Google doodles

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September 25, 2021

Christopher Reeve's 69th Birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates American actor, director, author, and humanitarian Christopher Reeve, who is best known for his spinal cord research advocacy work alongside his leading role in four “Superman” feature films.

Christopher D’Olier Reeve was born on this day in 1952 in New York City. He graduated from The Juilliard School and made his stage debut in the 1976 Broadway comedy “A Matter of Gravity.” After only two years of acting in soap operas and plays, Reeve auditioned to play the Man of Steel himself in the 1978 “Superman” film, landing the role ahead of 200 other aspiring actors.

His performance as the iconic superhero in the four-part film franchise launched him to international fame, but he refused to be typecast in action roles. To this end, he brought a diverse range of characters to life both in cinema and on stage throughout his career. Outside of acting, he was an enthusiastic equestrian and athlete. In 1995, Reeve was paralyzed from the neck down due to a riding accident; these injuries led him to become an outspoken champion for those with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities across Hollywood, the nation, and the world.

Reeve used his platform to bring increased awareness to topics related to disabilities and dedicated his life to driving positive change for the community. This included sponsoring bills to raise lifetime insurance “caps'' to better support people with disabilities and helping pass the 1999 Work Incentives Improvement Act, which secured ongoing insurance payments to people with disabilities even after they return to work. He focused on efforts to directly improve the quality of life for people with disabilities by distributing millions in individual grants through his foundation and serving on the boards of various disability organizations with this aim. Reeve also advocated for support and government funding of responsible stem cell research to further the knowledge and treatment of numerous health conditions, including spinal cord injuries. Calling on Hollywood to draw attention to other important social causes, Reeve led by example with his 1997 directorial debut “In the Gloaming,” a five-time Emmy nominated drama centered around a man diagnosed with HIV.

Today, his legacy is carried on by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which he founded in 1998.

Happy birthday, Christopher Reeve—who remains a hero to many both on and off the screen!

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September 25, 2013

Maria Tănase's 100th Birthday




Maria Tănase was a Romanian singer and actress. Her music ranged from traditional Romanian music to romance, tango, chanson and operetta.

Tănase has a similar importance in Romania as Édith Piaf in France or Amália Rodrigues in Portugal. In her nearly three-decade-long career, she became widely regarded as Romania's national diva, being admired for her originality, voice, physical beauty and charisma. In Romania, she is still regarded as a major cultural icon of the 20th century.In 2006 she was included to the list of the 100 Greatest Romanians of all time by a nationwide poll.

[9A]

June 15, 2015

800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta




It’s 1215 in Runnymede, England. On the banks of the River Thames, King John sits nervously with a group of powerful barons. The mood at the negotiation table is tense, and the country teeters on the precipice of civil war. It’s no wonder the barons are hot under the collar--for years, the despotic King John has been doling out prison sentences with impunity, and the barons have descended upon him to demand their rights be recognized.

The ensuing negotiations would result in the sealing of the Magna Carta. For the first time, a monarch entered a written contract that limited his power and made him answerable to his subjects. This was a profound idea, and one that would inspire political thinkers in some of history’s most pivotal moments.

Despite its significance as a symbol of democracy, little of the original agreement dealt with liberty or universal freedom, and most of it was eventually changed or cut. When the dust of antiquity settled, however, what remained was one of its most important contributions: the right to due process. Protection against illegal imprisonment was one of the cornerstones of this agreement. Doodler Matt Cruickshank has captured a cartoon interpretation of the scene with today’s doodle as post-sealing an unjustly detained baron finds an unlikely ally in the King’

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June 21, 2012

Yuri Kondratyuk's 115th Birthday




Yuri Kondratyuk was a self-educated mechanic who, 50 years before lunar flights, foresaw ways of reaching the moon, calculating the best means of achieving a lunar landing. His theory of the gravitational slingshot trajectory to accelerate a spacecraft, known today as the "Kondratyuk Route", was eventually adopted by the engineers of the Apollo program for American lunar expeditions.

His personal story is also fascinating, though ultimately heartbreaking. Yuri's developing theories on space travel were happening during a time when such pursuits were considered "absurd", and consequently were prohibited by the ruling government of his time. Because of this, his work – and much of his life – was shrouded in secrecy. Even his real name was a secret [it was Aleksandr Gnatovich Shargei]. Fortunately, history has been much kinder to his legacy, and today he is considered an early pioneer of space exploration. For his doodle, we felt that while it is not quite the real thing, it was only right to show an aspirational Kondratyuk gazing about – and amongst – the stars.

