [1815 – 1830] under King William I, a vigorous advocate of industrialization, before finally attaining its longed-for freedom from the United Kingdom of Netherlands.

Belgian National Day is a festive public holiday celebrated with military parades, air force aerial demonstrations, and free concerts, finished with fireworks. Some Belgians also show their national pride by dressing in red, yellow and black, the colors of the country’s flag.

Our Doodle, illustrated by KHUAN+KTRON, takes us on a joyful tour of Belgium’s iconic Flemish and Wallonian landmarks and sights, from the Royal Palace in Brussels, where Leopold I was sworn in, to the Sint-Truiden, known for its blossoming fruit trees, to Antwerp Cathedral and the Pairi Daiza zoo, home of the giant panda, with stops along the way for such Belgian treats as frieten [fries], cheese and chocolate.


Happy birthday, Belgium!

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18 March 2019

Celebrating Seiichi Miyake




Today’s animated Doodle celebrates Japanese inventor Seiichi Miyake, whose desire to help a close friend turned into an innovation that drastically improved the way those who are visually impaired navigate public spaces around the globe.

In 1965, Miyake spent his own money to invent tactile blocks [or Tenji blocks as they were originally known] to help a friend whose vision was becoming impaired. The blocks come in two predominant types: one with dots, and the other with bars. The dotted blocks alert the visually impaired when they are approaching danger, and can often be found at the edges of crosswalks and railway platforms.

The barred blocks provide directional cues, letting users know that they are following a safe path.
Aside from identifying tactile tiles via a support or white cane, individuals also do so with the help of guide dogs or feeling them through their shoes, as portrayed in other drafts of the Doodle below:



Miyake’s tactile blocks were first introduced on a street near the Okayama School for the Blind in Okayama City, Japan on this day in 1967. Their use gradually spread before they and sound guides were made mandatory in the Japanese National Railways a decade later. Since then, tactile paving is now used around the world.

Today’s Doodle depicts the Google logo rendered in the style of Miyake’s tactile blocks, embossed against the familiar yellow background.

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13 November 2017

Helene Stöcker’s 148th Birthday






Women’s rights were hard-won by the women of the early 20th century, and visionaries like Helene Stöcker were at the forefront of the movement.

Born in 1869, Helene was the definition of someone whose ideas were ahead of her time. Bucking societal expectations, she was one of the first German women to obtain her doctorate, and in 1893 penned her famous short essay, “The Modern Woman.” In it, Helene describes a woman with the freedom to embrace intellectual and cultural pursuits in addition to love or marriage.

In 1905, Helene co-founded The League for the Protection of Mothers and Sexual Reform, continuing her influential writing as the editor of the League’s magazine. For nearly 30 years, she lead the charge with a philosophy she called the New Ethic. Among other things, it advocated for equality for children born out of wedlock, access to contraceptives, and sex education.

Helene wrote with passion about a time when women could fully embrace everything life has to offer. As a feminist, she cherished and championed all women, writing that any modern woman would do the same: “After all, she sees in them a common front, a world-conquering future.”

Today’s Doodle by artist Cynthia Kittler, drawn in honor of Ms. Stöcker’s 148th birthday, illustrates the common front Helene wrote so passionately about.

Here’s to conquering the future, Helene.

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13 November 2010

Robert Louis Stevenson's 160th Birthday






Robert Louis Stevenson [born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894] was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Kidnapped and A Child's Garden of Verses.

Born and educated in Edinburgh, Stevenson suffered from serious bronchial trouble for much of his life, but continued to write prolifically and travel widely in defiance of his poor health. As a young man, he mixed in London literary circles, receiving encouragement from Andrew Lang, Edmund Gosse, Leslie Stephen and W. E. Henley, the last of whom may have provided the model for Long John Silver in Treasure Island. In 1890, he settled in Samoa where, alarmed at increasing European and American influence in the South Sea islands, his writing turned away from romance and adventure toward a darker realism. He died in his island home in 1894.

