Google doodles

[9A]

7 January 2017

Sandford Fleming’s 190th Birthday




It was Ireland in 1876 when a mistake printed in a timetable caused Sandford Fleming to miss his train but alter time as we know it.

Historically, regions used solar time to set their own clocks. It worked well enough until trains came along and the need for standardized time arose, which brings us back to Fleming.

Following his missed train, Fleming—a Canadian inventor and engineer of Scottish birth—proposed a worldwide standard time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute on February, 8, 1879. He advocated for dividing the world into 24 time zones beginning at the Greenwich Meridian and spaced at 15 degree intervals. His proposal gave way to the International Prime Meridian Conference which convened in 1884 and was attended by 25 nations. It was here that Fleming’s system of international standard time was adopted.

Fleming was also known for helping build the Intercontinental Railway, serving as chief engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and designing Canada’s first postage stamp. Today’s Doodle reflects Fleming’s legacy on this, the 190th anniversary of his birth.


Doodle by Sophie Diao

[9A]

7 January 2013

Eliezer Ben Yehuda's 155th Birthday





Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda was a Hebrew lexicographer and newspaper editor. He was the driving force behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era.

[9A]

7 January 2009

Johann Philipp Reis' Birthday


Johann Philipp Reis was a self-taught German scientist and inventor. In 1861, he constructed the first make-and-break telephone, today called the Reis telephone.
In 1878, four years after his death and two years after Bell received his first telephone patent, European scientists dedicated a monument to Philip Reis as the inventor of the telephone.

Documents of 1947 in London's Science Museum later showed that after their technical adjustments, engineers from the British firm Standard Telephones and Cables [STC] found Reis' telephone dating from 1863 could transmit and "reproduce speech of good quality, but of low efficiency".

Sir Frank Gill, then chairman of STC, ordered the tests to be kept secret, as STC was then negotiating with AT&T, which had evolved from the Bell Telephone Company, created by Alexander Graham Bell. Professor Bell was generally accepted as having invented the telephone and Gill thought that evidence to the contrary might disrupt the ongoing negotiations.

Besides Reis and Bell, many others claimed to have invented the telephone. The result was the Gray-Bell telephone controversy, one of the United States' longest running patent interference cases, involving Bell, Thomas Alva Edison, Elisha Gray, Emil Berliner, Amos Dolbear, J. W. McDonagh, G. B. Richmond, W. L. Voeker, J. H. Irwin, and Francis Blake Jr. The case started in 1878 and was not finalised until 27 February 1901. Bell and the Bell Telephone Company triumphed in this crucial decision, as well as every one of the over 600 other court decisions related to the invention of the telephone. The Bell Telephone Company never lost a case that had proceeded to a final trial stage.

Another controversy arose over a century later when the U.S. Congress passed a resolution in 2002 recognizing Italian-American Antonio Meucci's contributions in the invention of the telephone [not for the invention of the telephone, a declaration that bore no legal or other standing at the United States Patent and Trademark Office [USPTO]. Canada's Parliament quickly followed with a tit-for-tat declaration, which clarified: "....that Alexander Graham Bell of Brantford, Ont., and Baddeck, N.S., [was] the inventor of the telephone." Prior to his death, Meucci had lost his only concluded Federal lawsuit trial related to the telephone's invention.

[9A]

7 January 2019

Fahrelnissa Zeid’s 118th Birthday





“I am a descendent of four civilizations,” wrote Fahrelnissa Zeid, describing her 1980 self-portrait Someone from the Past. “The hand is Persian, the dress Byzantine, the face is Cretan and the eyes Oriental, but I was not aware of this as I was painting it.”

One of the first women to attend art school in Turkey, Fahrelnissa Zeid went on to become a member of both the École de Paris [School of Paris] and D Grubu, a Turkish avant-garde group. Celebrated for her abstract paintings, Zeid also did representational work and even painted designs on chicken bones. Bridging western abstraction and eastern styles, her work broke down gender and culture barriers.

Born on the Turkish island of Büyükada on this day in 1901, Zeid was raised in a prestigious Ottoman family. In 1919 she enrolled at the Imperial School of Art in Istanbul, later traveling through Europe and visiting a variety of art and cultural sites across Spain, Italy, and more.. She continued her training at Académie Ranson in Paris.

In the 1930s, Zeid married into the royal family of Iraq and moved to Berlin until World War II forced her to move to Baghdad. “I did not ‘intend’ to become an abstract painter,” she said of the bold abstract paintings she began painting between Baghdad, Turkey, Paris, and London—blending Eastern and Western influences.

In the 1970s Zeid moved to Amman, Jordan, where she founded the Fahrelnissa Zeid Institute for Fine Arts . A 2017 retrospective of her work at the Tate Modern in London referred to Zeid as “one of the greatest female artists of the 20th century.”

Happy Birthday, Fahrelnissa Zeid!

[9A]

7 January 2012

Charles Addams' 100th Birthday







From time to time we invite guests to post about items of interest and are pleased to have H. Kevin Miserocchi, executive director of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation, join us today to talk about cartoonist Charles Samuel Addams. Addams is best known as the creator of the Addams Family, and is the subject of a doodle today in honor of his 100th birthday. -Ed.

I spent the summer of 1979 fundraising with Tee Matthews Miller for the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons. We spent most of our time in the home she shared with her cartoonist paramour—and too many dogs and cats to name—during his weekends away from Manhattan. I’d met her partner several times before I realized that behind all the stacks of paper and collectibles and layers of dust and pet fur in Tee’s office den, the walls were decorated with familiar art. Not just any art—the original artwork from the pages of The New Yorker magazines that my brother and I had cut up or crayoned across when we were boys. Tee’s boyfriend was the Charles Addams—the one with two d’s. I was home, and our friendship was forever cemented.

They were married in Tee’s pet cemetery in Water Mill, NY in 1980—a surprise for the 60 guests coming for cocktails during the Memorial Day weekend. The wedding party all wore black. It was the union of a wonderful woman of gentle spirit and great generosity and a beguiling man with a subtly wicked sense of humor. Bashful and soft-spoken as he was, he had a devil-child glint in his eyes and a Lugosi-like mouth when he laughed, showing none of his teeth.