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June 21, 2011

Abdel Halim Hafez's 82nd Birthday



Abdel Halim Ali Shabana commonly known as Abdel Halim Hafez, was an Egyptian singer, actor, conductor, businessman, music teacher and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest Egyptian musicians along with Umm Kulthum, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Mohamed Fawzi, and Shadia. As his popularity grew, he was given the nickname 'el-Andaleeb el-Asmar , meaning The Dark-Skinned Nightingale. To date, he has sold over 80 million records.

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November 26, 1998

Thanksgiving 1998

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November 1, 2016


Wadih El Safi’s 95th Birthday



One of Lebanon’s most prominent cultural icons, El Safi became known as the “Voice of Lebanon” after winning a national radio competition at the age of seventeen. He was a singer, songwriter, composer, and actor, well known for his mawawil [improvised singing] of ‘ataba, mijana, and Abu el Zuluf. He went on to have a 75 year career in music, releasing more than 5,000 songs.

Today’s Doodle celebrates his rich legacy, which helped etch an authentic Lebanese musical identity, drawn from the folklore and heritage of his country and region.

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Apr 6, 2015

Leonora Carrington’s 98th Birthday



For surrealist artist Leonora Carrington’s 98th Birthday, our doodle is based off her painting “How Doth the Little Crocodile.”

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January 16, 2018

Katy Jurado’s 94th Birthday





Initially brought to fame by playing “femme fatale” characters, Katy Jurado [born María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García] achieved stardom in both Mexican cinema and Hollywood through her nuanced portrayals of complicated women.

As a teenager, Jurado was barred from acting by her family, but she was so determined that she signed her first contract in secret. Her career began with several films produced during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, including the successful La vida inútil de Pito Pérez [1943].

Cast in her first Hollywood film, Bullfighter and the Lady [1951], Jurado’s limited grasp of English meant she delivered her lines by memorizing the way they sounded. Despite the unconventional approach, her strong performance caught the attention of a well-known Hollywood producer, who cast her in the soon-to-be-classic Western, High Noon [1952]. Jurado played the narratively-important character of Helen Ramirez so skillfully that she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Accolades for future performances would include three Silver Ariel Awards and nominations for several Academy Awards.

Off-screen, Jurado was a tenacious and spirited woman who captivated everyone around her. While she was stunningly beautiful, her portrayals transcended the stereotyped, over-sexualized roles written for Mexican women at the time. Her talent at depicting a range of characters helped to expand the parts available to Mexican and other Latina actresses in Hollywood today.

Today’s Doodle by artist Ana Ramirez pays homage to the trailblazing actress by depicting her in a powerful pose against a backdrop inspired by the set of her film High Noon - complete with roses, which symbolize Jurado’s birthplace of Guadalajara, nicknamed “the city of roses.”

[9A]

January 16, 2014

Dian Fossey's 82nd Birthday





One of the most amazing humans ever to have lived: Dian Fossey. I was incredibly honored to create a Google Doodle for her.

A very early concept sketch

Here's a fun fact though: I used to think her name was spelled Diane Fossy. It was an honest mistake, misplacing one little "e". Similarly, quite a few of our doodles start out with us knowing very little about the subject matter. And it's understandable to a degree, considering we create doodles for people, occasions, and things around the world. But I knew Dian was someone for whom I really needed to do my homework, so after correcting my spelling error and reading through her Wikipedia page, I ordered a copy of Gorillas in the Mist and dug in.




the bigger story

I thought I was in for a dry, scientific journal, full of charts, data, and the inevitable bits of Latin. There's some of all of those things in there to be sure, but it is all perfectly woven into an engaging story, with the same range of emotional ups and downs of a classic novel. I laughed. I cried. I became angry. I was filled with hope. I cried some more. I was almost immediately drawn not just to the basis of her field work, but her greater cause to save the critically endangered mountain gorilla.



I also engaged The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International for their guidance. It never hurts to get the real experts involved. Dr. Erika Archibald provided some invaluable bits of advice, and by the end of our phone call, I had a pretty firm grasp on what to illustrate. The challenge was focusing on the importance of her work while managing to weave a narrative thread throughout the piece.



breaking down the google letters

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

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

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




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

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

posted by Mike Dutton, Doodler

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January 16, 2013

Zamboni

[9A]

November 29, 2017

Christian Doppler’s 214th Birthday



When a fire engine approaches, the siren gets louder as it comes closer, taxing your eardrums as it whizzes past, and fades into the distance. What causes this difference in volume?

