Google doodles

[9A]

Apr 29, 2016

48th Anniversary of first TV broadcasting of Les Shadoks





Nearly half a century later, France still fondly recalls Les Shadoks. With absurd maxims like “every advantage has its disadvantage, and vice versa," the bird-like creatures and their hilariously inane brand of logic struck a chord with French culture when they hit the screen in 1968.

Jacques Rouxel’s experimental and minimalist cartoon even proved divisive, as some saw nonsense where others found originality, comic genius, and important commentary on futility and French life. Hélène Leroux, who animated today’s Shadoks, used the occasion to bring her favorite Shadok’s proverbs to life. She writes:

“I particularly enjoyed the simplicity of the characters: Simple, rounded birds with long, thin legs, always going on nonsense adventures. In their daily lives, the Shadoks always refer to specific mottos they made up that parody real-life human principles: ‘If there are no solutions, then there are no problems,’ or, ‘to reduce the number of unhappy people, always beat up the same individuals,’ and of course, ‘I pump therefore I am.’ Like operators on a handcar that goes nowhere, Les Shadoks are famous for their endless and useless pumping. I thought it would be a great homage to represent some of these great Shadoks quotes with simple, looping animations.”


Below are all four of Hélène's animations:

I pump, therefore I am.


If we keep trying, we end up succeeding. Therefore: the more we fail, the more we get to succeed.



When you don't know where you are going, you have to get there... as fast as possible.



Why should it be simple when it can be complicated?!

[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 [ 'Star of the East'].

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

Umm Kulthum is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Arab music, with significant influence on a number of musicians, both in the Arab World and beyond. Jah Wobble has cited her as a significant influence on his work, and Bob Dylan has been quoted praising her as well. Maria Callas, Marie Laforêt, Bono, and Robert Plant, among many other artists, are also known admirers of Kulthum's music. Youssou N'Dour, a fan of hers since childhood, recorded his 2004 album Egypt with an Egyptian orchestra in homage to her legacy. One of her best-known songs, Enta Omri, has been covered and reinterpreted numerous times. "Alf Leila wa Leila" was translated into jazz on French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf's 2015 album "Kalthoum".

She was referred to as "the Lady" by Charles de Gaulle and is regarded as the "Incomparable Voice" by Maria Callas. It is difficult to accurately measure her vocal range at its peak, as most of her songs were recorded live. Even today, she has retained a near-mythical status among young Egyptians. In 2001, the Egyptian government opened the Kawkab al-Sharq ["Star of the East"] Museum in the singer's memory. Housed in a pavilion on the grounds of Cairo's Manesterly Palace, the collection includes a range of Umm Kulthum's personal possessions, including her trademark sunglasses and scarves, along with photographs, recordings, and other archival material.

[9A]

October 1, 2021

Sivaji Ganesan's 93rd Birthday







Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Bangalore, India-based guest artist Noopur Rajesh Choksi, celebrates the 93rd birthday of Sivaji Ganesan, one of India’s first method actors and widely considered among the nation’s most influential actors of all time.

On this day in 1928, Sivaji Ganesan was born as Ganesamoorthy in Villupuram, a town in the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu, India. At a young age of 7, he left home and joined a theater group, where he started playing child and female roles then lead roles. In December 1945, Ganesan made a name for himself–literally–with his theatrical portrayal of 17th-century Indian King Shivaji. This regal stage name stuck and Ganesan carried the crown as “Sivaji” as he conquered the world of acting.

He made his on-screen debut in the 1952 film “Parasakthi,” the first of his over 300 films spanning a nearly five-decade cinematic career. Renowned for his expressive voice and diverse performances in Tamil-language cinema, Ganesan quickly ascended to international fame. His best-known blockbusters include the trendsetting 1961 film “Pasamalar,” an emotional, family story considered one of Tamil cinema’s crowning achievements, and the 1964 film “Navarthri,” Ganesan’s 100th film in which he portrayed a record-breaking, nine different roles.

In 1960, Ganesan made history as the first Indian performer to win Best Actor at an international film festival for his historical movie “Veerapandiya Kattabomman,” one of his biggest blockbusters with people remembering the dialogues from the movie even today. Other distinguished accolades came near the end of his career. In 1995, France awarded him its highest decoration, Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honour. The Indian government in 1997 honoured him with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award which is India's highest award in the field of cinema. Today, his legacy is carried on for international audiences through the performances of the many contemporary Indian acting greats who cite Ganesan as a major inspiration.

Lights, camera, happy birthday, Sivaji Ganesan!

[9A]

October 2, 2015

Grandparents Day 2015 [Italy]







Happy Grandparent’s Day to all the grandmothers and grandfathers out there! Today’s two companion Doodles celebrate the special relationships we have across generations. Doodler Olivia When started conceptualizing them by first thinking about moments that happen between grandparents and grandkids. She chose fishing for one Doodle and feeding ducks for the other, because both activities convey a sense of fun and togetherness. Plus, as she said, “how often is there an opportunity to use ducks to make the Google logo?”.

