Google doodles

[9A]

Jan 16, 2014
Dian Fossey's 82nd Birthday



​
Dian Fossey was an American primatologist and conservationist known for undertaking an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups from 1966 until her 1985 murder.

She studied them daily in the mountain forests of Rwanda, initially encouraged to work there by paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey. Gorillas in the Mist, a book published two years before her death, is Fossey's account of her scientific study of the gorillas at Karisoke Research Center and prior career. It was adapted into a 1988 film of the same name.

After her death, Fossey's Digit Fund in the US was renamed the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.^[57] The Karisoke Research Center is operated by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, and continues the daily gorilla monitoring and protection that she started.

breaking down the google letters
The big 'g' is based on the first time Fossey was flown over the Virunga mountains. At the time, there were only something like 200 mountain gorillas, all living in one mountain range, so this image juxtaposes the idea of a wide-open space with what is actually a very limited area for an entire species.

The double 'o's show the family structure of the gorillas, which was something Fossey really focused on: The family dynamic, how the group interacted with each other ... I really wanted to build that sense of family, so here you see juvenile gorillas, mature females, one with infant, and a silverback male."

The lowercase 'g' is based on the first time she actually saw a mountain gorilla face-to-face – she could barely see it peering through the foliage. Although the moment wasn't an encounter with Digit, the gorilla that Fossey's most famously known for being attached to – I chose to make the gorilla resemble him, a nod to one of her dearest friends.

The 'l' is the moment where a gorilla reached out and touched her hair. It may not have been the first or only moment of contact – she writes in the book about how one actually snatched her journal away at one point – but it's an iconic moment captured on film and demonstrates her effectiveness in "habituating" with mountain gorillas. That is, being accepted into their group and to be able to roam among them.

I wanted to leave the 'e' a little more spacious and open-ended, because first of all, there's already a lot going on in the illustration, but also because there's a lot of ambiguity left in the tale of the mountain gorilla. Their future at best continues to be uncertain. So you can look at it from a place of hope or worry. If 'e' were to stand for something, it could stand for 'endangered,' or it could stand for 'enduring.' It's up to us to place the right 'E' in the right place.

[9A]

Jan 9, 2014
Haim Nachman Bialik's 141st Birthday [[born 1873)



Hayim Nahman Bialik , also Chaim or Haim, was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew but also in Yiddish. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poetry. He was part of the vanguard of Jewish thinkers who gave voice to the breath of new life in Jewish life. Being a noted essayist and story-teller, Bialik also translated major works from European languages. Although he died before Israel became a state, Bialik ultimately came to be recognized as Israel's national poet.

[9A]

Dec 9, 2013
Grace Hopper's 107th Birthday



Grace Brewster Murray Hopper was an American computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral. One of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, she was a pioneer of computer programming who invented one of the first linkers. Hopper was the first to devise the theory of machine-independent programming languages, and the FLOW-MATIC programming language she created using this theory was later extended to create COBOL, an early high-level programming language still in use today.

[9A]

Nov 23, 2013
Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary




https://www.google.com/doodles/docto...th-anniversary [[animated game)


The Doctor Who doodle started life as a request from a huge fan at Google. It seemed daunting- 11 Doctor's, 50 years of adventures, countless enemies and time travel!

But we loved the idea of science fiction, technology and fun coming together, so we set about creating a multiple level game. The game was always a simple premise- those dastardly Daleks have stolen the Google letters and we need Doctor Who to retrieve them.

Artists don't make games, programmers do. I provided the designs and various pieces of animation but without the engineers the game would only exist in another dimension! I was fortunate to work alongside people that genuinely cared:

Engineering Gurus - Rui Lopes, Corrie Scalisi, Mark Ivey
Additional support - Doug Simpkinson, Jonathan Shneier
All things D of 3 - Leon Hong
Deity of rain, lava & lightning - Kevin Laughlin
Additional game ideas - Gregory Capuano
Sounds - The BBC, Tom Tabanao, Manuel Clement and Cody!
Creative consultant - Chris Dibona
User testing - Jennifer Zamora

We thank the BBC for trusting us and also helping us whenever needed. So what are you waiting for?! Jump in your TARDIS [[Time and relative "doodle" in space) and become the fastest time lord in the universe!