Eleven years after his 1988 death, his widow and I formed the not-for-profit Tee and Charles Foundation to protect his legacy as an extraordinary cartoonist with a painterly technique, and to educate people about Charlie’s gift by exhibiting his work worldwide. Following Tee’s passing in 2002, the Foundation dedicated the couple’s Sagaponack homestead, “The Swamp,” as a museum. They had moved there in the mid-1980s, and in true Addams style, they took their cemetery with them—a sweet place where their ashes are interred alongside those of their beloved dogs and cats.

Of the thousands of works Charlie published in his 55 years of cartooning, only 150 were devoted to the group of characters who became known as The Addams Family. But the perfectly off-center humor behind these characters won worldwide adoration even before they became the television and film family we know today. Even for those who never had the thrill of knowing the classy gentleman behind this unique art, Charlie’s family continues to capture the hearts of new generations of cartoon aficionados. We hope today’s doodle inspires you to seek out more of his work.

Posted by H. Kevin Miserocchi, Executive Director, Tee and Charles Addams Foundation

[9A]

28 February 2019

Weiberfastnacht 2019





Today, all throughout Germany’s Rhineland region, you can find locals celebrating Weiberfastnacht, or Women’s Carnival Day. During these celebrations of the Carnival, women in cities like Mainz, Cologne, and Düsseldorf enjoy the unofficial holiday by partaking in customs ranging from snipping off men’s ties to storming town halls.

The Weiberfastnacht tradition dates back to a 19th-century uprising in the small town of Beuel where a group of washerwomen grew tired of working 16 hour days, while the men got to go out and celebrate Carnival. In 1824 they founded the Beuel Ladies’ Committee and stormed city hall, an early expression of women’s rights in Germany. Their legacy lives on with celebrations all along the Rhine River.

The festivities begin precisely at 11:11 am when parades move through the streets to a soundtrack of light-hearted Schlager music as everyone enjoys food, drinks, and fun. Women also dress in vibrant and eclectic costumes, as depicted in today’s Doodle by Hamburg-based guest artist Christina Gransow.


Happy Weiberfastnacht 2019!

[9A]

27 April 2017
Theodor Kittelsen’s 160th birthday





A nature lover with an affinity for fairy tales, painter Theodor Severin Kittelsen is one of Norway’s most prized artists. Kittelsen was born on April 27, 1857, in the coastal town of Kragerø. At the age of 11, he was apprenticed to a watchmaker, but his budding talent caught the eye of a benefactor. By 17, he was on the path to becoming an accomplished artist, studying in Christiania [now Oslo], Munich, and Paris before returning to his homeland.

Norway agreed with Kittelsen. The artist set up his studio near Prestfoss and dubbed it "Lauvlia." He drew inspiration from the beauty in his midst, including Mount Andersnatten overlooking Lake Soneren. He created scenic paintings in a style described as Neo-Romantic or naive. He also drew illustrations of trolls and animals — sometimes stark and haunting, sometimes whimsical — for children’s books, earning him the nickname “The Father of All Trolls.” In 1908, Kittelsen was named Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav.

Lauvlia is now a private museum that houses Kittelsen’s iconic work. Today we honor his 160th birthday with a Doodle that reflects the lake he loved, as well as some of his more gothic creations.

[9A]

27 April 2016

King's Day 2016






For King’s Day, or Koningsdag, the Dutch come together to celebrate the birth of their current king, Willem-Alexander. Celebrants wear orange in honor of the royal family’s house color, making King’s Day one of the most vivid of the year.

On this day, the streets are flooded with decorations and orange-clad locals on their way to outdoor concerts and festivities. This is also the one day in which street sales are allowed without a permit, bringing sellers and shoppers out in droves for the flea markets that pop up everywhere.

This year’s doodle highlights the tompouce, a local cream-rich pastry commonly frosted in orange for the occasion. Ga Oranje!

[9A]

27 April 2018

Celebrating Mahadevi Varma





Born in 1907, Mahadevi Varma was a transformative poet, essayist, and advocate for women’s rights in India. She spent her childhood near the city of Allahabad, where her father was a professor. While both parents encouraged their daughter to pursue her education, it was Varma’s mother who inspired her daughter to write in Sanskrit and Hindi.

While pursuing a masters degree in Sanskrit, Varma penned her first verses in secret — only to be discovered by her roommate and friend, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan [herself a well-known poet]. As modern Hindi became more accepted in literary circles, Varma and Subhadra grew together as writers, reading aloud and publishing their work in the language. Today, Varma is considered one of the foundational poets of the Chhayavad movement in Hindi literature.

Varma’s poignant poetry, and later, essays, often centered on the experience of being a woman. Her feminist work appeared in magazines and books, and her collection of short stories, “Sketches from My Past,” portrays the women she encountered while principal of an all-girls school. While she was a firm supporter of women’s rights, Varma also explored the topics of tradition and the past with great fondness.

Varma received the Jnanpith Award on this date in 1982 for her outstanding contributions to Indian literature.

Doodle by guest artist Sonali Zohra

[9A]

27 April 2017

Celebrating Freedom Day and Enoch Sontonga






Today South Africans celebrate Freedom Day! The first post-apartheid elections were held on this date in 1994, and each year this important event is remembered with a public holiday.

Today's Doodle also honors choirmaster, poet, and composer Enoch Sontonga, who wrote the first version of Africa’s democratic national anthem, “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” [“God Bless Africa”], in 1897. Over the years, the song developed and gained popularity, even making it to a London recording studio in 1923. It later merged with the country’s other anthem, “Die Stem” [“The Call of South Africa”].

[9A]

28 July 2017


Albert [Elea] Namatjira’s 115th Birthday



Today is the 115th birthday of renowned Aboriginal Australian artist Albert [Elea] Namatjira. Born in 1902 near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia, he joined the Arrernte community at the age of 13 where he developed his love for the rough and wild Australian landscape.

Namatjira loved sketching from the time he was a young boy, and quickly took to painting the natural beauty around him in the bush. His landscape images earned recognition in Australia and around the world. Namatjira also inspired the Hermannsburg School for his community in Alice Springs, teaching aspiring young artists to depict the Australian landscape.

Today’s Doodle is a painting created by Albert’s granddaughter, Gloria Pannka. To represent her grandfather, Gloria chose to paint the beautiful hills between Hamilton Downs and the West MacDonnell Ranges in central Australia. Albert’s homeland is not far away from this area, and Gloria says that visiting this landscape connects her to her grandparents.

