Google doodles

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May 13, 2021

Zofia Stryjeńska's 130th Birthday






Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Poland-based guest artist Dixie Leota, celebrates the 130th birthday of Polish painter, graphic designer, illustrator, and stage designer Zofia Stryjeńska, who is widely regarded as one of the most significant Polish art deco artists of the early 1900s. Across its countless mediums, Stryjeńska’s bold and adventurous work mirrors her personality as an uncompromising heroine of creativity and artistic expression.

Born Zofia Lubańska on this day in 1891 in Kraków, Poland, Zofia Stryjeńska began painting caricatures of her father’s customers in his glove shop, developing a talent that became her life’s passion. But gender barriers stood in the way of her artistic pursuits; barriers she was determined to break. As the Munich Academy of Fine Arts—her top choice of schools—was a traditionally all-male institution, Stryjeńska cut her hair and attended the university disguised as a man. But after a year in Munich, the pressure of keeping her identity hidden pushed her to return home to Kraków.

Inspired by the history of her national identity, Stryjeńska began her career at 21 with a series of paintings based on Polish folklore. This modern take on a traditional art form became her hallmark; a style that gained popularity as Poland had recently regained its independence in 1911 and its citizens cherished their historical iconography. Her 1917 series of surrealist lithographs entitled “Bożki Słowiańskie” [“Slavic Idols”] saw massive success and was printed on everything from postcards to chocolates.

An expert of folk costumes and Slavic mythology, Stryjeńska expressed the love of her heritage in work that ranged from wooden chess pieces to ballet costumes, like those designed for the 1930s Polish ballet “Harnasie.”

Happy birthday, Zofia Stryjeńska!

[9A]

July 18, 2018

Kurt Masur’s 91st Birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates Maestro Kurt Masur, world-renowned German conductor and humanitarian.

Born in the Prussian town of Brieg [now in Poland], Masur studied music and trained as a pianist, organist, cellist, and percussionist in East Germany. A damaged tendon in his right hand at the age of 16 ended his playing career, but propelled Masur to concentrate on conducting.

Beyond numerous musical distinctions and titles, Mazur received global cultural and humanitarian honors including Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor from the French government, New York City Cultural Ambassador, Commander Cross of Merit of the Polish Republic, Honorary Citizen of Brieg, the Leo Baeck Medal for promoting tolerance and social justice, and a Goldene Henne award for public policy work.

The maestro is remembered for his belief in the power of music to “bring humanity closer together,” especially when he led the New York Philharmonic in a performance of Brahm’s German Requiem in a nationally televised memorial for the 9/11 attacks.

Masur was instrumental in leading worldwide orchestras and orchestrating peace around the world. Today’s Doodle depicts the maestro’s robust conducting style, notably baton-less due to his childhood hand injury.

Happy 91st birthday, Maestro!

This Doodle's Reach

[9A]

July 18, 2018

Mehdi Hassan’s 91st Birthday






Pakistani ghazal musician Mehdi Hassan sang all his life. Born on this day in 1927 into a family of teachers and musicians, both his father and uncle were accomplished vocalists from whom he learned India’s classical dhrupad and khyal music. While growing up in the Rajasthani village of Luna, he fell in love with traditional folk music as well.

Hassan’s family moved to the newly partitioned nation of Pakistan in 1947. There, he supported himself as a mechanic and practiced singing in between fixing bicycles and cars. In 1952 he appeared on Radio Pakistan, singing classical thumri music. Four years later, he recorded his first “playback” song for the movies. Hits like “Patta patta, boota boota” won him fans across India and Pakistan.

Hassan’s specialty was the ghazal, an ancient poetic form favored by Rumi and other masters of Urdu verse. Known as Shaenshah-e-Ghazal or “King of Ghazal,” Hassan recorded thousands of songs and his voice appeared in over 300 films. Throughout the 1970s he was repeatedly named “Best Playback Singer” at Pakistan’s Nigar Awards, and earned numerous other awards including “Pride of Performance” from the governments of India and Nepal.

Here’s to Hassan, whose spellbinding songs of love and longing brought ghazal to the world.

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Jul 21, 2018

Belgium National Day 2018



Today is Belgium National Day! July 21st commemorates Belgium’s anniversary of independence and is the perfect occasion to celebrate Belgian culture and food.

Today's Doodle features one of Belgium’s most distinctly delectable treats - the waffle! Depending on where you find yourself in Belgium, you’ll be treated to different types of waffles. In Brussels, waffles are traditionally rectangular and have deep, square pockets throughout. These waffles are typically light and crispy, and might be dusted with powdered sugar or topped with whipped cream and fruit. Should you order a waffle in Liege, you’ll be treated to a thicker waffle made of a dough similar to bread. The waffle may be rounder and have uneven edges, a signature of this style. Both waffles are a delicious treat and an excellent way to celebrate the holiday!

Whether in Brussels or Liege, or even at home whipping up homemade treats from family recipes passed down through generations, Belgians everywhere take today to celebrate their heritage and partake in the festivities.

Happy National Day, Belgium!

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July 21, 2015

Belgium National Day 2015



What better way to celebrate Belgium’s National Day than with a Doodle of the ubiquitous and universally treasured Belgian frieten? Whether taken with ketchup, mayonnaise, vinegar, or the much beloved Belgian tartar sauce, Belgian fries are an unmistakable delight never quite perfectly replicated beyond her borders.