[9A]

November 23, 2010
134th Birthday of Manuel de Falla





Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century. He has a claim to being Spain's greatest composer of the 20th century, although the number of pieces he composed was relatively modest.

[9A]

November 22, 2017
Vladimir Dal’s 216th Birthday



https://www.google.com/doodles/vladi...216th-birthday [[interactive)


Vladimir Dal's life's work is known throughout Russia, though his name may not always be. The writer and lexicographer [[scholar of words) traveled the country to catalog the stories and phrases that defined Russian culture.

When Dal began his journey to capture Russia's rich culture and language, he had already accomplished much in his life: first in the Russian Navy, then as a doctor and a war hero, and finally as a writer and publisher of natural sciences textbooks.

While traveling in the countryside studying plants and animals, Dal discovered his passion for writing and documenting the many facets of Russia. He spoke to many people, gathered their verbal history and turns of phrases, and soon published his first book of fairytales. He continued to visit people in their homes and recorded everything they could tell him about Russian tradition. Folklore, music, and crafts formed the base of this knowledge, but the thread tying it all together was the richness of the Russian language and its dialects.

Dal eventually compiled his work into the ambitious Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, containing 200,000 Russian words and 30,000 Russian sayings. The work was reprinted in new editions several times over the next century, a testament to its status as a foundational and accessible book for all of Russia.

Today's slideshow Doodle celebrates Dal’s tireless efforts roaming the countryside and interviewing hundreds to discover the thread of language that binds Russia together. In the first slide, we travel with Dal as he leaves the city on his journey to explore Russia's traditions firsthand. We visit a family with Dal in the second slide -- can you spot the fairytale fox in the house? Slide 3 brings us with Dal to a marketplace along with singers and puppets, a sample of what he saw during his time on the road. The dictionary Dal put together, illustrated in Slide 4, housed the many details Dal learned about in his travels.

[9A]

October 6, 2019
Xuân Quỳnh's 77th Birthday





“Love’s wave does not find itself until it reaches the sea,” wrote Vietnamese poet Xuân Quỳnh in her beloved poem "Sóng" [[Waves). Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Ho Chi Minh City-based guest artists Quang & Lien, celebrates the award-winning writer who’s now considered one of her country’s most important 20th-century poets.

Born in the village of La Khe [[now Ha Dong province) on this day in 1942, Nguyễn Thị Xuân Quỳnh was raised by her grandmother and showed a talent for dance. Recruited by the Central Art Troupe in her early teens, she was trained as a dancer and traveled the world to perform. During the 1960s she began pursuing her talent for writing, studying with the Writers’ Association. She worked with the weekly arts newspaper Văn nghệ, the official newspaper of the Hanoi Women’s Union Phụ Nữ Việt Nam, and the publishing house Tác Phẩm Mới.

In poems like “Thuyền và Biển” [[Boat and Sea) and “Thơ Tình Cuối Mùa Thu” [[Love Song for End of Autumn), Xuân Quỳnh's language evokes a depth of feeling and romantic yearning. She also wrote children’s poetry, collected in the book Bầu trời trong quả trứng [[The sky in an egg). Some of her works have been set to music, and her 1967 poem “Waves” was so influential that it was taught in Vietnamese schools. She married distinguished poet and playwright Lưu Quang Vũ. In 2017 the Vietnamese government awarded Xuân Quỳnh the Hồ Chí Minh Prize, the country’s highest artistic honor.

[9A]

Oct 2, 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 atmosph ere 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]

Oct 2, 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.”

[9A]

Sep 30, 2019
Harry Jerome’s 79th Birthday





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

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

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

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

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

[9A]

Sep 22, 2019
Junko Tabei’s 80th Birthday






“Do not give up,” said Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei, when asked for advice. “Keep on your quest.”