Gloria is also a member of an artistic community, Iltja Ntjarra / Many Hands Art Centre inspired by her grandfather’s works. The art centre works to maintain and promote Aboriginal cultural heritage.

Today we celebrate Albert Namatjira’s substantial contributions to the art and culture of Australia. Happy birthday, Albert!

[9A]

28 July 2014
Peru Independence Day 2014



We’re serving ceviche for Peruvian Independence Day. The traditional [and totally yummy] seafood dish is made with raw fish cured in either lemon or lime juice.

[9A]

23 May 2013

Doodle 4 Google 2013 - US Winner






After 130,000 submissions and millions of votes cast, Sabrina Brady of Sparta, Wisc. has been named the 2013 U.S. Doodle 4 Google National Winner. Her doodle, “Coming Home,” will be featured on the Google homepage in the U.S. tomorrow, May 23.

Students across all 50 states amazed us with their creative interpretations of this year’s theme, “My Best Day Ever...” From scuba diving to dinosaurs to exploring outer space, we were wowed by the ways young artists brought their best days to life in their doodles.

Sabrina’s doodle stood out in the crowd; it tells the story of her reunion with her father as he returned from an 18 month deployment in Iraq. Her creative use of the Google letters to illustrate this heartfelt moment clearly resonated with voters across the country and all of us at Google.

In addition to seeing her artwork on the Google homepage, Sabrina—who is in 12th grade at Sparta High School—will receive a $30,000 college scholarship, a Chromebook computer and a $50,000 technology grant for her school. She will attend Minneapolis College of Art and Design this coming fall, where she will continue her artistic pursuits. Congratulations Sabrina!

[9A]

19 September 2019

Tin Tan’s 104th Birthday






The exact origins of the Mexican-American term “Pachuco” are hard to pin down, but one of the most famous Pachucos in history would have to be Tin Tan. Today’s animated Doodle celebrates the actor, singer, and comedian who got his start in the nightclubs of Ciudad Juarez, just south of the Rio Grande, and went on to redefine a misunderstood youth culture.

Born in Mexico City on this day in 1915, Germán Genaro Cipriano Gómez Valdés de Castillo, also known as Tin Tan, helped to popularize the Mexican-American Pachuco. Known for their streetwise swagger and “zoot suits,” Tin Tan’s Pachuco characters were a variation on the “tramp” often portrayed by Mexican film actor Cantinflas. Often accompanied by Marcelo Chávez on guitar, Tin Tan appeared alongside the actress Famie Kaufman, also known as Vitola, though legend has it that he kissed more leading ladies than any actor in history.

His performance in films like the musical comedy Calabacitas Tiernas helped popularize the dialect known as caló, a mixture of Spanish and English spoken along the border. Besides appearing in more than 100 films, Tin Tan also recorded 11 records and voiced beloved Disney characters like Baloo in The Jungle Book and Cat O'Malley in The Aristocats.

Though he reportedly turned down The Beatles’ invitation to appear on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Tin Tan was honored by the Asociación de Actores de México. His legacy lives on in a statue on Génova Street in Mexico City’s Zona Rosa, standing as a symbol of pride in Mexico’s cultural heritage.

Feliz Cumpleaños, Tin Tan!

[9A]

16 May 2018

Tamara de Lempicka’s 120th Birthday

"I live life in the margins of society, and the rules of normal society don't apply to those who live on the fringe."-Tamara de Lempicka

Today’s Doodle celebrates Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka, who made a career out of subverting expectations and in doing so, developed her distinct style in the Art Deco era.

Born in Warsaw, Poland in 1898, Lempicka’s love for art started at an early age. As a young child, she spent a summer in Italy with her grandmother, who inspired her love for great Italian Renaissance painters. Upon her parents divorce, she was sent to live with her wealthy aunt in Russia. It was during this time that Lempicka was exposed to the lives of nobility as well as her future husband, Tadeusz Lempicki.

Shortly after their marriage, the Russian Revolution began and Lempicka, now a refugee, moved from St. Petersburg to Paris. It was there, at the height of post-cubism, where she began her formal artistic training under the influence of French painters Maurice Denis and André Lhote.

Internalizing her grandiose and decorative surroundings, Lempicka went on to produce exquisite tributes to the Roaring Twenties in her own unique way, utilizing a blend of late neoclassical and refined cubist styles in her art. Her affinity for the luxurious also led her to fixate on portraits of artists, stars, and aristocrats, which coupled with her considerable charm and exotic lifestyle, lit up the art world and social circles of the period.

Today’s Doodle by Doodler Matthew Cruickshank pays homage to Lempicka’s unique style.

Cruickshank shares:

“Few artists embodied the exuberant roaring twenties more than Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka. Her fast paced, opulent lifestyle manifests itself perfectly into the stylized Art-Deco subjects she celebrated in her paintings. I first encountered Lempicka's work at her Royal Academy show in London, 2004. I was struck by the scale and skill of her paintings coupled with her life [as colorful as her work!]. I chose to place a portrait of Lempicka in my design with accompanying motifs evocative of the roaring '20s and '30s. It's no easy feat to recreate any artists work - but I hope to have done so here.”
Happy 120th birthday, Tamara de Lempicka!

[9A]

15 October 2020

Dr Zohra Begum Kazi’s 108th Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 108th birthday of Indian-born physician, professor, and social reformer Dr. Zohra Begum Kazi, a 20th-century pioneer for women in medicine on the Indian subcontinent. At a time when the medical field was reserved primarily for men, Dr. Kazi broke barriers with an unwavering dedication to patient care and fierce advocacy for female education.

Zohra Begum Kazi was born into an aristocratic medical family on this day in 1912 in Rajnandgaon, British India. Her father was a physician who encouraged his daughters to break from cultural norms by pursuing careers in medicine. A brilliant student, Kazi graduated in 1935 with a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery from Delhi’s Lady Hardinge Medical College for Women.