[9A]

October 2, 2016

Grandparents's Day 2016 [Italy]

[9A]

October 2, 2018

Grandparents's Day 2018 [Italy]

[9A]

October 2, 2019

Grandparents' Day 2019 [Italy]

[9A]

Oct 3, 2019

180th Anniversary of the First Italian Railroad Inauguration





On this day in 1839, a steam locomotive called Vesuvio pulled an eight-carriage train from Portici to Naples, inaugurating the first Italian Railroad. Today’s Doodle celebrates the historic event that ushered a new era in transportation and put Italy on the fast track to unification.

Departing at noon, the train completed the four-and-a-half-mile journey to Naples in less than 10 minutes, carrying passengers including King Ferdinand II of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies—or Regno delle Due Sicilie as Naples and Sicily were then known—as well as the French engineer Armando Giuseppe Bayard de la Vingtrie, whom King Ferdinand hired to construct the railway.

More than 85,000 passengers rode the line during the following two months, proving that there was public demand. In years to come, new ferrovie [[or “iron ways”) were laid down, connecting the capital city of Naples to Caserta in the north as far south as Salerno.

When Vesuvio made its maiden voyage, the Italian peninsula was still divided territory—but the establishment of railways helped to unite the Kingdom of Italy. By the time of unification in 1861, over 1400 miles of railway crisscrossed the country. The new government expanded the national railway network, and by 1875, some 5,600 miles [about 9,012 kilometers] of track connected most of Italy’s major cities. In years to come railways would provide a means of transporting perishable food in refrigerated cars, facilitating trade between regions.

Trains have played a vital role in Italian history and culture, inspiring art from folk songs to posters, showing the profound impact of train travel.

Tutti a bordo!

[9A]

Sep 27, 2021

Google's 23rd Birthday



It’s said that one chance encounter can change the course of your life. In Google’s case, a chance encounter between two computer scientists changed the course of the Internet and the lives of millions.

In 1997, Sergey Brin, a graduate student at Stanford University, just so happened to be assigned to show Larry Page, who was considering Stanford for graduate school at the time, around campus. By the next year, the two Google co-founders were building a search engine together in their dorm rooms and developing their first prototype. In 1998, Google Inc. was officially born.

Every day, there are billions of searches on Google in more than 150 languages around the globe, and while much has changed from the early days of Google, from its first server housed in a cabinet built out of toy blocks to its servers now being housed in more than 20 data centers globally, its mission of making the world’s information accessible to everyone remains the same.



The First Google Team - 1999

Happy 23rd Birthday, Google!

[9A]

March 17, 2018

St. Patrick's Day 2018




In today’s Doodle, Irish artist Ross Stewart celebrates his homeland’s rich history and heritage.

Standing in for the Google “L” is a tall stone that pays homage to Ireland’s earliest form of writing: ogham. The edge is marked with a series of ancient carvings, each group representing a letter of the ogham alphabet. See if you can read what it says [hint: it goes left to right, bottom to top!].

Meanwhile, a determined stonemason is hard at work against a backdrop of peaceful greens and blues. In the foreground, a sprinkling of native wildflowers rounds out Stewart’s ode to the isle’s vast, natural beauty – sheepish onlooker included.

Here’s to a happy St. Patrick’s Day!

[9A]

March 17, 2011

150th Anniversary of the Italian Unification




The anniversary of the Unification of Italy [Italian: Anniversario dell'Unità d'Italia] is a national day that falls annually on March 17 and celebrates the birth of the modern Italian state, which took place following the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy on 17 March 1861.

However, the complete unification of Italy took place only in the following years: in 1866 the Veneto and the province of Mantua were annexed after the Third Italian War of Independence, in 1870 Lazio after the capture of Rome and in 1918 Trentino-Alto Adige and Julian March after the First World War. In this regard, the National Unity and Armed Forces Day was also established, which is celebrated annually on November 4, recalling the Italian victory in the First World War, a war event considered to complete the process of unification of Italy.[1]

[9A]

March 17, 2020

Olga Orozco’s 100th Birthday





“Mi historia está en mis manos y en las manos con que otros las tatuaron.
De mi estadía quedan las magias y los ritos,
unas fechas gastadas por el soplo de un despiadado amor,
la humareda distante de la casa donde nunca estuvimos,
y unos gestos dispersos entre los gestos de otros que no me conocieron.”

["My story is on my hands and on the hands of others who etched it upon me.
The rituals and magic from my stay remain,
times worn away by the breath of a ruthless love,
the distant smoke from the house we never entered,
and some vague gestures among the gestures of others who never knew me."]

—Olga Orozco, “Yo, Olga Orozco”


Today’s Doodle celebrates Argentine poet Olga Orozco, a master of the surreal, on her 100th birthday. With 18 published volumes, she is widely considered a pivotal figure in 1940s Argentine and Latin American poetry.

Olga Nilda Gugliotta Orozco was born on this day in 1920 in Toay, a small town in central Argentina. The mystery she felt in the region’s endless flat plains had a strong creative influence on her throughout her life.

Orozco took an early interest in poetry and went on to study literature at the University of Buenos Aires. She successfully published her early work in the literary magazine, Canto, and found creative company among a like-minded group of writers that came to be referred to as “The Generation of ‘40.”

In 1946, she published her first book of poetry, “Desde lejos” [“From Far Away”], sparking a prolific creative period that lasted decades and solidified her status among Argentina's great poets. Her work was marked by a sense of magic and spirituality, exploring possible dimensions beyond the everyday physical world.