A celebrity in his lifetime, Stevenson's critical reputation has fluctuated since his death, though today his works are held in general acclaim. In 2018 he was ranked, just behind Charles Dickens, as the 26th-most-translated author in the world

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29 November 2017

Gertrude Jekyll’s 174th Birthday





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

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

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

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29 November 2015

42nd Anniversary of the official recognition of the letter ё


In English, the letter Yo is romanized using the Latin ë [according to the ALA–LC and British Standards], ë [yë word-initially] [BGN/PCGN] or yo/jo [orthographic transcription] for Russian, and as i͡o [ALA–LC], yo [[BGN/PCGN), or ë [BSI] for Belarusian. In international systems, Yo is romanized as ë [ISO 9].

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29 November 2019

María Ylagan Orosa's 126th Birthday




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

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

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

Orosa’s knowledge of chemistry led to numerous culinary innovations. For instance, by fitting a traditional earthenware pot with two sheets of metal, she invented the Palayok Oven, providing remote villages lacking access to electricity with a more effective means of cooking over an open fire.

Although adobo and lumpia are synonymous with Filipino cuisine, Orosa’s banana ketchup is not far behind. Using mashed bananas as a base instead of tomatoes, she made the sauce a long-lasting hit. Two other inventions made her a war hero: Soyalac [a nutrient rich drink derived from soya beans] and Darak [rice cookies packed with vitamin B-1, which could also prevent beriberi disease] saved countless lives during World War II.

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

Happy birthday, María Ylagan Orosa!

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3 July 2009

Ramón Gómez de la Serna's Birthday




Ramón Gómez de la Serna y Puig [3 July 1888 in Madrid – 13 January 1963 in Buenos Aires] was a Spanish writer, dramatist and avant-garde agitator. He strongly influenced surrealist film maker Luis Buñuel.

Ramón Gómez de la Serna was especially known for "Greguerías" – a short form of poetry that roughly corresponds to the one-liner in comedy. The Gregueria is especially able to grant a new and often humorous perspective. Serna published over 90 works in all literary genres. In 1933, he was invited to Buenos Aires. He stayed there during the Spanish Civil War and the following Spanish State and died there.

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3 July 2021

Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann's 122nd birthday






Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Baltimore-based guest artist Ashanti Fortson, celebrates the 122nd birthday of Jewish, German-born British neurologist Professor Sir Ludwig “Poppa” Guttmann, founder of the Paralympic movement.

Guttmann was born in Tost, Germany [now Toszek, Poland] on this day in 1899 and went on to receive his M.D. in 1924. He subsequently began research on spinal cord injuries and performed several neurosurgical procedures, rising to prominence as one of Germany’s top neurosurgeons by his early thirties. However, with the rise of the Nazi party and the passing of the Nuremberg Laws in 1933, Guttmann was prevented from practising medicine professionally. Following Kristallnacht in 1938 and the increasing persecution of Jews in Germany, Guttmann was forced to leave Germany with his family and was able to escape to England in 1939.

In England, Guttmann advanced his research in paraplegia. In 1944, he put his innovative approach into practice as the director of the National Spinal Injuries Center at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. In 1948, he organized a 16-person archery contest, one of the first official competitive sporting events for wheelchair users. Later called the “Stoke Mandeville Games” or the “Olympics for the Disabled,” the competition demonstrated the power of elite sport to break down barriers for disability and garnered the attention of global medical and sporting communities.

In 1960, Guttmann facilitated the International Stoke Mandeville Games, following the 1960 Summer Olympics, the first of many Paralympic Games. His passion for patient care never faltered—he also founded the International Medical Society of Paraplegia [[the International Spinal Cord Society) and the British Sports Association for the Disabled [Activity Alliance] in 1961. He received numerous accolades for his contributions, the highest among which was being knighted by Her Majesty the Queen in 1966.

Today, Paralympic athletes are rightfully recognized for their skills and achievements. The Paralympic Games continue to be a driving force for promoting the rights and independence of people with disabilities, with a lasting impact on equal treatment and opportunity.

Happy birthday, Prof. Sir Ludwig Guttmann!