Over the following 13 years, Dr. Kazi developed her expertise as an assistant surgeon in various hospitals across British India. In the wake of India’s partition in 1947, she relocated to Dhaka, present-day Bangladesh, where she joined the Medical College and Hospital as a resident surgeon. Following post-graduate studies, she rose to the top of her field, becoming a professor and head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Kazi worked to redefine women’s attitudes towards medicine, providing door-to-door care to countless women who were previously intimidated by the male-dominated world of medical care.

Throughout her life, Dr. Kazi committed herself to charitable and educational causes and through her pioneering example helped inspire future generations of women to become doctors, just like her.


Happy Birthday, Dr. Zohra Begum Kazi!

[9A]

15 October 2020

Celebrating Kyu Sakamoto




Today’s Doodle celebrates Japanese singer and actor Kyu Sakamoto, on the 59th anniversary of the release of the record including his iconic song “Ue o Muite Aruko” [“Let’s Look Up As We Walk”, 1961]. Following its release in English markets under the title “Sukiyaki,” the emotional song became the first Japanese track to sell a million copies as well as the first by an Asian recording artist to top the American Billboard Chart.

Kyu Sakamoto was born Hisashi Oshima on December 10th, 1941 in Kawasaki, Japan. His father’s ninth child, he was nicknamed “Kyu,” an alternate reading of his first name [九], which translates to the number nine. Sakamoto began his career at age 16 as a back-up vocalist before he decided to take his chances as a solo artist. The move quickly paid off when he was signed to a record label the following year.

Sakamoto saw success in Japan, touting multiple pop hits and appearances in movies and TV shows. After a jazz cover of “Ue o Muite Aruko” became a hit in the U.K., Sakamoto’s original was released in the U.S. under the name “Sukiyaki,” catapulting him to international stardom. A testament to its out-of-this-world success, an instrumental version of “Sukiyaki” became one of the first songs sent over the radio to astronauts in space in 1965!

Intent to use his fame for good, Sakamoto helped raise funds for children with disabilities throughout his career, including holding a concert to benefit the 1964 Tokyo Paralympics.

Here’s to you, Kyu!

[9A]

15 October 2011

Italo Calvino's 88th Birthday




I was overjoyed to be able to celebrate one of my favorite authors, Italo Calvino. Ostensibly a science fiction writer, Calvino is more of a fabulist, using scientific notions as a jumping-off point for whimsical, delightfully far-fetched, extremely warm and compassionate little tales. The first work of Calvino's that I read was Invisible Cities, an imagined dialogue between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan that meditates on the different ways of conceptualizing cities.

For this doodle, however, I decided to illustrate the first story from my favorite Calvino collection, Cosmicomics. Cosmicomics is an audacious series of myths and legends that covers everything from the creation of the universe, to the evolution of land vertebrates, to the social lives of dinosaurs.

In this story, The Distance of the Moon, the protagonist tells of time when the moon orbited so close to the Earth that it was possible to row out into the middle of the ocean and climb onto the surface of the Moon with a ladder. Once on the moon, the protagonists and his friends would frolic and cartwheel while the Moon's gravity gently pulled jellyfish and crabs up out of the sea. It's a fantastic image, and hopefully one that's very evocative to readers of Calvino.

If you haven't yet, please consider investigating his work!


Posted by Sophia Foster-Dimino

[9A]

20 September 2018

Josefa Llanes Escoda’s 120th Birthday





When Josefa Llanes Escoda was attending elementary school in Dingras, her hometown in the Philippines, she went to class despite an impending typhoon. “I'll not let the weather keep me away from school,” the determined young student told her mother. After graduating as valedictorian, she went on to join the Red Cross and win a scholarship to the United States, where she studied social work, earning a masters degree from Columbia University.

Born on this day in 1898, Escoda was the eldest of seven children and always showed a great interest in women’s issues. A strong advocate for female suffrage, she worked tirelessly to make sure voting rights were extended to all citizens. She founded the Boy's Town in Manila for underprivileged youth in 1937 and the Girl Scouts of the Philippines in 1940, changing the lives of young people in her native country for the better.

Escoda’s face appears on the 1000 peso bill and streets, buildings, and a monument have been dedicated in her honor. As a living legacy to her work, the Girl Scouts of the Philippines honor Escoda by celebrating her birthday each year with acts of service, carrying the example she set forward for generations to come.

[9A]

20 September 2015
Google Gameday Doodle #2





Football is back, the leaves are changing, and this week, in an overzealous bid to impress the squad, “g” decides to haul the entirety of the equipment room onto the field. Yardsticks are for referees, “g”, but there’s always next week.

[9A]

20 September 2000

2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney - Diving

[9A]

20 September 2010

140th Anniversary of Rome






By the outset of the nineteenth century and particularly in response to the carnage of the latter years of the French revolution, the term Roman holiday had taken on sinister aspects, implying an event that occasions enjoyment or profit at the expense, or derived from the suffering, of others, as in this passage from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage [1812–18] by George Gordon, Lord Byron:

There were his young barbarians all at play,
There was their Dacian mother—he their sire,
Butchered to make a Roman holiday.

More benignly, the phrase was used as the title of a romantic movie set in Rome, Roman Holiday.

[9A]

23 April 2020

St. George's Day 2020







Today’s Doodle, illustrated by British guest artist Robin Davey, commemorates St. George’s Day. On the annual celebration of the patron saint, England celebrates St. George and his representation of values like bravery, integrity, and leadership.

According to legend, St. George single-handedly slew a dragon to rescue a city under siege. For centuries, he captured the English imagination; in fact, King Henry V’s veneration for St. George was even immortalized in William Shakespeare’s eponymous play about the monarch.

St. George was declared England’s patron saint in 1348, and in 1415 St. George’s Day was inaugurated as a national feast day in his honor. Today, the special day lives on as a testament to England’s culture and unique traditions through activities like morris dancing [a rural folk custom] and medieval jousting.

Happy St. George’s Day!

[9A]

15 February 2020

Susan B. Anthony’s 200th birthday

“Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.”
–Susan B. Anthony, The Revolution

Today’s Doodle celebrates the 200th birthday of social reformer Susan B. Anthony, and 2020 also happens to mark the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the U.S.. Anthony fought tirelessly for decades to earn women the right to vote in the U.S and is recognized as one of the nation’s most important figures of the women’s suffrage movement.