In honor of her work, Orozco received many notable awards, including the 1998 FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages—one of the most prestigious honors in Latin American and Caribbean literature.


¡Feliz cumpleaños, Olga Orozco!

[9A]

March 17, 2021

Celebrating Charoen Krung Road



Today’s Doodle celebrates Charoen Krung Road, the very first paved road in Bangkok, which officially opened to travel on this day in 1864. Built alongside the banks of the Chao Phraya River, a tributary that flows through the heart of the city’s urban center, this historic thoroughfare paved the way for the modernization of the Thai capital, all while retaining the charm of its long and winding cultural history.

In the 1860s, the Bangkok economy relied mostly on its network of canals for trade. But as the Thai capital became home to foreign traders and their horse-drawn buggies, the city sought to revamp its water-based infrastructure to land transportation in order to meet the demands of international commerce. The local government answered with the 1862 construction of Charoen Krung, which loosely translates to “Prosperous City” but is also often referred to as the “New Road.”

Today, Charoen Krung serves as an asphalt artery that connects a melting pot of old and new in areas like Bangkok’s first “Creative District.” This riverside neighborhood features some of the capital’s most iconic landmarks such as the Old Customs House, where 19th century foreign traders paid taxes before entering and exiting the country, alongside an eclectic mix of everything from French bistros to international street murals. This intersection of modernity and history emphasizes how Charoen Krung has always been a progressive cultural center of Thailand; one that continues to clear the path for the ingenuity of the days to come.

Here’s to Bangkok’s oldest New Road!

[9A]

July 16, 2019

Celebrating Hội An




By the light of the full moon, residents of the town burn incense and light small lanterns, floating them on the river until hundreds of colorful lanterns illuminate the water. During the full moon season with which the Hội An’s lantern festival aligns, today’s Doodle celebrates a historic town that’s remained largely unchanged for several centuries.

Situated on the north bank of Vietnam’s scenic Thu Bon River, right where it empties into the South China Sea, Hội An was one of the busiest trading ports in Southeast Asia from the 15th to the 19th century.

While the name Hội An means “peaceful meeting place,” the seaport has been abuzz with activity since the 2nd century. The surrounding area, known as Quảng Nam province, produced cinnamon and ginseng, as well as textiles and ceramics, enticing traders from all over Asia and Europe. By the 1600s, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Indian, Filipino, Indonesian, Thai, French, British, and American ships would come and go, while Chinese and Japanese traders rented waterfront houses in the seaside town.

Business tapered off when silt accumulation in the river made it difficult for larger ships to navigate. Fortunately, the city was spared from modernization for over 200 years, leaving the original street plan and buildings intact.

In 1999, Hội An was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Seventeenth-century Japanese traders built the lacquered wood Chùa Cầu, or “Bridge Pagoda,” with entrances guarded by statues of monkeys and dogs. Hundreds of timber-frame buildings and Chinese temples line narrow streets that are now popular with sightseers, historians, and filmmakers, seeking to experience and recapture a bygone era.

[9A]

July 16, 2021

Elizeth Cardoso's 101st Birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates the birthday of Brazilian actor and singer Elizeth “The Divine” Cardoso. Her 1958 album “Canção do Amor Demais” [“Too Much Love Song”] is widely regarded as the first true bossa nova album, a hybrid style of breezy jazz and traditional Brazilian music that captured the stylistic evolutions of the era.

On this day in 1920, Elizete Moreira Cardoso was born into a family of musicians in Rio de Janeiro and debuted as a singer at just five years old. Her first major break occurred at her 16th birthday party when an introduction to popular Brazilian musician Jacob do Bandolim changed her life.

Eager to share her rare vocal gift, Bandolim landed Cardoso an opening gig for a stacked lineup of Brazilian musicians in 1936, including the likes of Noel Rosa and Araci de Almeida. Cardoso’s fame continued to grow into the 1940s with regular appearances alongside this superstar group and by performing everywhere from circuses to ballrooms. In 1950, Cardoso recorded her first hit, "Canção de Amor" [“Love Song]. The explosion of popular reception for this single paved the way for a fruitful musical career that was soon followed by success as an actor in both TV and film.

Cardoso became an international sensation in the following decades; her heartfelt spin on Brazilian music garnered standing ovations [with one lasting 15 minutes!] and enchanted audiences globally on world tours well into the 1980s. In 2007, Rolling Stone Brazil listed Cardoso’s “Canção do Amor Demais” among the nation’s top 100 albums of all time.

Happy birthday, Elizeth Cardoso!

[9A]

Jul 12, 2018

Celebrating Sarah "Fanny" Durack




Today’s Doodle celebrates Sarah “Fanny” Durack, a titan in her sport who fought tirelessly for the right to represent her country on the world stage. In 1912 Fanny became the first Australian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming, going on to break every world record in women’s swimming from the 100-meter to the 1-mile.

Born in Sydney on October 27, 1889, Durack learned to swim with her two sisters at tidal pools near Coogee Beach. Winning her first championship at age 13, she went on to dominate the sport in Australia.

The 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm were the first to include women in swimming. Dismissing concerns about female athletes competing in front of male spectators, Durack and “Mina” Wylie petitioned the New South Wales Ladies Swimming Association to allow them to participate. Having set two world records that same year, Durack and her close runner-up Mina won the right to compete—but the Amateur Swimming Union would not pay the expenses for their trip to Sweden. They appeared at fundraisers to earn the money, letting no obstacle stop them from making a mark on the global stage.