Born on this day in 1939, Tabei was raised in Miharu, a small town in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture. She discovered the joy of climbing at age 10 during a class trip to Mount Nasu. Though she was the first woman to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, Tabei once said she preferred to be remembered as the 36th person to climb the world’s highest mountain peak.

“I did not intend to be the first woman on Everest,” she explained. Still, it's undeniable that the 4-foot-9 [[144.8 centimeter) mother of two made history in 1969 when she founded Japan’s first Ladies Climbing Club, defying the traditional notion that women should stay at home and clean the house.

The Everest expedition started in the spring of 1975 with 15 climbers and 6 sherpas. At an elevation of 9,000 feet [[2,743.2 meters), their camp was buried by an avalanche. After 3 days of recovery, Tabei continued with the climb, reaching the summit on May 16, 1975, accompanied only by the sherpa Ang Tshering.

After returning from the summit, she received congratulations from Japan’s Emperor, Crown Prince, and Princess, among others. “It took two months until I could settle at home,” she recalled. “My three-year-old daughter was scared of all the cameras."

Excited more by mountain climbing than media attention, Tabei continued to scale new heights, including the “seven summits”—the highest peaks on each continent—as depicted in today’s Doodle. Even when battling illness, she continued climbing.

Tabei eventually reached mountaintops in 76 different countries.

[9A]

Hi Friends.

By now you can probably tell that I enjoy finding and
sharing Google Doodles. At first I just wanted to post music-
related Doodles, but then really enjoyed some of the other graphics,
so I broadened the scope to anything that is colorful or interesting.

Some of the information has come from Wikipedia, especially on
Google’s earlier Doodles. I know there is way too much detail
for the average person, but maybe somebody relates to it.
You could appear on "Jeopardy" one day.

The timing of the Doodle’s origin date is all over the place --
often not close to the holiday or anniversary it represents. I try
to use appropriate Doodles related to certain seasons. That
can be tricky, since some relate to hemispheres and opposite
times for summer or winter.

Several Doodles related to the World Cup and its many days, as well
as other sports, grandparents day, old people’s day or children’s
day.

I try not to repeat old postings, but it’s getting hard to keep track
lately. Thanks for encouraging my Google Doodle obsession.

Nina [[9a) Mallin

[9A]

Sep 19, 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.

[9A]

Sep 15, 2019
Celebrating Ynés Mexía





In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, today’s Doodle celebrates Mexican-American botanist and explorer Ynes Mexía, who braved earthquakes, bogs, and poisonous berries to reach a remote volcano on the border of Colombia and Ecuador—all for the sake of botanical discoveries. “We started on the long journey back,” she wrote after collecting samples of the rare wax palm, “very tired, very hot, very dirty, but very happy.”

On this day in 1925, Mexía embarked on her first plant collection trip, travelling with a group from Stanford University to Sinaloa, Mexico in search of rare botanical species. The 55-year-old had joined the local Sierra Club just a few years earlier, enrolling in special classes at UC Berkeley soon after. Despite falling off a cliff and fracturing her hand and some ribs, Mexía brought home around 500 specimens—50 of them previously undiscovered.

Born in Washington D.C. in 1870 as a daughter to a Mexican diplomat, Mexía moved around a lot before becoming a social worker in California and falling in love with nature. At age 51, she began studying botany. After her inaugural plant discovery trip in 1925, Mexía continued journeying to uncover more species throughout Mexico, many of which were then named after her. The first was a flowering plant from the daisy family named Zexmenia mexiae in 1928, now referred to as Lasianthaea macrocephala.

Although she never completed her degree, Mexía became one of the most celebrated collectors of botanical specimens in history, gathering some 150,000 specimens throughout her career. She went on to travel the world while researching, writing, and lecturing widely.

More than 90 years after she started, scientists are still studying Mexía’s samples, which are now housed in a number of major institutions around the world.

[9A]

August 31, 2020
Hari Merdeka 2020

​



Today’s Doodle celebrates Malaysia’s Independence Day, known in Malay asHari Merdeka, in honor of 63 years of Malaysian autonomy. On this day in 1957, the nation then known as the Federation of Malaya officially gained its sovereignty from British rule.