Susan Brownell Anthony was born on this day in 1820 in western Massachusetts, U.S. As a child, she was inspired by the idea that all people were born equal regardless of their race or gender. An introduction through her father to prominent abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison first ignited her passion for social change. In 1851, Anthony met reformer Elizabeth Cady Stanton, beginning a 50-year partnership focused on women’s rights advocacy.

On November 5th, 1872, Anthony walked into a voting station in Rochester, New York and cast a vote in the presidential election, defying the law at the time, which denied women the right to vote. Two weeks later, she was fined $100 [over $2,100 today], drawing national attention to the cause. She refused to pay the fine, proclaiming, “I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty.”

Anthony remained an active leader of the women’s suffrage movement for decades, including serving as president of the largest suffrage association in the U.S. and speaking to crowds across the country to lobby for change.

In 1920, nearly 50 years after Anthony first cast her ballot, women in America were finally granted the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment. Though this amendment did not include women of color, the franchise was extended through the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The U.S. Treasury Department honored Anthony’s legacy in 1979 by placing her image on the dollar coin, making her the first woman in history to be depicted on U.S. currency.

[9A]

15 February 2015

Cricket World Cup 2015 – India vs. Pakistan

[9A]

21 December 2020

Celebrating Summer 2020 and The Great Conjunction!
[Southern Hemisphere]




As Earth’s Southern Hemisphere welcomes summer and winds down from the longest day of the year, it seems Jupiter and Saturn have decided to put on quite an unusual show for the world to see!

The two largest planets in our solar system will nearly overlap to form a “double planet,” an event that hasn’t been easily visible since the Middle Ages—almost 800 years ago. Today’s animated Doodle celebrates the Southern Hemisphere’s first day of summer as well as this rare double planet sighting–or “Great Conjunction”–which can be viewed from anywhere around the globe!

So what exactly is creating this celestial phenomenon? Based on their orbits, from our vantage point on Earth, Jupiter and Saturn will cross within .1 degrees of each other [a fraction of the width of the full moon], a once-in-a-lifetime rendezvous recreated in the Doodle artwork. But looks can be deceiving, as the two gas giants will actually remain a vast distance of approximately 450 million miles apart!
Make sure you look out low above the horizon tonight and take in this momentous meet-and-greet between Jupiter and Saturn–it’s sure to be out of this world!

Huge thanks to NASA for their collaboration on this Doodle

[9A]

21 December 2013


100th Anniversary of the Crossword Puzzle





See interactive version here :

https://www.google.com/logos/2013/cr...ossword13.html

We were lucky and excited to collaborate on our crossword doodle with Merl Reagle, one of the best and most well-known crossword constructors working today. Merl worked with Google engineer/crossword enthusiast, Tom Tabanao, to craft our puzzle grid and write all the clues. Merl's knowledge of the puzzle world—and perspective on crosswords in particular—is considerable. We thoroughly enjoyed the wit and humor he brought to the whole endeavor. Here are Merl's thoughts on the history of the crossword puzzle. -Ed.

First, it was a huge honor to be asked to do this. Many, many thanks to Tom Tabanao for pulling me in and shepherding the project through.


Second, it was a great opportunity to bring Arthur Wynne’s name into the public spotlight. He never made any money off the crossword, but he made tens of millions of puzzle fans around the world very happy. The fact that the first word across in the first-ever crossword was FUN is very appropriate, too. Crossword puzzles are indeed supposed to be fun—brainy fun, but fun nonetheless. The first puzzle also contained the word DOH, clued as “fiber of the gomuti palm”—but it’s also appropriate today, 100 years later, as something we would say when we don’t get a crossword clue right away. Maybe Arthur could see into the future! In any event, I am thrilled to have been a part of this centennial celebration.


Posted by Merl Reagle, Crossword Constructor

[9A]

25 Dec 2013

Salah Jahin's 83rd Birthday





Muhammad Salah Eldin Bahgat Ahmad Helmy, known as "Salah Jaheen" or "Salah Jahin" was a leading Egyptian poet, lyricist, playwright and cartoonist.

[9A]

27 Dec 2013

Johannes Kepler's 442nd Birthday






Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and natural philosopher. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonice Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. These works also provided one of the foundations for Newton's theory of universal gravitation.

[9A]

20 March 2020

Recognising Ignaz Semmelweis and handwashing




Today’s Doodle follows the official recommendation on how to properly wash your hands from the World Health Organization.


Today’s Doodle recognizes Hungarian physician Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, widely attributed as the first person to discover the medical benefits of handwashing. On this day in 1847, Semmelweis was appointed Chief Resident in the maternity clinic of the Vienna General Hospital, where he deduced and demonstrated that requiring doctors to disinfect their hands vastly reduced the transmission of disease.

Born in Buda [now Budapest], Hungary on July 1st, 1818, Ignaz Semmelweis went on to obtain a doctorate from the University of Vienna and master’s degree in midwifery. When he began his tenure at the Vienna General Hospital in the mid 19th century, a mysterious and poorly understood infection known as “childbed fever” was leading to high mortality rates in new mothers in maternity wards across Europe.

Semmelweis was dedicated to finding the cause. After a thorough investigation, he deduced that the doctors were transmitting infectious material from earlier operations and autopsies to susceptible mothers through their hands. He immediately instituted a requirement that all medical staff wash their hands in between patient examinations, and as a result, infection rates in his division began to plummet.

Unfortunately, many of Semmelweis’ peers initially viewed his ideas with skepticism. Decades later, his hygienic recommendations were validated by the widespread acceptance of the “germ theory of disease.”

Today, Semmelweis is widely remembered as “the father of infection control,” credited with revolutionizing not just obstetrics, but the medical field itself, informing generations beyond his own that handwashing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of diseases.

[9A]

20 March 2019

Gamila El Alaily’s 112th Birthday






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

Encouraged by the work of pioneering poet May Ziadah, El Alaily moved to Cairo and began contributing poetry to the Egyptian literary journal Apollo, which was launched in 1932 by Dr. Ahmed Zaki Abu Shadi. The publication was named after the Greek god of poetry, as well as truth, prophecy, healing, light, and the sun—a fitting symbol of the society’s universal vision as well as El Alaily’s Apollonian verse. After consistently contributing to the highly regarded journal, she published The Echo of my Dreams, the first of her three diwans, or volumes of poetry, in 1936. Drawing inspiration from nature, her poetry addressed the themes of love and longing as well as contemplation.