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July 21, 2016

Belgium National Day 2016





If you're Belgian, you get three times the well wishes today: Fête nationale belge in French, Belgischer Nationalfeiertag in German, and Nationale feestdag van België in Dutch. With a tri-color flag and three official national languages, this united country celebrates their national day with parades, ceremonies, and of course, plenty of their namesake waffles. Today's Doodle celebrates Belgium's place at the very heart of Europe.

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Jul 22, 2016

Mukesh's 93rd Birthday


Decades before single-name stars Madonna and Prince became superstars, there was the mononymous Mukesh, one of Bollywood’s most acclaimed playback singers. Mukesh first rose to fame as the singing voice of actor, Raj Kapoor in the smash hit Andaz [1949], a Hindi film about a tragic love triangle.

Born Mukesh Chand Mathur in Delhi, India on July 22, 1923, Mukesh was discovered by Motilal, an actor and distant relative, when he sang at his sister’s wedding. The talent that earned him the nickname “The Man with the Golden Voice” took time to develop. Early on, he studied with classical musician Pandit Jagannath Prasad, and for years emulated his idol, singer K.L. Saigal. Working with music director Naushad Ali, who gave him the songs for Andaz, he eventually came into his own.

In 1974, Mukesh won the National Film Award in India for Best Male Playback singer for his song "Kai Baar Yuhi Dekha Hai" from the film Rajnigandha. He followed that up with wins in 1976 at the Filmfare Awards for four songs, most notably "Kabhi Kabhie Mere Dil Mein,” the title track of the film Kabhie Kabhie and the inspiration for today’s Doodle.

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April 13, 2017

Songkran 2017




Celebrated in Thailand every April 13-15, Songkran is the New Year’s holiday famous around the world for its water festival. For many visitors to the Southeastern Asian country, it’s primarily just an excuse for an epic water battle in the streets of a tropical paradise. For Thai people, though, the holiday is also a time to do good deeds and spend time with family.

The name of the holiday is derived from a Sanskrit term that describes the movement of the sun through the sky as the seasons change. Traditionally, Thai people celebrate Songkran by visiting temples to pour water over statues of Buddha, or by visiting elder relatives to pour water over their hands. These acts are known to be symbols of purification — a spring cleaning of sorts. And in a place where daily temperatures reach highs of 88°F in the month of April, it’s easy to see how the tradition might’ve evolved into the all-out splash-fest it is today.

The water festival is now so well established, some cities shut down busy streets during celebration days, allowing participants to safely soak anything and anyone that crosses their paths. So if you’re strolling around Thailand in mid-April and a total stranger douses you with water, consider it a compliment!

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September 22, 2021

Bunpheng Faiphiuchai’s 89th Birthday




For those looking to understand the heritage of Thailand’s northeastern Isan region—the nation’s largest territory that is home to over 22 million people—no other artistic phenomenon reflects its identity more than the poetic style of folk music known as Mo Lam. Today’s Doodle celebrates the 89th birthday of the Thai singer crowned the “Queen of Mo Lam,” Bunpheng Faiphiuchai.

Born on this day in 1932 in Ubon Ratchathani Province of Isan, Thailand, Bunpheng Faiphiuchai began performing Mo Lam at a young age. Mo Lam performances were uncomplicated during this era—one male and one female vocalist brought stories from Isan literature to life by holding a musical “debate” accompanied by the rhythmic sounds of the khaen [a bamboo mouth organ depicted in the Doodle artwork].

After years of training, Faiphiuchai became known for her witty philosophical responses to her male counterparts and soon landed a job as a Mo Lam performer. By 1955, Faiphiuchai recorded more full-length albums than any other woman in the genre. She complemented her illustrious singing career with philanthropic endeavors such as promoting infectious disease prevention, environmental initiatives, and other forms of Thai performance art.

Faiphiuchai was named a Thai National Artist in 1997 for her outstanding cultural contributions and passed down this unique Mo Lam expertise to numerous students throughout her life. Today, many of her pupils are well-known performers of Mo Lam which remains a foundational aspect of Thailand’s rich cultural heritage.

Happy Birthday, Bunpheng Faiphiuchai! Thank you for fostering the next generation of Mo Lam performers!

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September 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.

Happy Birthday, Junko Tabei!

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September 22, 2021


Autumn 2021 [Northern Hemisphere]

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Feb 12, 2016

475 Anniversary of Santiago City Foundation




A lot can happen in the 475 years of a city’s existence. Since its foundation on February 12th, 1541 by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, Santiago de Chile has emerged as a cultural icon and landmark city of South America. It's now the sixth largest city on the continent, with just over 5.5 million people.

The city was originally named after St. James, the patron saint of Spain. The name Santiago actually derives from a colloquial Latin pronunciation of St. James: Sanctu Iacobu. That’s why St. James in English is Santiago in Spanish. Write that one down for your next trivia night.

Today, we honor all the people who have called Santiago their home over the years. Doodler Mark Holmes chose to portray the varied architecture of the city, layered against the august backdrop of Chile’s astounding Andes mountain range. WIth deep admiration, we wish you a happy birthday, Santiago!

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September 18, 2017


Chile National Day 2017


On this date in 1810, the first Junta de Gobierno [Government Junta] was formed, and the Chilean people embarked on an eight-year-long struggle for independence from Spain.


Many Chileans take advantage of the holidays and the good weather to travel and gather with friends and family. Kites fill the skies, and revelers dance the traditional cueca. Children and grown-ups alike might indulge in a sack race, fight to the top of a palo ensebado [greased pole], or even try a game of pillar el chancho, aiming to catch a very greasy pig!