This holiday, also called Hari Kebangsaan or National Day, is not to be confused with Malaysia Day, which commemorates the date in 1963 when the name Malaysia was officially adopted. Across the Malay Peninsula, the nation's people rejoices in their freedom and independence.

Featured in the Doodle artwork is the orangutan, Asia’s only great ape, which in Malaysia is found in the rainforest of Borneo. These tree-dwelling primates share almost 97% of their genes with Homo sapiens, so they’re considered one of the humans’ closest relatives. This special relationship is reflected in the name “orangutan,” which derives from Malay and translates to “person of the forest.”

[9A]

March 21, 2018
Nowruz 2018





A buzzing bee and a big-eyed bug greet each other in a forest of fresh green leaves and blooming flowers. Spring has officially arrived.

In a tradition dating back 3000 years, the exact moment that the sun crosses the equator marks the start of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. After weeks of spring cleaning, families come together to feast and wish each other good luck for the dawning new year.

While music and sports are a key part of the weeklong festivities in Azerbaijan, our friends in Uzbekistan enjoy a traditional meal of ‘sumalyak’, signifying life, abundance and warmth. In Kyrgyzstan, everyone turns out for public concerts as the air hums with the joyful rhythm of the traditional ‘komuz'. And in Iran, people look for the closest source of fresh flowing water to set afloat a sabzeh [[fresh grass or sprouts), thus bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new.

[9A]

May 21, 2019
Willem Einthoven’s 159th Birthday


​


Today’s Doodle celebrates the birth of Willem Einthoven, the Nobel Prize-winning Dutch physiologist who pioneered electrocardiography—a quick, painless, and effective method of studying the rhythms of the heart and diagnosing cardiovascular disease.

Born on the island of Java [[now Indonesia) on this day in 1860, Einthoven grew up aspiring to follow in the footsteps of his father who had been both a doctor and military medical officer. By 1886 he had become a professor of physiology at the University of Leiden, focusing on optics, respiration, and the heart.

In 1889, Einthoven attended the First International Congress of Physiologists, where he watched a demonstration of a device known as the “Lippmann capillary electrometer” recording the electrical activity of the human heart. After analyzing the results, Einthoven recognized the need for a more accurate device, and began work on his string galvanometer, based on the technology used to amplify signals along underwater cables.

Balancing a fine string of quartz coated in silver between the two poles of a magnet, Einthoven’s invention precisely measured variations in electrical current. In 1901 he announced the first version of the string galvanometer, and soon published the world’s first electrocardiogram or ECG, a printed record of a human heartbeat. Einthoven studied the ECG patterns, identifying five “deflections” of normal heart function, learning how to interpret deviations that signal circulatory problems and heart disease.

Einthoven’s groundbreaking research won him the 1924 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Today, ECG machines are still used in hospitals all over the world, and while the technology has evolved greatly, they still work according to the same basic principles and techniques developed by Einthoven, who is now remembered as the father of modern electrocardiography.

[9A]

Mar 12, 2018
Sir William Henry Perkin’s 180th Birthday





Born in England on March 12th, 1838, chemist Sir William Henry Perkin accidentally discovered “mauveine,” the first synthetic dye.

As an 18-year-old laboratory assistant, Perkin was cleaning out dark muck from a beaker after a failed experiment, when he noticed that the substance left a vivid purple stain when diluted with alcohol. Following his discovery, he focused on the patenting, manufacturing, and commercialization of this purple dye, which he named “mauveine.”

Perkin's timing was remarkable as the textile industry was at a high. Purple clothing was very much in style, but prohibitively expensive for most, not to mention quick to fade. Perkin’s strong and inexpensively produced mauveine finally made this once-exclusive color readily accessible, igniting a violet fashion frenzy - as seen in today’s Doodle by UK-based illustrator Sonny Ross. Even Queen Victoria herself wore a mauveine-dyed gown to the Royal Exhibition of 1862!