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23 June 2020

Huda Sha'arawi’s 141st Birthday





Today’s Doodle,illustrated by Cairo-based guest artist Aya Tarek, celebrates the 141st birthday of Egyptian activist, feminist, nationalist, and author Huda Sha’arawi, widely considered one of the pioneers of the women’s movement in Egypt.

Huda Sha’arawi was born Nur Al-Huda Sha’arawi into a wealthy family in Minya, Egypt on this day in 1879 and grew up in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Following World War I, Sha’arawi became a prominent leader in the country’s nationalist fight against British rule. In 1919, following the arrest of several nationalist leaders, she organized Egyptian women into one of the largest protests of the movement.

In 1923, after Egypt gained its independence, Sha’arawi founded and led one of the first formal feminist organizations in Egypt, the Egyptian Feminist Union, to fight for women’s education, suffrage, and legal equality, including representation in parliament.

Through her tireless advocacy for women’s rights and education, Sha’arawi helped pave the way for Egypt’s first secondary school for women, and in 1933, the country honored its first female university graduates. In 1956, another one of her biggest goals was finally achieved when Egypt granted women the right to vote and run for office.

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23 June 2017

Hokiichi Hanawa’s 271st Birthday




When Helen Keller visited the memorial house of Hanawa Hokiichi in 1937, she said of the revered scholar, "I believe that his name would pass down from generation to generation like a stream of water." Indeed, traces of Hokiichi's legacy can be found in many fields today. Like a river originating from humble beginnings in Tokyo in 1746, his influence has stretched through law, politics, economics, history, and medicine.

Even during his lifetime, Hokiichi's impact was far-reaching. He is best known for editing the Gunsho ruijū, a collection of more than 500 volumes of kokugaku studies [philology and philosophy]. Later in life, Hokiichi established the Wagakusho school, where he taught Japanese classics to a rapt audience of adoring students.

Hokiichi’s early life was not easy — at the age of seven, he lost his vision. But his remarkable memory began to impress local scholars, and he was encouraged to pursue a life of study, ultimately becoming one of the most learned men in the country. Hanawa Hokiichi’s legacy is one of dogged learning, committed teaching, and enduring perseverance, and it lives on in Japanese scholarship and culture.

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15 August 2020

India Independence Day 2020






Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Mumbai-based guest artist Sachin Ghanekar, commemorates the Independence Day of the world’s largest democracy: India. On this day in 1947, India became a sovereign, independent nation after nearly a century of British rule.

Featured in the Doodle artwork are several iconic Indian folk instruments, including the tutari, shehnai, dhol, veena, sarangi and bansuri. From the versatile double-reeded shehnai to the resonant stringed sarangi, these instruments are but a few that make up India’s rich musical legacy, which dates back over 6,000 years.

The musical diversity represented by this unique collection reflects the patchwork of Indian cultures that is celebrated across the nation today.

Happy Independence Day, India!

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16 November 2018

44th Anniversary of the Arecibo Message






Forty-four years ago today, a group of scientists gathered at the Arecibo Observatory amidst the tropical forests of Puerto Rico to attempt humankind’s first communication with intelligent life beyond our own planet. Their three-minute radio message—a series of exactly 1,679 binary digits [a multiple of two prime numbers which could be arranged in a grid 73 rows by 23 columns—was aimed at a cluster of stars 25,000 light years away from earth.

This historic transmission was intended to demonstrate the capabilities of Arecibo’s recently upgraded radio telescope, whose 1000-foot-diameter dish made it the largest and most powerful in the world at the time. "It was strictly a symbolic event, to show that we could do it," said Donald Campbell, Cornell University professor of astronomy, who was a research associate at the Arecibo Observatory at the time. Nevertheless some of those present were moved to tears.

The message itself was devised by a team of researchers from Cornell University led by Dr. Frank Drake—the astronomer and astrophysicist responsible for the Drake Equation, a means of estimating the number of planets hosting extraterrestrial life within the Milky Way galaxy. ‘‘What could we do that would be spectacular?’’ Drake recalled thinking. “We could send a message!’’