In addition to volumes of verse, El Alaily went on to write a regular column for over a quarter century in her monthly newsletter, addressing ethics, values, and ideals, including her views on the role of women in society. In this respect, as well as her prolific poetic output, she broke new ground for women in the Arab world, inspiring generations of writers to come.

Happy 112th Birthday, Gamila El Alaily!

[9A]

6 February 2017

Pramoedya Ananta Toer's 92nd Birthday






It might be said that Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s pen was his sword. Known as ‘Pramoedya’ or “Pram,’ this Indonesian writer was a proponent of human rights and freedom of expression who fought against Japanese and Dutch colonialism in his country.

Born on February 6, 1925, in a village called Blora on Java, Pram was exposed to political activism through his father, and came to journalism while working as a stenographer for a Japanese news agency. Incarcerated from 1947–1949 for being “anti-colonial,” he wrote his first novel,The Fugitive behind bars.

His novels throughout the 1950s continued to hold a mirror up to the impact of colonialism. Following a coup and suspected of ties to the Indonesian communist party, Pram was sent to the Indonesian island of Buru in 1969 where he spent over a decade as a political prisoner. When refused pen and paper, Pram turned to oral storytelling, sharing a story with his fellow prisoners about a Javanese boy named Minke who spurns Indonesia’s hierarchical society in the last years of Dutch colonization. Granted a typewriter towards the end of his term, he brought Minke’s tale to life through the four-volume Buru Quartet, his most well-known work. In fact, the books were smuggled out of Indonesia by Pram's friend, a German priest, to avoid being taken or destroyed, and have now been translated into more than 20 languages worldwide.

Today’s Doodle celebrates Pram’s birthday with an animation of the industrious novelist seated at his typewriter, hard at work.

[9A]

6 February 2011

Jan Werich's Birthday







Jan Werich was a Czech actor, playwright and writer.

His collaboration with Jiří Voskovec and Jaroslav Ježek lasted for more than 10 years. Their partnership was a platform for their numerous left-wing political satires. The trio's work took inspiration from Dada, with its love of the absurd, a reaction against bourgeois values and the horrors of World War I.

[9A]

29 May 2013

Leah Goldberg's 102nd Birthday





Leah Goldberg or Lea Goldberg was a prolific Hebrew-language poet, author, playwright, literary translator, and comparative literary researcher.

Her writings are considered classics of Israeli literature.

[9A]

29 May 2014

Norman Frederick Hetherington's 93rd Birthday




Mr. Squiggle and Friends are up to their old tricks on our homepage in Australia for Norman Frederick Hetherington’s 93rd birthday. Hetherington was a cartoonist and puppeteer, best known for creating Mr. Squiggle, Australia's longest-running children's television series.


Doodler Sophie Diao was particularly drawn to the cast of characters in Mr. Squiggle. “I loved how varied and imaginative they were, and tried to capture the same life-like quality that Norman breathed into them.”



Asked if she had a favorite, she replied,”All of them! But if I had to choose, it’d be Gus the Snail. He has a TV on his shell!”

[9A]

29 May 2020
Celebrating Margaret Lin Xavier [Lin Srivisarnvaja]





Today’s Doodle celebrates Margaret Lin Xavier, widely considered Thailand’s first female doctor, on her 122nd birthday. Years ahead of her time, the medical pioneer opened her own clinic in the 1920s to provide quality care to those in need.

Xavier was born on this day in 1898 in Bangkok, where her father held a government position in foreign affairs. When his work required a move to Europe, she joined him to pursue an education in London. She eventually earned a medical degree from the London School of Medicine for Women and then returned to Thailand in 1924.

At just 26 years old, Dr. Lin became the first Thai woman to earn a medical degree and practice in the country when she was accepted to work as an obstetrician for the Thai Red Cross, Chulalongkorn Hospital, and a Ministry of Public Health medical facility.

She soon received permission from the Thai Red Cross to open her own private clinic with her sister, Chan Xavier, a pharmacist who was also trained in England. Dr. Lin provided services in obstetrics and gynecology, and she treated for free many of those who couldn’t afford her care.

[9A]

17 September 2018

First Day of School 2018 [Bulgaria, Turkey]

[9A]

17 September 2018

Respect for the Aged Day 2018





Today Japan celebrates Respect for the Aged Day, a time for honoring elder citizens that dates back to 1947, when the small town of Taka started Toshiyori no Hi or Old Folks’ Day. The idea caught on quickly and soon the celebration spread all over Japan, becoming a national holiday in 1966. It’s now celebrated every third Monday in September.

On this day restaurants provide complimentary meals to seniors, children present gifts to older family members, and volunteers deliver free bento boxes to the homebound, while public musical performances are organized for free.

For years it was tradition for the Japanese government to give a silver sakazuki plate to anyone who lived to be 100. But too many people were turning 100 and the program became too expensive! People in Japan have the second longest lifespan in the world next to Monaco.

Respect for the Aged Day is more about thought and consideration than any gift, though. Handmade creations from a child are often gifted to older members of their family. Even phone calls or simple acts of kindness are great ways to celebrate this holiday.


Happy Respect for the Aged Day!

[9A]

17 September 2020

Mandawuy Yunupingu's 64th birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates musician, educator, and civil rights activist Mandawuy Yunupingu. In addition to starting the internationally acclaimed band Yothu Yindi, whose powerful music spread traditional Indigenous sounds around the world, Yunupingu was the first Indigenous Australian to be appointed a school principal in the country.

Mandawuy Djarrtjuntjun Yunupingu was born Tom Djambayang Bakamana Yunupingu on this day in 1956 in Yirrkala in the Northern Territory. In 1987, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in education from Deakin University, before returning to Yirrkala to teach.

Back home, Yunupingu devoted himself to his band Yothu Yindi, whose name translates to “mother and child” in the language of the Yolngu people. Committed to the concept of balance, the band included both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal musicians and blended traditional Indigenous music with modern rock and pop. Yothu Yindi released its debut album in 1989, the same year that Yunupingu became the principal of the Yirrkala Community School. Echoing his approach to music, he developed an educational philosophy that included both Aboriginal and Western teachings. Yothu Yindi went on to achieve worldwide fame with hits like “Treaty” [1991], which spent 22 weeks on the Australian music charts.