Today’s Doodle, by Chilean artist Paloma Valdivia, celebrates the country’s pride in its diverse people and its bountiful natural resources. Each element of the Doodle carries a special meaning:


The Mapuche [indigenous people] and the huaso [Chilean cowboys] represent Chile's diverse people.


The mountain represents the Andes Mountain range, which stretches along Chile’s eastern borders and is home to some of the world’s tallest peaks.
The little red boat signifies the special relationship Chileans share with the sea and its resources.
The cactus represents the north of Chile, home to the driest desert in the world, the Atacama.
The penguin represents Chile’s Antarctic territory, base to several Chilean and international research stations. Remote Easter Island is home to the moai, gigantic monoliths carved by the Rapa Nui people centuries ago.
The majestic condor [among the world’s heaviest flying birds] and the bright red copihue [[Chile’s national flower) symbolize the country’s rich biodiversity.


With so much to celebrate, we hope you'll join us in shouting a loud and happy ¡Feliz Dieciocho!

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September 18, 2021

Chile National Day 2021


On this date in 1810, Chile’s Primera Junta Nacional de Gobierno [First National Assembly] made the first step toward independence, sparking the start of the Chilean movement to becoming a sovereign nation. Today’s Doodle honors Chile’s National Day or Fiestas Patrias with a depiction of the South American nation’s official animal—the huemul deer.

Indigenous to the southern Andean regions of Chile and Argentina, the huemul [also known as the South Andean deer] is the rarest mammal found within the Chilean borders. A sighting of one of these elusive creatures in nature is a rare and special occurrence, but it can always be seen on the Chilean Coat of Arms alongside its fellow mountain dweller, the Andean condor.

Although the wild huemul deer population was estimated to be less than 1,500 in 2019, conservationists in a protected region of the Valdivian Rainforest released the first pair of huemul deer bred in captivity that same year—signifying a critical step for increasing the numbers of this beloved species in its natural habitat.


Happy National Day, Chile!

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September 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.

Feliz Cumpleaños, Tin Tan!

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September 19, 2013

Thanksgiving Day 2013 Korea




Chuseok, also known as Hangawi, from archaic Korean for "the great middle [of autumn]", is a major mid-autumn harvest festival and a three-day holiday in South Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar on the full moon. In North Korea, they only celebrate for the day of chuseok. Like many other harvest festivals around the world, it is held around the autumn equinox, i.e. at the very end of summer or in early autumn. It is the biggest traditional holiday in South Korea.

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September 19, 2009

Oktoberfest 2009





The Oktoberfest is a two-week festival held each year in Munich, Germany during late September and early October. It is attended by six million people each year and has inspired numerous similar events using the name Oktoberfest in Germany and around the world, many of which were founded by German immigrants or their descendants.

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Sep 21, 2009

Birthday of H.G. Wells





Herbert George Wells [21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946] was an English writer. Prolific in many genres, he wrote dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, history, satire, biography and autobiography. His work also included two books on recreational war games. Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is often called the "father of science fiction", along with Jules Verne and the publisher Hugo Gernsback.

A futurist and “visionary”, Wells foresaw the advent of aircraft, tanks, space travel, nuclear weapons, satellite television and something resembling the World Wide Web. Asserting that "Wells' visions of the future remain unsurpassed", John Higgs, author of Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century, states that in the late 19th century Wells “saw the coming century clearer than anyone else. He anticipated wars in the air, the sexual revolution, motorised transport causing the growth of suburbs and a proto-Wikipedia he called the "world brain". In his novel The World Set Free, he imagined an “atomic bomb” of terrifying power that would be dropped from aeroplanes. This was an extraordinary insight for an author writing in 1913, and it made a deep impression on Winston Churchill."

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September 21, 2021

Mid Autumn Festival 2021 [Vietnam]



Aligned with the rising of the harvest moon, the fullest and brightest of the year, today’s Doodle celebrates Vietnam’s Mid Autumn Festival or Children’s Festival. Why the Children’s Festival? This time-honored holiday falls in the middle of the harvest season, a busy period that limits the time many families have to play with their children. That makes this day the perfect time for parents to take a well-deserved break and enjoy time with their youngsters!

In years past, dancers would bring joy to their neighborhoods while performing in symbolic garb and children would carry festive lanterns shaped like carps or stars to light the streets. Mooncakes [the holiday’s signature dish] filled the bellies of celebrants. While festivities are quieter this year as families celebrate at home, the joys of the day will not be forgotten!

Happy Mid Autumn Festival, Vietnam!

[9A]

September 21, 2019

Celebrating the Pretzel!



Flip, twist, and bake!

Today’s Doodle, freshly baked by Esther’s German Bakery, celebrates the one and only pretzel—one of the world’s most versatile and beloved foods! As Oktoberfest, the Bavarian fall festival, begins today, Brotfrauen [[or bread ladies) will be carrying baskets of chewy Brezeln through Bierhallen [massive tents] in Germany, the center of Oktoberfest revelry.

The history of pretzels is a tale with many twists and turns, and some of the accounts over the centuries are still debated to this day. Made without dairy or eggs, pretzels have long been considered a staple during Lent. One of the more colorful pretzel legends involves a group of monks baking pretzels in a Vienna basement who overheard an invading army tunneling under the city walls in 1510. As a reward for helping to thwart the invasion, the pretzel bakers received their own coat of arms. Another story claims that the expression “tying the knot” refers to the 17th-century Swiss custom of using a pretzel during wedding ceremonies.