A century later, Fanny Durack’s name lives on thanks to her commitment to the pursuit of excellence—and to gender equality in sports.

[9A]

July 12, 2011

450th Anniversary of St. Basil's Cathedral




Built in 1561, St. Basil's Cathedral is an architectural treasure for both Russia and the world. As this is one of my personal favorite buildings of all time, it was difficult for me to not become completely caught up in every detail while drawing [even knowing how small it appears on the homepage]. Never the less, above is the high resolution version of this doodle!

posted by Jennifer Hom

[9A]

July 12, 2017

Tayeb Salih’s 88th Birthday



“There are many horizons that must be visited, fruit that must be plucked, books read, and white pages in the scrolls of life to be inscribed with vivid sentences in a bold hand,” claims the narrator of Tayeb Salih’s most critically acclaimed novel, Seasons of Migration to the North.

First published in Arabic in 1967, Seasons of Migration to the North was an international hit and is considered a national treasure of Sudan. It was eventually translated into 20 languages, and in 2011 it was deemed the most important Arabic novel of the 20th century by the Arab Literary Academy.

Before his literary successes, Salih was born to a poor family in a village in northern Sudan in 1929. He studied in the capital, Khartoum, before moving to England four years before his country gained its independence in 1956. After leaving Sudan, Salih spent much of his life living in various cities across Europe and the Arab world, but his work always found a firm foundation in his homeland -- mostly the fictional village of Wad Hamid.

Today’s doodle honors his sense of a setting, incorporating recurring elements from some of Salih’s most popular stories, like Seasons, The Wedding of Al Zein [1962], and A Handful of Dates [1964]. Through Salih’s window we can see a boy and his beloved grandfather, the shade of a palm tree, and the river Nile.

Happy 88th birthday, Salih!

[9A]

Jul 26, 2017


Grandparents' Day 2017 [Spain]

[9A]

July 26, 2021

70th Anniversary of the Birch Bark Manuscript




On this day in 1951, a Soviet archaeological expedition led by Artemiy Artsikhovsky excavated the first ancient birch bark manuscript—a medieval letter inscribed with Old Russian text. Today’s Doodle celebrates the 70th anniversary of this major discovery that marked a new chapter in Russian linguistics research and shed new light on daily life of the Rus people in the Middle Ages.

In the 14th century, birch bark prevailed in Rus [now Russia] as the most dependable material for communication among medieval city-dwellers. It was inexpensive, ubiquitous in the region’s vast swaths of forest, and could be easily engraved using a pointed stylus made of metal, bone or wood.

Found in Veliky Novgorod—one of Russia’s oldest cities approximately 120 miles from St. Petersburg—the birch bark manuscript excavated in 1951 contains a brief list of working assignments addressed to a local laborer. This breakthrough finding proved to be just the tip of the iceberg, as over 1,000 manuscripts have been discovered across Russia since—some dating back to the 11th century!

Before the 1951 excavation, historians mostly relied on ancient Russian archives to color in the grey areas of medieval history, but these records did not illustrate the minutiae of everyday life. Birch bark writings filled these gaps with incredible detail, chronicling accounts from children to high-ranking officials. Thanks to these artifacts, scholars now believe ancient Russians had a much higher rate of literacy than previously thought and have discovered a new Old Russian dialect.

Today, experts estimate tens of thousands of birch bark writings remain under Russian soil. What will archaeologists discover next?

[9A]

July 26, 2016

Maria Severa Onofriana's 196th Birthday




A legend in her native Lisbon, Maria Severa Onofriana, known simply as Severa, is remembered as the voice that brought fado into popular culture. By performing at taverns across the Alfama district, she helped spread this expressive style of music in the 1830s and 40s.

Often somber in tone, fado [which translates roughly to “fate”] is a lyrical ode to the trials of everyday life. Although Severa told many of these tales through her songs, very little is actually known about her life. For that reason, the singer’s story has been reimagined many times in music, theater, and film.

Today’s Doodle is yet another take on the famous fadista. Donning her signature dark shawl, Severa plays the “Portuguese blues” as we celebrate her contributions to music on what would have been her 196th birthday.

[9A]

Jul 27, 2016

Ounsi el-Hajj’s 79th birthday


The poet, translator, and journalist Ounsi el-Hajj was born in South Lebanon on this date in 1937. His work is rooted in Arab culture and politics, but it also celebrates global citizenship and the borderless joys of nature. In his poem "Is This You or the Tale?" el-Hajj travels from the fifth century to Beirut's Golden Age, settling somewhere timeless: "And as my age / is counted in years, / likewise I wander outside this necklace / like drops of pearl."

In today's Doodle, el-Hajj wanders among sunflowers and butterflies, at home in a universal landscape — yet uniquely himself, sporting his trademark spectacles and suit. El-Hajj's work reminds us that although every birthplace is a particular spot and a precise moment, it's also a thread in the fabric of history that makes next-door neighbors of us all.

[9A]

July 27, 2011

Enrique Granados' 144th Birthday



Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados y Campiña [27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916], commonly known as Enrique Granados, was a Spanish composer of classical music, and concert pianist. His most well-known works include Goyescas, the Spanish Dances, and María del Carmen.