Wealthy and successful from his stint in manufacturing, Perkin eventually returned to laboratory research. He was even knighted in 1906, on the 50th anniversary of his serendipitous discovery.

[9A]

Apr 3, 2013
Henry van de Velde's 150th Birthday




Henry Clemens van de Velde was a Belgian painter, architect, interior designer, and art theorist. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, he is considered one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium. He worked in Paris with Samuel Bing, the founder of the first gallery of Art Nouveau in Paris. Van de Velde spent the most important part of his career in Germany and became a major figure in the German Jugendstil. He had a decisive influence on German architecture and design at the beginning of the 20th century.

[9A]

Mar 6, 2018
Gabriel García Márquez’s 91st Birthday





Deep in the Amazonian jungle, through the lush green canopy and multi-hued vibrance of the hot and humid rainforest, look carefully and you might catch a glimpse of a city of mirrors; a city separated from the world by an expanse of water and yet reflecting everything in and about it; a city that is home to the Buendia family and the site of strange otherworldly happenings. Here, little fish made of pure gold dazzle the eye; large yellow butterflies flit through the flowers; a train chugs along once in a blue moon; and the only visitors are the all-knowing, mysterious gypsies who come bearing strange tales.

Depicted in today's Doodle is this magical city of Macondo, brought to life by the Colombian author, journalist, and Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez [[affectionately known as Gabo throughout Latin America) in his book, One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Born in Aracataca, Colombia, Gabo is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. In his long literary career, he penned over 25 books, transporting readers into a world of magical realism where they find themselves in the lush, humid tropics — moldering into solitude or being slowly consumed by the throes of passion.

Gabo’s keen sense of political activism and courage also allowed him to author a number of non-fictional works that eloquently document the times that he lived in, News of a Kidnapping being among the most famous of these.

[9A]

Jun 21, 2002
La Fête de la Musique 2002



The Fête de la musique, also known in English as Music Day, Make Music Day or World Music Day, is an annual music celebration that takes place on 21 June. On Music Day the citizens of a city or country are allowed and urged to play music outside in their neighborhoods or in public spaces and parks. Free concerts are also organized, where musicians play for fun and not for payment.

Over 130 countries participate in Fête de la musique and over 1,000 cities participate across the world. In the United States alone, there are 82 cities participating.

The goal of Fête de la Musique, or Make Music Day, is to provide thousands of free concerts throughout the day. Public areas are brimming with live music and participatory music making opportunities.

[9A]

April 21, 2008
Earth Day 2008


Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, it now includes events coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network in more than 193 countries.

[9A]

October 16, 2008
Queen Elizabeth II Visits Google London

[9A]

Oct 13, 2008
Paddington Bear's 50th Birthday


Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children's book A Bear Called Paddington and has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond and illustrated by Peggy Fortnum and other artists.

[9A]

Sep 29, 2008
Miguel de Cervantes' Birthday



Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language, and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his novel Don Quixote, a work often cited as both the first modern novel and one of the pinnacles of world literature.

[9A]

Feb 25, 2017
Ida Lewis’ 175th Birthday



http://www.google.com/doodles/ida-lewis-175th-birthday [[interactive)


It wasn’t until perhaps my fourth or fifth visit to the littlest state of Rhode Island that I spotted the unassuming lighthouse nestled on a tiny island of its own in Newport’s harbor. Usually the title “lighthouse keeper” conjures images of men in beards wearing stiff blue coats, so I was absolutely delighted to learn that Rhode Island’s most famous lighthouse keeper was Idawalley Zorada Lewis.

Declared “America’s Bravest Woman” before her tenure was through, Ida had been hailed as Newport’s best swimmer and one of its strongest rowers ever since taking over for her ill father as as guardian of the harbor. She made her first save at twelve and didn’t stop until the age of sixty-three.