The soft pretzel’s unique texture is achieved by dipping the dough in a lye solution just before baking, resulting in a chemical process known as the “Maillard reaction.” Smooth and brown on the outside, chewy on the inside, soft pretzels are best eaten fresh. Julius Sturgis in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania was the first to bake them until they got hard, extending their shelf life and allowing them to be shipped far and wide. In 1947, the Reading Pretzel Machinery Company unveiled a pretzel-making machine that cranked out up to 250 pretzels per minute!

Over half a century later, pretzels are just as awesome as ever, whether hard or soft, salty or sweet, buttered or plain, a bag of pretzel sticks from the supermarket or an extra-large Brezel at Oktoberfest.

Noch eine Brezel, bitte! [Another pretzel, please!]

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September 21, 2016

43rd Anniversary of the Film "Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future"



The past, present, and future combine in real time for the 43rd anniversary of the Russian film Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future by director Leonid Gaidai and Mosfilm, the oldest film studio in Europe. The picture hit the scene with more than 60 million tickets sold—making it one of the most attended movies ever in the Soviet Union. Based on the original 1930s play by Michail Bulgakov, the technology was updated for the 1970s film to include more modern touches—a tape recorder replaced the original phonograph and a more advanced time machine used transistors to transcend time and space.

Russian viewers young and old know the plot very well: commotion involving a time machine, Shurik the inventor, the superintendent, members of the elite, the secret police, foreign ambassadors and Tsar Ivan the Terrible, himself.

Doodler Nate Swinehart, chose to feature the most iconic moment in the film: “This shot was a lot of fun to re-create and paint, I even hand drew the type to match the kooky ‘60s aesthetic of the film. Getting to make silly content that makes people smile is one of my favorite things to do.”

All these years later, one question still remains—was the whole thing just a dream?

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September 21, 2010

Juan de la Cierva's 115th Birthday




Juan de la Cierva y Codorníu, 1st Count of la Cierva was a Spanish civil engineer, pilot and aeronautical engineer. His most famous accomplishment was the invention in 1920 of the first helicopter called Autogiro, a single-rotor type of aircraft that came to be called autogyro in the English language. In 1923, after four years of experimentation, De la Cierva developed the articulated rotor, which resulted in the world's first successful flight of a stable rotary-wing aircraft, with his C.4 prototype.

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September 21, 2012

Edgar Valter's 84th Birthday




Edgar Valter was an Estonian graphic artist, caricaturist, writer and illustrator of children's books, with over 250 books to his name, through 55 years of activity. His most famous work is Pokuraamat [The Poku Book].

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September 21, 2018
Celebrating Mister Rogers




“Through television we have a great chance to show and tell our children that they really matter, even when they’re very little…We have a chance to communicate the fact that childhood lies at the very basis of who people are and who they become.”


–Fred Rogers


Go behind-the-scenes of today’s Doodle below!



On this date, September 21, 1967, 51 years ago, Fred Rogers walked into the television studio at WQED in Pittsburgh to tape the very first episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which would premiere nationally on PBS in February 1968. He became known as Mister Rogers, nationally beloved, sweater wearing, “television neighbor,” whose groundbreaking children’s series inspired and educated generations of young viewers with warmth, sensitivity, and honesty.

Rogers grew up in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a small town near Pittsburgh. Music was his first love, and he studied music composition at Rollins College. Just before graduating in 1951, he happened to watch some children’s television shows and described them as “a lot of nonsense, pies in faces.” He felt children deserved better and headed for New York, serving as an apprentice and floor manager for the music shows at NBC.

Returning to Pittsburgh, Rogers eventually added the ministry and lifelong studies in child development to his talents, bringing them to WQED, where he produced Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. He drew on all of his talents, including being a gifted communicator, to wear many hats, serving as creator, host, producer, script writer, composer, lyricist, and main puppeteer for almost 900 programs.

Rogers’ reputation as a champion of high standards—for children’s programming and for television in general—was highlighted by his now-famous testimony before Congress in 1969 advocating against proposed budget cuts to public television. The committee was so moved by his simple, genuine, and powerful plea that the budget was increased for the following year.

Although production on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood ended in 2000, many PBS stations continue to broadcast the series for a new generation of children to discover. Today, young viewers also get to “visit with” Daniel Tiger [son of the beloved puppet from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood] on Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, the animated spin-off, which delves into many of the same important topics Rogers did.

Today’s stop-motion, animated video Doodle celebrating Mister Rogers was created in collaboration with Fred Rogers Productions, The Fred Rogers Center, and BixPix Entertainment. Set to the iconic opening song of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood [“Won’t You Be My Neighbor"], the Doodle aims to be a reminder of the nurturing, caring, and whimsy that made the show feel like a “television visit” between Mister Rogers and his young viewers. Everyone was welcome in this Neighborhood. Through his honest words, thoughtful songs, and imaginative Neighborhood of Make-Believe stories, Mister Rogers took us by the hand, helping us feel good about who we are. He encouraged us to find positive ways to deal with our feelings, to treat others with respect and kindness, and to appreciate the world around us.

-Hedda Sharapan, Child Development Consultant, Fred Rogers Productions

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Special thanks to Joanne Rogers, wife of Fred Rogers, for her support of this project. Below, Joanne shares her thoughts on the Doodle:

“I’m so thrilled that Google is celebrating Fred and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood with this charming tribute.This stroll through the Neighborhood is delightful, and Fred’s gentle kindness is beautifully captured in the Doodle.”