In 1992, Yunupingu was named Australian of the Year for helping to foster a deeper understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.

Happy birthday, Mandawuy Yunupingu, and thank you for sharing your music and principles with the world.

[9A]

17 September 2011

Anant Pai's 82nd Birthday





Anant Pai [17 September 1929 – 24 February 2011], popularly known as Uncle Pai, was an Indian educationalist and a pioneer in Indian comics. He is most famous as the creator of two comic book series viz. Amar Chitra Katha, which retold traditional Indian folk tales, mythological stories, and biographies of historical characters; and Tinkle, a children's anthology.

[9A]

10 February 2019

Celebrating Molière




“The more we love our friends, the less we flatter them;
It is by excusing nothing that pure love shows itself.”
—Molière


Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and work of actor and playwright Molière, who is widely considered the world’s foremost comic dramatist and perhaps the greatest artist in the history of French theater. His satirical plays fearlessly lampooned human folly and blended ballet, music, and comedy into a new genre that transformed buffoonery into witty social critique.

On this day in 1673, Molière premiered his final play, Le Malade Imaginaire [The Imaginary Invalid], a three-act comédie-ballet satirizing the medical profession. Molière starred in the title role of Argan, a severe hypochondriac who tries to convince his daughter to forsake her true love and marry his doctor’s son, so as to save on medical bills. In classic Molière fashion, the play’s dialogue pushes his characters’ vices and pretensions to the point of absurdity. Today’s Doodle provides a glimpse into Molière’s most memorable scenes from The Imaginary Invalid and other classics like School for Wives, Don Juan, and The Miser.

Baptized in Paris in 1622 as Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, Molière was the son of a successful furniture maker and upholsterer to the royal court. Rejecting his father’s offer to take up the family trade, he assumed the stage name Molière and began a lifetime in the theater during the 1640s. Enduring years of financial hardship, Molière was imprisoned for debts before his breakthrough in 1658, when his company performed for a royal audience at the Louvre.

Despite royal support, Molière’s unsparing pen offended powerful interests who sought to censor his work. His religious satire Tartuffe was first performed in 1664 and immediately banned by the court of King Louis XIV. Five years later the ban was lifted and Tartuffe came to be considered one of his masterworks.

Inspiring future generations of comedians, Molière’s spirit lives on today through the work of humorists and satirists who share a fearless commitment to skewering hypocrisy with sharp-edged insights. As Molière wrote in the preface to Tartuffe, “The duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them.”


For the first time ever, Google Arts & Culture has partnered with La Comédie Française in Paris, popularly known as La Maison de Molière [The House of Molière] to create an editorial piece following the life & work of Molière and highlighting archives such as the seat from Molière's last performance, The Malade Imaginaire [The Imaginary Invalid].

[9A]

6 February 2019

Waitangi Day 2019





Waitangi Day is the national day of New Zealand, commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. In honour of Waitangi Day, today’s Doodle celebrates the unique native flora of the island nation.

Geographically isolated in the South Pacific Ocean, New Zealand has evolved a diverse variety of plant life. Some 80 percent of the islands’ fern, flower, and tree species are native to the country and, most can be found nowhere else in the world.

The silver fern has long been a symbol of New Zealand’s identity, appearing on the uniforms of national sports teams as well as military troops. To Māori, it has been a symbol of strength and resilience.. Known to grow up to 10 meters in height, the underside of the silver fern’s leaves reflects moonlight, making it helpful when following forest trails at night.

New Zealand’s unofficial national flower, the bright yellow blossoms of the Kōwhai tree, appear near the end of winter. The tree’s bark is renowned for its medicinal properties, useful for treating everything from dandruff to seal bites.

The Pōhutukawa’s crimson flowers bloom around the holiday season, leading to the name “New Zealand Christmas Tree.” The plant also figures prominently in Māori legends as a bridge between the living and the spirit world. Aside from decorating homes and churches, the Pōhutukawa’s nectar can be used to make delicious honey and treat sore throats.


Happy Waitangi Day 2019!​

[9A]

6 February 2012

François Truffaut's 80th Birthday





François Roland Truffaut was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry, having worked on over 25 films.

Truffaut's film The 400 Blows is a defining film of the French New Wave movement, and has four sequels, Antoine et Colette, Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board, and Love on the Run, made between 1958 and 1979. Truffaut's 1973 film Day for Night earned him critical acclaim and several accolades, including the BAFTA Award for Best Film and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

His other notable films include Shoot the Piano Player [1960], Jules and Jim [1962], The Soft Skin [1964], The Wild Child [1970], Two English Girls [1971], The Last Metro [1980], and The Woman Next Door [1981]. He is also known for his supporting role in the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind [1977].

Truffaut also wrote the notable book Hitchcock/Truffaut [1966], which detailed his interviews with film director Alfred Hitchcock during the 1960s.

[9A]

6 February 2021

Celebrating the Vernadsky Research Base





What do magnetometers, snowmobiles, and penguins all have in common? Each can be found in full-swing at the Ukrainian Akademik Vernadsky Research Base, an Antarctic scientific center widely acclaimed for its climate change research studies. Today’s Doodle celebrates this historic station, which officially transferred from British to Ukrainian control on this day in 1996.

Located on the tiny island of Galindez in the Antarctic Circle, the Vernadsky station is the direct successor to the British Faraday base, which was first established as a meteorological observatory in 1947. Today, the Vernadsky station is operated by a rotating staff of a dozen winterers. For about ten months at a time, each winterer endures extreme isolation [[there isn’t a town within 1,000 nautical miles!) and sub-zero temperatures, all in the name of scientific progress. When they aren’t busy preparing for expeditions into the Antarctic wilderness, the base’s personnel work year-round to maintain the station and conduct research on everything from penguin populations to the atmospheric effects of ultraviolet radiation.

Cheers to everyone who keeps their cool at the Vernadsky base, thank you for helping to provide a better understanding of our changing planet!


The Research Team at the Ukrainian Akademik Vernadsky Research Base

[9A]

6 February 2020

María Teresa Vera's 125th birthday




Today’s Doodle honors the life and work of Cuban singer and guitarist María Teresa Vera, who also composed the nation’s rural folk song style, trova. Known as the Grande Dame of Cuban Music, she is widely regarded as one of the country’s most influential musicians.