There are no definitive records of Ida’s rescues and she was too modest to recount them herself, though some were documented in local newspapers and at least one garnered national attention; in February of 1881 she ventured into the bitter winter winds to rescue two soldiers who had fallen through the ice while traveling on foot. This act of bravery caught the attention of President Grant who shortly thereafter awarded her the prestigious Gold Lifesaving Medal. Eleven years after her death, the Rhode Island legislature voted to rename her former home, Lime Rock Lighthouse, as Ida Lewis Lighthouse in her honor.

It's important to remember that being a lighthouse keeper required unwavering courage, sheer physical strength, constant diligence, and a willingness to put one's own life on the line. Ida was so dedicated that supposedly she would rush into inclement weather without shoes or coat so as not a waste a single second. Her life and legacy were not only an honor to research and illustrate, but truly a source of inspiration.

[9A]

May 19, 2018
Royal Wedding 2018




The picturesque and medieval town of Windsor is steeped in history, and today it adds another joyous occasion to its book of lore — the wedding of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle.

If your invitation was lost in the mail, join the thousands of merrymaking royal fans who are already lining up to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds as they proceed through this quaint English town in a horse-drawn carriage, after exchanging their vows at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Today’s Doodle depicts the newlyweds waving to well-wishers, who have gathered to join in the celebrations along the Long Walk.

[9A]

Oct 24, 2010
Menino Maluquinho's Birthday





O Menino Maluquinho [[The Nutty Boy) is a comic book and comic strip series created by Brazilian writer and cartoonist Ziraldo. It was based on the eponymous children's book published in 1980 which for many years was regarded as a classic of children's literature in Brazil, getting spun off into movies, plays and TV series. The comic books were published by Abril and Globo from 1989 until 2007. It was Ziraldo's second series of comic books, after "Turma do Pererê".

The main character, "Maluquinho" is a cheerful and optimistic 10-year-old boy who wears a pan on his head like a hat. [[his trademark) Most of the stories revolve around the misadventures of Maluquinho and his friends with a light humour.

[9A]

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



Juan de la Cierva y Codorníu was a Spanish aeronautical inventor and scientist, engineer of roads, channels and ports and aviator . He invented the autogyro , the forerunner of the current helicopter .

[9A]

Sep 12, 2010
Discovery of Grotte de Lascaux



Lascaux is a complex of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of the cave. The paintings represent primarily large animals, typical local contemporary fauna that correspond with the fossil record of the Upper Paleolithic in the area. They are the combined effort of many generations and, with continued debate, the age of the paintings is now usually estimated at around 17,000 years [[early Magdalenian). Lascaux was inducted into the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1979, as an element of the Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley.

[9A]

Jun 22, 2010
Konrad Zuse's 100th Birthday




Konrad Zuse was a German civil engineer, pioneering computer scientist, inventor and businessman. His greatest achievement was the world's first programmable computer; the functional program-controlled Turing-complete Z3 became operational in May 1941. Thanks to this machine and its predecessors, Zuse has often been regarded as the inventor of the modern computer.

[9A]

Jun 5, 2010
Dennis Gabor´s 110th birthday - Holography support courtesy of the Departments of Electrical Engineer ing and Applied Physics at Stanford University






Dennis Gabor was a Hungarian-British electrical engineer and physicist, most notable for inventing holography, for which he later received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Gábor Dénes College in Budapest, Hungary, is named after him in honor of his works.

[9A]

May 21, 2010
30th Anniversary of PAC-MAN




https://www.google.com/doodles/30th-...ary-of-pac-man [[interactive)


During the heyday of space shooters, Tōru Iwatani’s creation stood out as one of the first video games aimed at a broader audience, with a cute story of pizza-shaped character gobbling dots in a maze, colorful [[literally!) characters, friendly design, very little violence and everlasting fun.

Today, on PAC-MAN’s 30th birthday, you can rediscover some of your 8-bit memories—or meet PAC-MAN for the first time—through our first-ever playable Google doodle. To play the game, go to google.com during the next 48 hours [[because it’s too cool to keep for just one day) and either press the “Insert Coin” button or just wait for a few seconds.