Granados wrote piano music, chamber music [a piano quintet, a piano trio, music for violin and piano], songs, zarzuelas, and an orchestral tone poem based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Many of his piano compositions have been transcribed for the classical guitar; examples include Dedicatoria, Danza No. 5, and Goyescas.

His music can be divided into three styles or periods:

A romantic style including such pieces as Escenas Románticas and Escenas Poeticas.
A more typically nationalist, Spanish style including such pieces as Danzas Españolas [Spanish Dances], 6 Piezas sobre cantos populares españoles [Six Pieces based on popular Spanish songs].

The Goya period, which includes the piano suite Goyescas, the opera Goyescas, various Tonadillas for voice and piano, and other works.

Granados was a significant influence on at least two other famous Spanish composers and musicians, Manuel de Falla and Pablo Casals. He was also the teacher of composer Rosa García Ascot.

[9A]

Jul 29, 2011

Medellin Flower Festival 2011






The Flowers Festival [Spanish: Feria de las Flores] is a festival that takes place in Medellín, Colombia. The festival is the most important social event for the city and includes a pageant, automobiles, a Paso Fino horse parade and many musical concerts.

[9A]

July 29, 2008

50th Anniversary of NASA





The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and space research.

NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics [NACA]. The new agency was to have a distinctly civilian orientation, encouraging peaceful applications in space science. Since its establishment, most US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System, Commercial Crew vehicles, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for uncrewed NASA launches.

NASA's science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System; advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Research Program; exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft such as New Horizons; and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang, through the Great Observatories and associated programs.

[9A]

Aug 8, 2008


2008 Beijing Olympic Games - Opening Ceremony

[9A]

Aug 9, 2008

2008 Beijing Olympic Games - Cycling

[9A]

Aug 11, 2008

2008 Beijing Olympic Games - Diving

[9A]

Aug 14, 2008

2008 Beijing Olympic Games - Basketball

[9A]

January 23, 2018

Stephen Keshi’s 56th Birthday






Today we celebrate the life of Nigerian football icon Stephen Keshi. Football took Keshi all over the world, as he played across Africa, Europe, and the US. Known affectionately as “Big Boss,” he was beloved as a player for Nigeria’s national team, where he earned more than 60 caps, each for an appearance in an international match, and represented the country at the FIFA World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations.

After his great success as a player, Keshi moved into the next phase of his career: coaching. When the “Big Boss” became coach of the Togo national team, he brought his trademark passion with him. Against the odds, Keshi led Togo all the way to a qualifying spot in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

He achieved his personal dream in 2011, when he became the Nigerian national coach, cementing his place in African [and world] football history. Coaching the Nigerian team, Keshi won the African Cup of Nations in 2013, and in 2014 became the first coach of an African nation to make it to the knockout round of a World Cup.

Keshi is one of only two men to win the Africa Cup of Nations as both a player and a manager - a testament to his wit, talent, and love for the sport.

A big cheer for this football legend, on what would’ve been his 56th birthday!

[9A]

December 18, 2018

Paul Klee's 139th Birthday



Influenced by movements such as cubism, surrealism, and expressionism, Paul Klee explored numerous styles to develop his own approach to art-making—both rigorous and childlike—which defies categorization.Today’s Doodle pays homage to his Rote Brücke [Red Bridge], a 1928 work that transforms the rooftops and arches of a European city into a pattern of shapes rendered in contrasting yet harmonious hues. As Klee wrote in his diary, in 1914: “Color and I are one… I am a painter.”

Born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland on this day in 1879, Klee was the son of a German music teacher and a Swiss singer. An accomplished violinist, Klee played in a symphony orchestra before dedicating himself to becoming a painter. He brought a musical sense of rhythm to the visual arts.

Sketching landscapes and caricatures even in his early teens, Klee began keeping meticulous records of all his creations in 1911, whether panel paintings, works on paper, graphics, or sculptures. He studied dots, lines, planes, and forms observed from nature—whether from the fish tank he kept at home or the veins seen on leaves or the human body—applying his observations to a vast body of work.

Along with his neighbor, the famous Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, Klee was affiliated with an influential circle of artists known as Der Blaue Reiter, which lasted from 1911 to 1914. He went on to teach at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany during the 1920s, and the Pedagogical Sketchbook he wrote for the benefit of his students is still used today.

Klee never stopped pushing his creativity forward, producing a large number of works every year. In the year 1939, near the end of his career, he completed a record 1,239 works. “Some will not recognize the truthfulness of my mirror,” Klee wrote in his diary. “Let them remember that I am not here to reflect the surface... but must penetrate inside. My mirror probes down to the heart.”

Happy Birthday, Paul Klee!

[9A]

November 22, 2017

Celebrating Kimchi




Today we celebrate Kimchi on what is known as “Kimchi Day” in Korea! According to local research, the date is significant in this tasty treat’s creation because salting kimchi today helps the dish reach its full flavor potential.

Packing a powerful punch of napa cabbage, green onion, fish sauce, red pepper flakes, rice flour, salt, ginger, radish, carrot, and garlic, fermented kimchi in onggi [clay pot] is loved by many around the world and is traditionally eaten with chopsticks. Today’s Doodle celebrates each ingredient that goes into making some seriously scrumptious kimchi.