Born on this day in 1895 in Guanajay, Cuba, Vera picked up the guitar at a young age after becoming a part of a bohemian community of trova musicians. Known as “troubadours,” the wandering street entertainers taught Vera how to compose trova songs and perform the genre’s poetic lyrical vocals together with the guitar. In 1911, Vera performed her first concert in Havana‘s Politeama Grande theater.

One of the first female voices of trova, Vera formed several successful duos and bands to perform original compositions along with her interpretations of other Cuban styles. Some of her songs became regular features on Havana’s radio stations, and her music helped to clear the path for the rise of popular Cuban music around the world in the 1930s and 40s. Throughout her career, she recorded close to two hundred songs, but those close to her say she could play more than a thousand.

Her lifetime accomplishments in music have a lasting impact and inspired a tribute album, “A María Teresa Vera” [“For María Teresa Vera”], a collection of songs recorded to celebrate her 100th birthday.

[9A]

6 February 2021

Waitangi Day 2021





On this day in 1840, Māori chiefs joined together with representatives of the British Crown to sign the Te Tiriti o Waitangi [Treaty of Waitangi], an agreement intended to bring unity to Aotearoa New Zealand. Today’s Doodle recognizes the anniversary of this historic treaty signing, now acknowledged annually as Waitangi Day.

On the centennial anniversary of the treaty’s signing, the Māori tribes contributed their unique carving styles to build Te Whare Rūnanga [the House of Assembly], the meeting house depicted in today’s Doodle artwork. The distinct carvings and intricate tukutuku panels in the Whare design represent Māori throughout Aotearoa as it brings together the stories and styles of all Iwi [tribes], showcasing a unique gallery of Māori art, as well as an example of Māori social and cultural life.

Now recognized as one of the nation’s most significant cultural heritage sites, Te Whare Rūnanga stands as a place to bring people together for important hui [meetings] and represents the unification of Māori and all New Zealanders. At dawn today, a ceremony inside Te Whare Rūnanga kicks off New Zealand’s annual Waitangi Festival, a vibrant celebration that includes Māori cultural performances and more.

Happy Waitangi Day, New Zealand!

[9A]

27 October 2019

Sylvia Plath's 87th Birthday





“How she longed for winter then! –
Scrupulously austere in its order
Of white and black
Ice and rock, each sentiment in border,
And heart’s frosty discipline
Exact as a snowflake.”

—Sylvia Plath, “Spinster”

Today’s Doodle celebrates the acclaimed American writer Sylvia Plath, whose painfully honest poetry and prose gave voice to the author’s innermost emotions in ways that touched generations of readers. “It is as if my life were magically run by two electric currents: joyous positive and despairing negative,” wrote Plath, whose work helped many understand mental illness. “Whichever is running at the moment dominates my life, floods it.”

Born in Boston on this day in 1932, Sylvia Plath grew up with her father, a strict German and biology teacher specializing in the study of bees. Showing an early talent for writing, Plath was published in national publications, won awards, worked as an editor, and graduated from Smith College with honors—all despite suffering a mental breakdown. Her works often used heavy imagery and metaphors, set amongst scenes of winter and frost, as shown in today's Doodle.

After college, Plath earned a Fulbright scholarship and traveled to England. In 1982, she won a Pulitzer Prize posthumously. While her children’s book, The It-Doesn’t-Matter-Suit, shows a lighter side of her creativity, her poems were described by the novelist Joyce Carol Oates as reading “as if they’ve been chiseled, with a fine surgical instrument, out of arctic ice.”

[9A]

6 September 2017

Celebrating British Sign Language and the Braidwood Academy




As millions of children head back to school for the start of term, today we celebrate one educational institution in particular: the Braidwood Academy. Opened in 1760 in Edinburgh, Braidwood is considered the UK’s first school for deaf children and the first to include sign language in education.
Thomas Braidwood, the school’s founder, had just one deaf student when the school first opened. It turned out that one student was all it took – by 1780, the number had increased to 20 students as Braidwood found success in his teaching methods.

In addition to helping lay the groundwork for deaf education in Great Britain, Braidwood’s work contributed significantly to the development of British Sign Language [BSL]. He relied on teaching communication through natural gestures, which differed from the focus on speech and lip-reading elsewhere in Europe. His form of sign language ultimately set the standards for BSL as it is known today.

Today’s Doodle features a group of schoolchildren signing the letters below them. It is a celebration of the Braidwood Academy’s work but also of the importance of education for all students with their diversity of needs. Check out the video below to learn how to sign the alphabet using British Sign Language.

[9A]

6 September 2013

Jane Addams' 153rd Birthday




Laura Jane Addams [September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935] was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage in the United States and advocated for world peace. She co-founded Chicago's Hull House, one of America's most famous settlement houses. In 1910, Addams was awarded an honorary master of arts degree from Yale University, becoming the first woman to receive an honorary degree from the school^] In 1920, she was a co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU].

In 1931, she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States. She was a radical pragmatist and the first woman "public philosopher" in the United States. When Addams died in 1935, she was the best-known female public figure in the United States.

In the Progressive Era, when presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson identified themselves as reformers and social activists, Addams was one of the most prominent reformers. She helped America address and focus on issues that were of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, local public health, and world peace. In her essay "Utilization of Women in City Government," Addams noted the connection between the workings of government and the household, stating that many departments of government, such as sanitation and the schooling of children, could be traced back to traditional women's roles in the private sphere. Thus, these were matters of which women would have more knowledge than men, so women needed the vote to best voice their opinions. She said that if women were to be responsible for cleaning up their communities and making them better places to live, they needed to be able to vote to do so effectively. Addams became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered to uplift their communities.

[9A]

6 September 2011

Shinichi Hoshi's 85th Birthday




Shinichi Hoshi was a Japanese novelist and science fiction writer best known for his "short-short" science fiction stories, often no more than three or four pages in length, of which he wrote over 1000. He also wrote mysteries and won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Mōsō Ginkō [Delusion Bank] in 1968.

One of his short stories, "Bokko-chan" ["Miss Bokko"], was translated into English and published in Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in June 1963. His books translated into English include There Was a Knock, a collection of 15 stories, and The Spiteful Planet and Other Stories.