[9A]

May 21, 2002
Dilbert Google Doodle 2002 - 2





Dilbert is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. The strip is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office featuring engineer Dilbert as the title character. The strip has spawned dozens of books, an animated television series, a video game, and hundreds of Dilbert-themed merchandise items. Dilbert Future and The Joy of Work are among the most read books in the series. Adams received the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award in 1997 and the Newspaper Comic Strip Award in the same year for his work on the strip. Dilbert appears online and as of 2013 was published daily in 2,000 newspapers in 65 countries and 25 languages.

[9A]

Apr 23, 2002
St. George Day 2002




Saint George, also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is accepted as a saint in Christianity. According to traditional rumors, he was a soldier in the Roman army. His parents were Christians of Greek origin. His father, Gerontius, was a Cappadocian serving in the Roman army. His mother, Polychronia, was a Christian from the city of Lod in Palestine. Saint George was a soldier of Cappadocian Greek origins, member of the Praetorian Guard for Roman emperor Diocletian, who was sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith. He became one of the most venerated saints and megalomartyrs in Christianity, and he has been especially venerated as a military saint since the Crusades.

[9A]

Mar 6, 2002
Piet Mondrian's 130th Birthday



Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the great artists of the 20th century. He is known for being one of the pioneers of 20th-century abstract art, as he changed his artistic direction from figurative painting to an increasingly abstract style, until he reached a point where his artistic vocabulary was reduced to simple geometric elements

[9A]

Dec 9, 2001
Google celebrates the Nobel Prize Centennial Award Ceremony



The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, are awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”.

Nobel Prizes are awarded in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace [[Nobel characterized the Peace Prize as "to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses"). Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards available in their respective fields.

While it is not one of the original Nobel Prizes, which were established by Alfred Nobel's will in 1895,it is commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics. The prize was established in 1968 by a donation from Sweden's central bank Sveriges Riksbank to the Nobel Foundation to commemorate the bank's 300th anniversary.

[9A]

Mar 14, 2010
Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente's Birthday




Félix Samuel Rodríguez de la Fuente [[March 14, 1928 – March 14, 1980) was a Spanish naturalist and broadcaster. He is best known for the highly successful and influential TV series, El Hombre y la Tierra [[1974–1980). A graduate in medicine and self-taught in biology, he was a multifaceted charismatic figure whose influence has endured despite the passing years.

He died in Alaska the day he turned 52, while shooting a documentary about the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, when the Cessna 185 aircraft carrying him along with two Spanish cameramen and the American pilot crashed, killing all on board. After his death, Spanish singing duet Enrique y Ana recorded the single “Amigo Felix” [[Our Friend Felix) to pay homage to Rodriguez, the song is about all the members of the Animal Kingdom grieving his death, as a representation of his love for animals and all Nature.

[9A]

Apr 29, 2010
225th Birthday of Karl Drais



Drais was a prolific inventor, who invented the Laufmaschine [["running machine"), also later called the velocipede, draisine [[English) or draisienne [[French), also nicknamed the hobby horse or dandy horse. This was his most popular and widely recognized invention. It incorporated the two-wheeler principle that is basic to the bicycle and motorcycle and was the beginning of mechanized personal transport. This was the earliest form of a bicycle, without pedals. His first reported ride from Mannheim to the "Schwetzinger Relaishaus" [[a coaching inn, located in "Rheinau", today a district of Mannheim) took place on 12 June 1817 using Baden's best road. Karl rode his bike; it was a distance of about 7 kilometres [[4.3 mi). The round trip took him a little more than an hour, but may be seen as the big bang for horseless transport. However, after marketing the velocipede, it became apparent that roads were so rutted by carriages that it was hard to balance on the machine for long, so velocipede riders took to the pavements and moved far too quickly, endangering pedestrians. Consequently, authorities in Germany, Great Britain, the United States, and even Calcutta banned its use, which ended its vogue for decades.