Kimchi was first referenced in Korea about 2,600-3,000 years ago, and in the 18th century, it was first made with chili peppers. Due to varying regional recipes, there are hundreds of different types of kimchi. Many Korean households even have a separate kimchi refrigerator!

The dish is produced in especially large amounts during November and December. This is when kimjang [kimchi curing] takes place in preparation for winter. During kimjang, cabbage is pickled by cutting it into smaller pieces, soaking it in brine overnight, and dashing salt. Then, yangnyum [radish coated in chili powder] is mixed with ingredients such as green onions, dropwort, mustard leaves, ginger, garlic, and fermented shrimp or anchovies. To complete the process, the pickled cabbage is stuffed or mixed with the yangnyum and stored away to ferment until eating.

During this time, family members and neighbors gather in each other’s kitchens to cook together, trade recipes, and share stories. Listed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage, kimjang creates moments of joy and encourages living in harmony with nature.

Happy eating!

[9A]

April 26, 2018

Fanny Blankers-Koen’s 100th Birthday



On a rainy summer day in 1948, onlookers at London’s Wembley track saw an unexpected athlete make history. Dutch runner and 30-year-old mother of two Fanny Blankers-Koen outstrided her opponents in the women’s 200m by 0.7 seconds—the highest margin in Olympics 200m history and a record that still stands today.

Born near Baarn, the Netherlands, in 1918, Blankers-Koen had set a national record for the women’s 800m by age 17. At 18, she competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, placing fifth in the 4x100m and sixth in high jump.

After the 1940 and 1944 Olympics were canceled, many thought Blankers-Koen would never make another Olympics. When she declared her intentions to compete in the 1948 London Games, she received letters from many criticizing her for continuing to race despite being a mother and insisting she stay home.

But words couldn’t break Blankers-Koen’s stride. She captured four golds during the 1948 London Games, winning the 100m, 80m hurdles, 200m, and 4x100m relay to become the first woman to win four medals in a single Olympics. Her quick feet didn’t just set records. Blankers-Koen’s accomplishments flattened stereotypes of female athletes at the time, earning her the nickname “The Flying Housewife.”

Today, we celebrate what would’ve been her 100th birthday with a Doodle that imagines her racing down the track, smiling mid-stride.

Happy birthday, Fanny!

[9A]

April 26, 2011

Vallenato Festival 2011




The Vallenato Legend Festival is one of the most important musical festivals in Colombia. The festival features a vallenato music contests for best performer of accordion, caja vallenata and guacharaca, as well as piqueria [battle of lyrics] and best song. It's celebrated every year in April in the city of Valledupar, Department of Cesar.

[9A]

Apr 27, 2012

Theo Angelopoulos' 77th Birthday




Theodoros "Theo" Angelopoulos was a Greek filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer.

He dominated the Greek art film industry from 1975 on, Angelopoulos was one of the most influential and widely respected filmmakers in the world. He started making films in 1967. In the 1970s he made a series of political films about modern Greece.

Angelopoulos' films, described by Martin Scorsese as that of "a masterful filmmaker", are characterized by the slightest movement, slightest change in distance, long takes, and complex, carefully composed scenes. His cinematic method is often described as "sweeping" and "hypnotic."

In 1998 his film Eternity and a Day went on to win the Palme d'Or at the 51st edition of the Cannes Film Festival, and his films have been shown at many of the world's esteemed film festivals.

[9A]

May 1, 2012

Ramón y Cajal 160th Birthday




Santiago Ramón y Cajal was a Spanish neuroscientist, pathologist, and histologist specializing in neuroanatomy and the central nervous system. He and Camillo Golgi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1906. Ramón y Cajal was the first person of Spanish origin to win a scientific Nobel Prize. His original investigations of the microscopic structure of the brain made him a pioneer of modern neuroscience.

Hundreds of his drawings illustrating the arborizations ["tree growing"] of brain cells are still in use, since the mid-20th century, for educational and training purposes.

[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.

Transcriptions of many of his pieces, such as Asturias, Granada, Sevilla, Cadiz, Córdoba, Cataluña, Mallorca, and Tango in D, are important pieces for classical guitar, though he never composed for the guitar. The personal papers of Albéniz are preserved in, among other institutions, the Biblioteca de Catalunya.

As one of the leading composers of his era, Albéniz's influences on both contemporary composers and on the future of Spanish music are profound. As a result of his extended stay in France and the friendship he formed with numerous composers there, his composition technique and harmonic language has influenced aspiring younger composers such as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. His activities as conductor, performer and composer significantly raised the profile of Spanish music abroad and encouraged Spanish music and musicians in his own country.

[9A]

May 29, 2014

Norman Frederick Hetherington's 93rd Birthday




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

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

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

[9A]

May 29, 2013

Leah Goldberg's 102nd Birthday




Leah Goldberg or Lea Goldberg was a prolific Hebrew-language poet, author, playwright, literary translator, and comparative literary researcher. Her writings are considered classics of Israeli literature.

[9A]

May 29, 2008

Anniversary of the First Ascent of Mount Everest





The 1953 British Mount Everest expedition was the ninth mountaineering expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest, and the first confirmed to have succeeded when Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit on 29 May 1953. Led by Colonel John Hunt, it was organised and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee. News of the expedition's success reached London in time to be released on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, on the 2nd of June that year.