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Behind-the scenes of the puppets production Behind-the scenes of the stop-motion animation

Directors:Melissa Crowton, Olivia When
Executive Producer:My-Linh Le
Marketing, partnerships, & licensing:Perla Campos, Madeline Belliveau, Carlos Diaz
Art Support: Lydia Nichols
Doodle team leads: Jessica Yu, Brian KaasZ

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September 21, 2013

Arbor Day 2013 Brazil

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September 21, 2015

Arbor Day 2015 [Brazil]



Today we celebrate Arbor Day by taking time to appreciate and help preserve the environment around us. Trees provide shelter, food, clean air, and many other benefits for wildlife and humans alike.

Doodler Olivia When chose to make a short, serene, looping animation featuring a callicarpa reevesii tree and a sabiá bird, both of which are native to beautiful Brazil.


An early, more humorous draft showing the benefits of planting trees.

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November 23, 2017

Thanksgiving 2017



Unlike his domesticated brethren, the Turkey in today’s Doodle is taking flight…from the Thanksgiving table.

Three hundred ninety-six years ago, the Pilgrims celebrated their first successful harvest with Native Americans of the Wampanoag tribe. As time flew by, feasts like these became beloved traditions that flocked through the colonies, and in 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.

Though the pardoning of turkeys has been a presidential privilege since 1989, the Turkey in this Doodle has decided to pardon itself. Luckily, there are plenty of mashed potatoes to go around.

Happy Thanksgiving 2017!

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November 23, 2005

Thanksgiving 2005

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November 23, 2000

Thanksgiving 2000

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Nov 15, 2000

Shichi-go-san 2000




Shichi-Go-San [ "Seven-Five-Three"] is a traditional rite of passage and festival day in Japan for three- and seven-year-old girls and five-year-old [and less commonly three-year-old] boys, held annually on November 15 to celebrate the growth and well-being of young children. As it is not a national holiday, it is generally observed on the nearest weekend.

[9A]

November 7, 2014

Cecília Meireles's 113th Birthday




For her 113th birthday, Brazilian writer and poet Cecília Meireles, sits surrounded by the night sky, the sea and flowers–a scene that inspired many of her works.

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September 22, 2020

Celebrating Benyamin Sueb





Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Indonesia-based guest artist Isa Indra Permana, commemorates iconic Indonesian actor, comedian, singer, songwriter, writer, director, and producer Benyamin “Bang Ben” Sueb, who championed Jakarta, Indonesia’s Betawi culture as the star of more than 50 movies and composer of over 300 original songs. On this day in 2018, Jakarta inaugurated Benyamin Sueb Park, a cultural center dedicated to upholding the Betawi heritage to which Sueb devoted so much of his life.

Benyamin Sueb was born on March 5th, 1939 in present-day Jakarta. He first entered the music scene in the 1950s as a member of the “Melody Boys,” a band that drew upon a wide variety of international influences. Sueb later relied on more traditional Betawi musical idioms to write hits including “Nonton Bioskop” [“Watching Movies”] and “Hujan Grimis” [“Drizzle”] and helped to revitalize the gabang kromong style through beloved songs like “Ondel-Ondel” [Giant Puppets].

Sueb’s acting career took off in the early ‘70s, and through the lens of his often playfully comedic films, he is credited with painting a more accurate depiction of Betawi culture. He garnered acclaim for roles in films like “Intan Berduri” [“Thorny Diamond,” 1972] and “Si Doel Anak Modern” [“Doel the Modern Child,” 1976], both of which earned him Best Actor Citra Awards at the Indonesian Film Festival.

In 1990, Benyamin created Ben’s Radio, Indonesia’s only radio station dedicated to Betawi, which continues to play Sueb’s music to this day.

Thank you, Benyamin Sueb, for using music and humor to preserve valuable tradition and culture for generations to come!

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Nov 1, 2004

Melbourne Cup 2004




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

The Melbourne Cup has a long tradition, with the first race held in 1861. It was originally run over two miles [3.219 km] but was shortened to 3,200 metres [1 mi 1,740 yd] in 1972 when Australia adopted the metric system. This reduced the distance by 18.688 metres [61 ft 3+3⁄4 in], and Rain Lover's 1968 race record of 3:19.1 was accordingly adjusted to 3:17.9. The present record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3:16.3.

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November 1, 2021

Celebrating Georgette Chen







Today’s Google Doodle honors Singaporean artist Georgette Chen, a founder of the post-Impressionist Nanyang painting style, on the 91st anniversary of her first exhibition at the Salon d’Automne in Paris.

Georgette Chen Li Ying was born in Zhejiang, China in October 1906. She grew up mostly in Paris but traveled frequently throughout China and to New York. This cosmopolitan upbringing exposed her to the mixture of cultures that would eventually shape her pioneering art. Chen’s debut followed an invitation to showcase her artwork at an exhibition hosted in one of Paris’ most prestigious modern art salons, the Salon d’Automne, which began on this day in 1930.

In 1953, Chen settled in Singapore, where she helped found the Nanyang style of painting–an experimental style that combined Asian subjects and themes with Western styles and techniques. Chen was among the generation of Chinese-born artists who emigrated to Singapore to join the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, where she taught for 26 years. She became renowned for her refined brushwork, which infused her paintings with a dreamlike quality.

Chen produced numerous works that received global acclaim including “Mosque in Kuala Lumpur” [1957] and “Singapore Waterfront” [1958]. Her work was exhibited around the world, from New York to Kuala Lumpur. The Doodle artwork evokes Chen’s Nanyang style. Starting from the left: A basket of rambutan, an easel, the artist herself, a dried chili plant, a bitter melon, and then a teapot—all elements inspired by her work.