Drais also invented the earliest typewriter with a keyboard [[1821). He later developed an early stenograph machine which used 16 characters [[1827), a device to record piano music on paper [[1812), the first meat grinder, and a wood-saving cooker including the earliest hay chest. He also invented two four-wheeled human powered vehicles [[1813/1814), the second of which he presented in Vienna to the congress carving up Europe after Napoleon's defeat. In 1842, he developed a foot-driven human powered railway vehicle whose name "draisine" is used even today for railway handcars.

[9A]

May 4, 2010
Umm Kalthum's Birthday



Umm Kulthum was an Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title Kawkab al-Sharq [[كوكب الشرق, 'Planet of the East'). Umm Kulthum was known for her vocal ability and unique style. She sold over 80 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling Middle Eastern singers of all time.

She is considered a national icon in her native Egypt; she has been dubbed "The voice of Egypt"^[ and "Egypt's fourth pyramid".

[9A]

May 29, 2010
John Harsányi's Birthday




John Charles Harsanyiwas a Hungarian-American Nobel Prize laureate economist.

He is best known for his contributions to the study of game theory and its application to economics, specifically for his developing the highly innovative analysis of games of incomplete information, so-called Bayesian games. He also made important contributions to the use of game theory and economic reasoning in political and moral philosophy as well as contributing to the study of equilibrium selection. For his work, he was a co-recipient along with John Nash and Reinhard Selten of the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

[9A]

May 29, 2010
Isaac Albeniz's 150th Birthday




Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-Romantic era who also had a significant influence on his contemporaries and younger composers. He is best known for his piano works based on Spanish folk music idioms.

[9A]

May 29, 2014
Norman Frederick Hetherington's 93rd Birthday



Norman Frederick Hetherington was an Australian artist, teacher, cartoonist [[known as "Heth"), puppeteer, and puppet designer.

He is best remembered as the creator of one of Australia's longest running children's shows Mr. Squiggle. Hetherington was the sole operator and voice of its star performer, the Mr. Squiggle marionette.

[9A]

May 27, 2014
Rachel Louise Carson's 107th Birthday




This global doodle celebrates famed marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Louise Carson on what would be her 107th birthday. She is shown surrounded by a variety of species that dwell within the marine ecosystem, seemingly inspired by this quote from her book, Silent Spring: “In nature nothing exists alone.”

[9A]

Jun 1, 2014
Children's Day 2014



Happy Children’s Day around the world! First proclaimed in 1925 at the World Conference for the Well-being of Children, this holiday is celebrated around the world on various dates.

[9A]

Jun 4, 2014
Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė's 169th Birthday

​

Žemaitė [[literally female Samogitian) was the pen name of Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė . She was a Lithuanian/Samogitian writer, democrat and educator. Born to impoverished gentry, she became one of the major participants in the Lithuanian National Revival. She wrote about peasant life in the style best described as realism.

She is the only woman featured on litas banknotes that first appeared in circulation in 1994. Printed at Thomas de la Rue publishing house in England, the banknote depicts a portrayal of Žemaitė which was created by an artist named Giedrius Jonaitis.

[9A]

Jun 4, 2014
Alejandro Obregon's 93rd Birthday






Our doodle in Colombie today draws inspiration from the work of painter Alejandro Obregon for what would be his 93rd birthday. Recognized as one of Colombia’s top painters, Obregon’s style is noted for its use of color and geometric forms.

[9A]

Jun 6, 2014
Honinbo Shusaku's 185th Birthday




Today in Japan and other countries, we’re marking the 185th birthday of Honinbo Shusaku, widely considered to be one of the greatest players of the ancient Chinese board game Go. Shusaku rose to prominence during Go’s golden age in the 19th century and is known for his perfection of the Shusaku opening, which is depicted in our doodle.

[9A]

Jun 12, 2014
World Cup 2014 #1



https://www.google.com/doodles/world-cup-2014-1 [[animated)

The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association [[FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is France, which won its second title at the 2018 tournament in Russia.

Anything can happen during the World Cup. Who’ll win? Who’ll score? Which super psychic animal will replace Paul the Octopus?

[9A]

Jun 18, 2014
World Cup 2014 #16