[9A]

May 29, 2018

Alfonsina Storni’s 126th Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates renowned post-modern Latin American poet and feminist Alfonsina Storni. Also known by her pen-names Tao-Lao and Alfonsina, Storni was a prolific Argentine writer and top literary journalist who was dedicated to women’s rights and gender equality.

By age 27, Storni had authored six short stories, two novels, and a series of essays including La inquietud del rosal [The Restlessness of the Rosebush, 1916], El dulce daño [Sweet Pain, 1918], Irremediablemente [Irremediably, 1919], and Languidez [Languor, 1920], the latter winning first Municipal Poetry Prize and the second National Literature Prize. Her body of work subsequently led her to become known as one of Argentina’s most respected poets.

Active in women’s rights since she was 16, Storni was also a member of Comité Feminista de Santa Fé [Feminist Committee of Santa Fe], a leader of the Asociación pro Derechos de la Mujer [Association for the Rights of the Woman], and helped establish the Argentine Society of Writers. Today, Storni is featured as one of 999 women on The Heritage Floor, an artwork which displays names of women who have contributed to society and history, at the Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

Depicted in today’s Doodle, Storni’s poem La Loba [The She-Wolf, 1916] recounts her experience raising a son as a single mother while defying patriarchal norms of time:

I am like the she-wolf.

I broke with the pack


...


I have a son, the outcome of love without marriage,

For I couldn't be like the others, another ox

With its neck in a yoke; I hold my proud head high!

I plow through the underbrush with my own hands.


Happy 126th birthday, Alfonsina Storni!

[9A]

June 18, 2019

Celebrating Michaelina Wautier



Today’s Doodle celebrates the Belgian artist Michaelina Wautier, born 415 years ago. Although many of Michaelina’s paintings were once misattributed to other artists, including her own brother, she’s now known as “Baroque’s leading lady.”

On this day last year, the definitive monograph on Wautier’s work was published by two institutions in Antwerp—Rubenshuis and Museum aan de Stroom—who also collaborated to showcase the first-ever Wautier retrospective, an exhibition of some 30 works that shed new light on “mysterious Michaelina.” Contemporaries of Flemish masters like Rubens and Van Dyck, Michaelina and her younger brother Charles Wautier grew up in a well-to-do family, moving around 1640 from their birthplace of Mons to Brussels, where they lived in a stately townhouse near the Kappellekerk. Neither sibling married, devoting themselves to painting.

While researching her brother, art historian Pierre-Yves Kairis discovered Michaelina’s work, struck by her mastery of portraiture, historical paintings, and genre pieces during a time when female painters were, as he put it, “at best tolerated for painting flowers.” During her lifetime, she impressed prominent patrons like Archduke Leopold-Willem, who collected four of her paintings.

Her large-scale work The Triumph of Bacchus, widely considered her masterpiece, offers a glimpse of the artist’s personality. Michaelina painted herself into the scene, disguised as a half-naked bacchante, staring boldly at the viewer without apology.

[9A]

June 27, 2021

Krzysztof Kieślowski's 80th Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 80th birthday of internationally-acclaimed Polish filmmaker and screenwriter Krzysztof Kieślowski, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential directors of art-house cinema.

Born in Warsaw, Poland, on this day in 1941, Kieślowski developed a love for storytelling through a childhood passion for literature. He pursued his obsession with the narrative arts at the esteemed Lódz Film School, where his first original feature film came in the form of a short silent drama in 1966. In his early films, such as his 1971 documentary about a shipyard labor strike entitled “Workers ‘71,” Kieślowski explored the complexities and moral dilemmas of everyday life through candid depictions of contemporary Poland.

Kieślowski moved beyond the documentary format in his 1975 feature film “Personnel,” the first of many cinematic works of fiction. It wasn’t until the 1988 release of “The Decalogue”—ten hour-long TV episodes that followed the residents of a Warsaw housing complex—that Kieślowski’s work gained international fame. His trademark philosophical explorations climaxed in the 1993-94 “Three Colors” trilogy, each a reflection on the ideals of the French Revolution, which comprised his final films.

In addition to dozens of prestigious awards throughout his career, Kieślowski received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Director in 1994 for “Three Colors: Red,” the final installment of his iconic triptych. After retiring from cinema that year, Kieślowski returned to the medium that first inspired his devotion to the art of the story: literature.

Happy birthday, Krzysztof Kieślowski!

[9A]

June 27, 2018

Efua Theodora Sutherland's 94th Birthday



Many great literary works owe their legacies to dedicated teachers who explore their meaning with their students. Prominent writer and teacher Efua Theodora Sutherland played a crucial role in both the creation and exploration of prominent plays across Ghana.

Sutherland [or Aunty Efua, as she was affectionately known], was one of Africa’s earliest female writers recognized locally and internationally for numerous theater works, including Foriwa [1962], Edufa [1967], and The Marriage of Anansewa [[1975). She is credited with bringing literary and theatrical movements in Ghana between the 1950s and 1990s through her own works and helped develop the country’s educational curriculum for children.

At a time when women played a limited role in governance, Sutherland is also remembered for her extensive work on the U.N. Convention on the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

Because of Sutherland’s dedication to children’s rights and cultural activism, thousands of students in Ghana [and beyond] have access to quality education and theater performance.