In 1982, she received the Cultural Medallion—a national award that honors the achievements of major contributors to Singapore’s artistic and cultural landscape. As a contributing member to her local community, Chen was the administrator for the Lee Foundation Fund for the Encouragement of Local Talent in the Fine Arts and on the council of the Singapore Arts Society. Singaporean children still learn about the country’s culture from the 2009 book “Georgette’s Mooncakes,” which explores Chen’s “Still Life: Moon Festival Table'' [1965-1968].

Thank you for your contributions to the global art scene in the face of an ever-changing world, Georgette Chen!

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Nov 9, 2020

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's 140th Birthday




Today’s Doodle, illustrated by UK-based guest artist Jing Zhang, celebrates British architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who is widely regarded as one of the country’s most significant architects of the 20th century. Renowned for designs such as the Battersea Power Station and the now-iconic red telephone box illustrated in today’s Doodle, Scott combined traditional and modern styles to craft some of London’s most familiar landmarks.

Giles Gilbert Scott was born into a lineage of significant architects on this day in 1880 in London, England. When he was young, his mother encouraged him to carry forward the family legacy, and took him and his brother on bicycle trips to view church architecture throughout the English countryside. He went on to apprentice as an architect, and at just 21 he won a contest that landed him the largest commission of his life: the Liverpool Cathedral–one of many churches he designed throughout his career.

Yet Scott’s most famous creation may be his smallest–the red telephone box he designed in 1924 and simplified in 1935. The updated version was so popular that 60,000 units were installed across the United Kingdom. Today, many of the beloved booths have been reoutfitted to serve new purposes, from defibrillator stations to miniature libraries.

For his exceptional achievements in the field of architecture, Scott was knighted in 1924, and in 1944 he was awarded one of Britain’s highest honors—the Order of Merit.

Happy birthday, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott!

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November 9, 2018

Celebrating Amanda Crowe




In honor of Native American Heritage Month, today’s video Doodle celebrates Eastern Band Cherokee Indian woodcarver and educator Amanda Crowe, a prolific artist renowned for her expressive animal figures. Led by Doodler Lydia Nichols, the Doodle was created in collaboration with the Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual as well as William “Bill” H. Crowe, Jr., woodcarver and nephew and former student of Amanda Crowe. Aside from highlighting Crowe’s own words and passion for her craft, the Doodle features high resolution imagery of Amanda’s true works housed in her homeland at Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual, the nation’s oldest American Indian cooperative. The music is also an original composition by her nephew, Bill.

Born in 1928, Crowe was raised within the Qualla Boundary in North Carolina, which is territory owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Her artistic talent emerged early, as she began drawing and carving around the age of four. Although Crowe said she was “barely old enough to handle a knife,” she was determined to express herself. Studying with her uncle Goingback Chiltoskey, a well-known woodcarver in his own right, Crowe honed her skills, carrying her tools to school to pursue her passion for creativity and even selling her carvings as a child.

In 1946, Crowe earned a scholarship to study at the Art Institute of Chicago, expanding her vision through exposure to the world-renowned museum’s permanent collection of sculpture. She learned to work with plaster, stone, and metal, but always came back to wood as her preferred medium. “The grain challenges me to create objects in three dimensions,” she explained. “A mistake or flaw in the wood will improve your design. To me, a knot can be the best part.”

After earning her Master of Fine Arts degree, Crowe studied in Mexico with the renowned sculptor José de Creeft before returning to her homeland in the Qualla Boundary. There, she established a studio in the Paint Town community and began teaching art classes at Cherokee High School, where she would teach over 2000 students over the course of 40 years.

As many prominent American Indian artists studied under Crowe, her tutelage has been credited with fostering a resurgence of Cherokee carving. Crowe’s work can has been showcased in the High Museum in Atlanta and the Mint Museum in Charlotte in addition to private collections all over the world.

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November 9, 2012

Paul Abadie's 200th Birthday



Paul Abadie was a French architect and building restorer. He is considered a central representative of French historicism. He was the son of architect Paul Abadie Sr..

Abadie worked on the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris, Église Sainte-Croix of Bordeaux, Saint-Pierre of Angoulême and Saint-Front of Périgueux. He won the competition in 1873 to design the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on Montmartre in Paris, and saw construction commence on it, though he died long before its completion in 1914.

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November 9, 2015

Hedy Lamarr's 101st birthday



We love highlighting the many good stories about women’s achievements in science and technology. When the story involves a 1940s Hollywood star-turned-inventor who helped develop technologies we all use with our smartphones today… well, we just have to share it with the world.

Today on Google’s homepage we’re celebrating Hedy Lamarr, the Austrian-born actress Hollywood once dubbed “the most beautiful woman in the world.” Lamarr’s own story reads like a movie script: bored by the film industry and feeling typecast, Lamarr was more interested in helping the Allied war effort as World War II broke out than in the roles she was being offered. She had some background in military munitions [yes, really], and together with a composer friend, George Antheil, used the principles of how pianos worked [yep, pianos] to identify a way to prevent German submarines from jamming Ally radio signals. The patent for “frequency hopping” Lamarr co-authored laid the groundwork for widely-used technologies like Bluetooth, GPS and wifi that we rely upon daily.