Written with the assistance of Carl Sagan, the message itself could be arranged in a rectangular grid of 0s and 1s to form a pictograph representing some fundamental facts of mathematics, human DNA, planet earth’s place in the solar system, and a picture of a human-like figure as well as an image of the telescope itself.

Since the Arecibo Message will take roughly 25,000 years to reach its intended destination [a group of 300,000 stars in the constellation Hercules known as M13], humankind will have to wait a long time for an answer. How long? In the 44 years since it was first transmitted, the message has traveled only 259 trillion miles, only a tiny fraction of the 146,965,638,531,210,240 or so miles to its final destination. During that same time, our understanding of the cosmos has advanced by leaps and bounds, raising hopes that someone may be out there, listening.


Doodler, Gerben Steenks.

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16 November 2020

Eliška Junková's 120th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates the 120th birthday of Czech racecar driver Eliška Junková, a pioneer in the history of motor racing. Known as the “Queen of the Steering Wheel,” Junková competed during the 1920s against Europe’s top drivers, and in 1927 became the first woman ever to win a Grand Prix race.

Alžběta “Eliška” Junková was born on this day in 1900 in the Austro-Hungarian town Olomouc, today part of the Czech Republic. She took an interest in racing cars early on in high school, alongside her then-boyfriend and eventual husband Vincenc "Čeněk" Junek.” With her passion ignited, she took driving lessons in Prague and became one of the first women in the newly-formed Czechoslovakia to receive a driver's license. When her husband kicked off his career as a car racer, Junková sat beside him as his racing mechanic and co-pilot. However, it wasn’t long before she took the wheel herself.

Eliška Junková rose to fame racing her trademark Bugatti across Europe’s most difficult courses. She even developed a close personal friendship with the car’s maker, Ettore Bugatti. Junková was not only technically adept, she also earned a reputation as one of the first drivers to do walk-through’s of courses like Italy’s famous Targa Florio prior to races in order to commit landmarks and turns to memory.

Junková retired from racing in 1928, but her legacy was immortalized by Czech composer, Jaroslav Ježek's, classic jazz composition "Bugatti Step,” as well as by Junková’s personal autobiography, “My Memory is Bugatti.”

Happy birthday to a trailblazer who paved the way for women drivers across the world.

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16 November 2017

Chinua Achebe’s 87th Birthday




“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”


One man took it upon himself to tell the world the story of Nigeria through the eyes of its own people. Chinua Achebe [born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe] was the studious son of an evangelical priest. A student of English literature, he started writing in the 1950s, choosing English as his medium but weaving the storytelling tradition of the Igbo people into his books.

His characters were insiders — everyday people such as the village chief [in Things Fall Apart], the priest [in Arrow of God], or the school teacher [in A Man of the People]. Through their stories, we witness a Nigeria at the crossroads of civilization, culture, and generations.

His pen brought to life the land and traditions of the Igbo: the hum of everyday village life; the anticipation and excitement of sacred masquerades; the stories of the elders and the honor of warriors; the joy of family and the grief of loss.

Considered by many to be the father of modern African literature, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker Prize in 2007. Surrounded by iconic images of his most famous literary works, today’s Doodle celebrates his legacy on what would have been his 87th birthday.

Daalụ nke ukwuu, Chinua Achebe!

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26 June 2018

Gauhar Jaan’s 145th Birthday







Today’s Doodle celebrates India’s first recording star, Gauhar Jaan, who emerged on the scene at the turn of the 20th century. She gained popularity through her singing and dancing, and she would go on to define the future of Indian performance art.

Gauhar Jaan embraced the gramophone [a very new invention in India at the time] allowing her voice to reach a greater audience than ever before. Her vision and business practices were quickly praised throughout the entertainment industry, for her forward-thinking approach to the way sound technology could be utilized. Gauhar Jaan performed in over ten languages and produced over 600 records during the course of her life, amassing a large amount of wealth for herself which she shared with her pet cat-- she even threw a wedding for it, spending a rumored 12,000 rupees!

Happy birthday, Gauhar!
Doodle illustrated by Aditi Damle.

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1 September 2020

First day of school 2020 [1 September]