Happy 94th birthday to a pioneering dramatist, playwright, and activist.

[9A]

June 27, 2009

Seven Sleepers Day 2009




Seven Sleepers' Day on June 27 is a feast day commemorating the legend of the Seven Sleepers as well as one of the best-known bits of traditional weather lore [expressed as a proverb] remaining in German-speaking Europe. The atmospheric conditions on that day are supposed to determine or predict the average summer weather of the next seven weeks.

[9A]

May 25, 2020

Kazi Nazrul Islam’s 121st Birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates Bengali poet, musician, writer, and activist Kazi Nazrul Islam on his 121st birthday. A prominent voice of the Indian independence movement, Nazrul was a fierce advocate for religious tolerance, freedom, and the fight against injustice, earning him the nickname “Bidrohi Kobi” [“Rebel Poet”].

Kazi Nazrul Islam was born on this day in 1899 in what is today the Bardhaman district of the Indian state of West Bengal, and as a youth, he developed an interest in poetry and literature through his involvement with his uncle’s traveling theater group. After several years in the British Indian Army during World War I, Nazrul moved to Kolkata and in 1922 published his now-famous revolutionary poem “Bidrohi” [“The Rebel”], which was marked by a vehement stance against colonialism and global oppression and inspired today’s Doodle artwork.

Nazrul’s subversive writing—much of which he published in his own magazine, Dhumketu [The Comet]—resulted in frequent imprisonment, which in turn inspired one of his most well-known works, “Rajbondir Jobanbondi'' [''The Deposition of a Political Prisoner,” 1923]. He used his platform to combat bigotry in all its forms, and through his poetry supported the equality of women at a time when few of his peers were willing to do the same. Not to be confined to the written word, Nazrul also wrote some 4,000 songs, which brought him national popularity and spawned an entirely new genre called Nazrul Geeti [Music of Nazrul].

For his incredible literary contributions, Nazrul was named the national poet of Bangladesh in 1972.

[9A]

May 27, 2020

Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso's 95th Birthday



Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Chile-based guest artist Pablo Luebert, celebrates the 95th birthday of a luminary ambassador of the southern night sky: Chilean astrophysicist, author, and professor Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso. Light-years ahead of her time, she was the first Chilean to earn a doctorate in astrophysics, a pioneer not only in her field, but also for women scientists around the world.

Born in the Chilean capital of Santiago on this day in 1925, Carmen Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso was determined from a young age to become a science researcher and teacher. Her scientific career formally took off in 1949, when she joined the faculty at the University of Chile, home of the historic National Astronomical Observatory. In her early years, Adelina crunched data from distant stars, including that collected by her colleague Hugo Moreno León; the two eventually married and formed a fruitful partnership that resulted in a wealth of scientific publications.

But for Adelina, the sky wasn’t the limit. To further her exploration into the mysteries of the cosmos, she moved to the United States in the late 1950s. She graduated from the University of Indiana in 1964 with her unprecedented doctorate in astrophysics, and upon her return home, she helped to establish and lead the country’s first Bachelor of Astronomy program at her alma mater, the University of Chile.

In honor of her stellar scientific contributions, Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso became the first woman and astronomer inducted into the Chilean Academy of Sciences in 1967.

[9A]

May 27, 2016

Faten Hamama’s 85th birthday


"Lady of the Arabic screen," "Star of the Century," and Egypt's "National Treasure” are just a few of the names associated with the Egyptian actress, Faten Hamama. Discovered as a child at a beauty pageant in Mansoura, Hamama's meteoric rise was perfectly timed to the bloom of the Egyptian film industry.

Hamama began her film career as a 16 year-old student at the High Institute of Acting in Cairo. Over the next 8 years, she would make more than 20 films and become the highest paid female lead in Egypt at the time.

But it's the impact of her success that makes her legacy so important. From her 1964 film, The Open Door which highlighted the need for women's rights to I Want a Solution in 1975 which paved the way for changes to Egyptian marriage and divorce laws, hers was a career of influence. In keeping with her legacy, today's doodle memorializes her role as Layla, the strong, unwavering lead in the film AlBab Al Maftouh [The Open Door].

Named her country’s, “Most Important Actress,” it’s clear Hamama is known by many superlatives and remembered for so many things. But on this what would be her 85th birthday, we salute her brilliant ability to transcend time to inspire us again and again.

[9A]

May 27, 2012

75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge




The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide [1.6 km] strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula—to Marin County, carrying both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. It also carries pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and is designated as part of U.S. Bicycle Route 95. Being declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco and California. It was initially designed by engineer Joseph Strauss in 1917.

The Frommer's travel guide describes the Golden Gate Bridge as "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world." At the time of its opening in 1937, it was both the longest and the tallest suspension bridge in the world, with a main span of 4,200 feet [1,280 m] and a total height of 746 feet [227 m].

[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. The doodle was originally more aspirational in concept, much like the figure it celebrates. Carson could be seen perched on a seacliff, staring toward the sea with a light animation of her scarf flowing in the wind.

But doodler Matthew Cruickshank eventually went for a different approach.

“As much as I liked the image itself, as well as a chance to do a small piece of animation, I thought it shifted the focus away from the wildlife she sought to learn about and protect,” Matt explains. In the final illustration, Rachel Louise Carson 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.”