It’s no wonder, then, that Lamarr has kind of a mythical status at Google, and I was pretty excited at the chance to tell her story in Doodle form. This took some tinkering of my own—after deciding on the movie format as a nod to her Hollywood career, I dug through old fashion illustrations and movie posters to try to capture the look and feel of the 1940’s. Sketching storyboards on a yellow notepad helped me figure out how to show Lamarr in very different scenarios—movie star by day, inventor by night—which we then animated and set to the awesome soundtrack created by composer Adam Ever-Hadani.


Jennifer Hom, Doodler

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Nov 11, 2015

Poland Independence Day 2015




Every year, as winter sets in throughout the southern hemisphere, the world’s White Storks take off for the north. Their flight is monumental. They cover thousands of miles, over wild seas, chasing the warm sun of summer. And in the end, a quarter of them arrive in one specific place: the country of Poland.

Poland, whose independence we remember each November, plays host annually to 40,000 pairs of stork. That’s more than anywhere else in the world! Today, we celebrate the diversity, freedom, and natural richness of Poland with a doodle by Robinson Wood.

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Nov 12, 2014

Philae robotic lander lands on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko





It may be one small step for the Philae robotic lander, but it’s one giant leap for the rest of us! The European Space Agency just made history by landing one of its robots on a comet–and our homepage–after more than 10 years of travel. Philae is expected to provide the first images ever seen from a comet’s surface.

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November 12, 2011

Hua Luogeng's 101st Birthday





Hua Luogeng was well known for two important contributions. One was his work on one of the greatest unsolved mathematical problems, known as Goldbach's Conjecture.... and yes, it is a little trickier than 1+1, though it involves prime numbers! [[We celebrated one of his students, Chen Jungrun, in a previous doodle, who made significant progress on this problem).


Luogeng was also known for his methodology on achieving efficiency, known as "Overall Coordination." His analogy, taught to most schoolchildren, lays out the premise of wanting to drink tea when you don't yet have boiled water. The most optimized approach is that you first rinse and fill the kettle and place it on the burner. Meanwhile, you should wash the serving teapot, the tea cups, and prepare the tea leaves. When the water has boiled, you can immediately brew your tea. That's multi-tasking boiled down for you!


posted by Mike Dutton

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November 12, 2013

Leon Štukelj's 115th Birthday







Leon Štukelj was a Slovene professional gymnast. He was a Olympic gold medalist and athlete who represented Yugoslavia at the Olympics.

He is a noted figure in Slovenian sporting history. Štukelj is one of the first Slovene athletes to have risen to the very top of his sport, where he remained right from the World Championships in Ljubljana in 1922 all the way to the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, at which point he finished his competitive gymnastics career.

Štukelj competed at seven major international competitions and won a total of twenty medals: eight gold, six silver, and six bronze. At the Olympic Games alone he won six medals: two gold medals [counted for Yugoslavia] in Paris in 1924, one gold medal and two bronze in Amsterdam in 1928, and a silver medal in Berlin in 1936.

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March 7, 2016

Georges Perec’s 80th Birthday


Where others might feel stifled--even bewildered--Georges Perec felt his most free. The French author and tireless literary innovator saw constraints as a means of liberation. He viewed the craft of writing as a game, a way to upend his readers’ understanding of language and its accepted forms. Perec loved puzzles, and filled his works with anagrams, palindromes, and other verbal trickery.

He belonged to a curious coterie of French writers and mathematicians called the Oulipo, a group of literary experimentalists who proposed things like the S-7 method, a technique that involved rewriting classic poetry by replacing each word with the seventh word after it in the dictionary.

Doodler Sophie Diao’s reimagining of today’s homepage honors Perec’s most challenging, and perhaps most ridiculous experiment--writing an entire novel without using the letter “e”. La Disparition is nearly 300 pages long, and there is nary a hint of our most common vowel in the entire work. That means you won’t find a “the,” a “he,” a “nearly impossible,” or a “Happy birthday, Monsieur Perec.”

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Mar 11, 2016

Ratchanee Sripaiwan's 86th Birthday





Happy 86th Birthday Ratchanee Sripaiwan!

If you grew up in Thailand or learned Thai in primary school, chances are you've heard of Manee and her friends. In Sripaiwan's beautifully illustrated book "Manee, Mana, Piti, and Chujai," readers learned the อักษรไทย while exploring Manee's village and following her adventures.

Sripaiwan's exquisite mastery of the Thai language and passion for education guided students across the globe. Not only did readers learn basic Thai language, grammar, and sentence structure, they lived and loved Sripaiwan's tales. The textbooks were first approved for educational use in 1956 and were used for grades 1-6 from 1978 to 1994. When Sripaiwan passed away in 2014, these books were reprinted to honor her life's work — educating and delighting another generation.

Today's Doodle by Alyssa Winans reflects the signature style of illustrators and close collaborators Triam Chachumporn, Ohm Rajjavej, and Pathom Puapimon. The image of Mana and Manee captures the effortless charm and elegance of Ratchanee Sripaiwan's books.

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November 9, 2012

Feng Zikai's 114th Birthday





Feng Zikai was an influential Chinese painter, pioneering manhua artist, essayist, and lay Buddhist of twentieth-century China. Born just after the First Sino-Japanese War [1894–1895] and passing away just before the end of the Cultural Revolution [1966–1976], he lived through much of the political and socio-economic turmoil that arose during the birth of modern China. Much of his literary and artistic work comments on and records the relationship between the changing political landscape and the daily lives of ordinary people. Although he is most famous for his paintings depicting children and the multi-volume collection of Buddhist-inspired art, Paintings for the Preservation of Life, Feng Zikai was a prolific artist, writer, and intellectual, who made strides in the fields of music, art, literature, philosophy, and translation.

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November 9, 2016

Bang Jeong-hwan’s 117th Birthday




In 1923 Korea, children were treated as 'lesser' adults. Bang Jeong-hwan, a children's writer from Seoul, changed all that when he invented the term eorini, a more respectful term for children than the one commonly used. He started a magazine by the same name, to spread the notion that children should be celebrated. Today's Doodle depicts Jeong-hwan flying through the sky, holding a copy of the magazine he founded, symbolizing his commitment to championing the children of Korea.


Happy 117th birthday, Bang Jeong-hwan!

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Dec 24, 2017

Mohammed Rafi’s 93th Birthday




In the early 1930’s, a little boy named Pheeko would wait for a traveling fakir to stop by his home village of Kotla Sultan Singh and follow him on his rounds, imitating his chants as they went along. Later, living in the cultural and film hub of Lahore, Pheeko hummed songs during work at a relative’s barber shop. Customers noticed his talent – as did his brother, who arranged for Pheeko to train under Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan in the face of immense opposition from their father.

Pheeko grew up to be Mohammed Rafi, the king of playback singing in India. Pheeko has nearly five thousand songs to his credit across a range of genres [including romantic ballads, rock and roll, and classical music] and languages [including Hindi, English, Arabic, Persian, Sinhalese, Creole, and Dutch].

The dreamy romance of ‘Chaudhvi ka Chand’ won Rafi his first Filmfare award in 1960, to be followed by five more. In 1977 he was awarded the National Award for ‘Kya Hua Tera Wada.’ He was feted by the Indian government with the Padma Shri in 1967.

Today’s Doodle by Mumbai-based illustrator Sajid Shaikh depicts Rafi as the king of playback singing in Bollywood. It shows the journeys of famous Rafi songs as they progressed from the studio, onto the silver screen and into the hearts of fans forever.

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Dec 10, 2017

Celebrating Grazia Deledda




When Grazia Deledda submitted a short story to a fashion magazine at the age of 13, she could not have known she was setting the stage for a decades-long career and a Nobel Prize. Today’s Doodle celebrates her accomplishments as one of Italy’s great authors.

Deledda was born in 1871 in the village of Nuoro on the island of Sardinia, which is off the western coast of Italy. Her family and surroundings were instrumental in shaping her future as a writer. Her father was a sociable man with many friends in the surrounding towns, and his visitors became the basis for many of the characters in her novels. She was also inspired by her island home, often using Sardinia’s landscape as a metaphor for the challenges her characters faced.

As a female writer in the late 19th century, Deledda faced her own challenges as well. Her formal education ended at age 11, and she relied on private lessons and self-study in order to further her craft. Her work — which often touched on themes like temptation and sin — was often criticized by those in her traditional hometown, despite the inspiration she drew from the region.

These obstacles didn’t sway her though, and Deledda continued to produce many highly praised works. In 1926, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, making her the first Italian woman and the fourth woman ever to receive a Nobel Prize.

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August 27, 2019

Cesária Évora’s 78th Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates world-renowned Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora. Born in Mindelo, a port city on the island of São Vicente off the West African coast on this day in 1941, Cesária grew up in an orphanage and began singing in bars and cruise ships as a teenager. Her specialty was morna, the bluesy national music of Cape Verde, which she would bring to an international audience—earning many accolades, including a Grammy Award.

Évora’s poignant voice was perfectly suited to morna music, and her life experiences imbued her songs of love and loss with unmistakable feeling. Known for performing barefoot, she sang in Kriolu, a blend of Portugese and African dialects, accompanied by piano, guitar, or cavaquinho, a four-stringed Portuguese guitar. Although she was invited to sing on local radio, and two of these recordings were released in Europe, she could not support herself solely with her music career and retired from singing for many years.

In her mid-40s, Évora traveled to Portugal for a recording session, where she impressed Josè Da Silva, a French concert promoter of Cape Verdean descent. Da Silva invited her to Paris, and starting in the late 1980s, Évora recorded several albums for his label, starting with La Diva aux pieds nus [“The Barefoot Diva”], which brought her to a new audience.

Évora went on to tour the world and won a 2003 Grammy Award for her album Voz d’amor, as well as two Kora awards from the African music industry.

Never distracted by stardom, she worked hard even in declining health and used her fame to help others, serving as an ambassador for the UN’s World Food Program. The airport on her home island of São Vicente was named in her honor, with a statue and mural commemorating the beloved “Queen of Morna.”

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April 14, 2017

First Day of Bengali Calendar Pohela Boishakh





Today's doodle marks Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bengali Calendar. While Pohela Boishakh is a lively festival today, its origins are less fanciful. The Bengali calendar year was developed over 400 years ago by the Emperor Akbar as a way to collect taxes on a specific date every year. When the new year begins, accountants can close their books on the previous year and start fresh.

On this day in Bangladesh, the country comes alive with colorful celebrations and parades. Cities and towns gather together to sing traditional songs like "Esho, he Boishakh". They eat Bengali food such as Panta bhaat [a dish of rice soaked in water], and Illish Maas [fried hilsa fish]. The main attraction in the capital city of Dhaka is the large Mangal Shobhajatra procession. The streets fill up with a parade of huge masks and creatures, each with its own symbolism, but many meant to drive away evil spirits or inspire courage and peace. The masks are often vibrant and imaginative representations of animals native to Bangladesh, like the owl and tiger you see in today's doodle.


Shubho Noboborsho! [Happy New Year!]