The answer was proposed by Austrian mathematician and physicist Christian Doppler in 1842 in a phenomenon since documented as the Doppler Effect, a concept that applies to both sound and light, in addition to other phenomena.

Simply put, sound is generated in ‘waves.’ As the source of such waves moves closer, the waves themselves take less time to reach you. They hit you with increasing frequency, making the sound more intense. As the source moves away, the waves start to spread out, and the sound becomes weaker.

The Doppler effect also explains why stars in the sky appear to be of different colors. As a star approaches the earth, wavelengths compress and the star appears to be bluer in color. If the converse happens and a star is moving away from us, it appears redder.

Though the Doppler Effect is his most famous contribution to scientific literature, Christian Doppler authored over fifty works in mathematics, physics, and astronomy over the course of a twenty year teaching career that spanned modern day Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.

Today’s Doodle by guest artist Max Löffler celebrates Christian Doppler’s 214th birthday. It shows Doppler in Salzburg, his native city, holding an airplane as it creates a Doppler effect.

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Herr Doppler!

[9A]

Nov 29, 2017

Gertrude Jekyll’s 174th Birthday





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

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

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

Happy 174th birthday, Gertrude Jekyll!

[9A]

July 30, 2019

Muthulakshmi Reddi’s 133rd Birthday




Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Bangalore-based guest artist Archana Sreenivasan, celebrates the Indian educator, lawmaker, surgeon, and reformer Muthulakshmi Reddi. Constantly breaking down barriers throughout her life, Reddi was a trailblazer who devoted herself to public health and the battle against gender inequality, transforming the lives of countless people—especially young girls.

Born on this day in 1883 in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, Reddi became the first female student admitted to prestigious Indian institutions, the first woman to work as a surgeon in a government hospital, and the first female legislator in the history of British India.

As a young girl, Reddi resisted her parents’ plan for an early arranged marriage, convincing them she deserved an education. After passing her exams, she attended Maharaja College, formerly an all-boys school. Despite threats of students pulling out from the school, she won a scholarship, graduated with honors, and went on to be the first female student at Madras Medical College.

Reddi later gave up her medical practice to join the Madras Legislative Council, where she worked to raise the legal age of marriage and combatted exploitation of girls.

In 1914, she married a doctor named Sundara Reddi on the understanding that he treat her as an equal. Working for the upliftment of women and battling gender inequality, she supported Gandhi’s efforts for Indian independence.

After losing a sister to cancer, she launched the Adayar Cancer Institute in 1954. One of the most respected oncology centers in the world, it treats some 80,000 patients each year. In recognition of her service to her country, in 1956, Reddi was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.

[9A]

July 30, 2020

Turhan Selçuk’s 98th Birthday






Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Istanbul-based guest artist M.K. Perker, commemorates the 98th birthday of iconic Turkish cartoonist, artist, and satirist Turhan Selçuk, a celebrated pioneer of the contemporary Turkish comic strip. Wielding a minimalist style of line art infused with acute wit, Selçuk masterminded one of the country’s first and most famous original comic book characters, Abdülcanbaz, who is depicted riding a bike in today’s Doodle artwork.

Turhan Selçuk was born on this day in 1922 in the ancient Turkish city of Milas. While still a high school student in 1941, he published some of his first illustrations in the newspaper Türk Sözü [The Turkish Word] and saw continued success with his work throughout the decade.

As the chief illustrator for the Yeni Istanbul [New Istanbul], he honed his artistic style and championed the belief that cartoons were a universal medium of storytelling. In 1954, he took the same position at Milliyet, an Istanbul-based daily national newspaper that three years later became the home for Selçuk’s definitive, postmodern comic series “The Adventures of Abdülcanbaz.” Across a nearly three-decade run, the angular hero Abdülcanbaz, also known as the “Istanbul Gentleman,” traveled around the world and even through time to fight injustice and help the powerless.

In 1969, Selçuk co-founded the Turkish Cartoonists Association to educate young cartoonists and promote the medium around the world. He received numerous awards throughout his almost seventy-year career and was the first Turkish cartoonist to be awarded internationally.

[9A]

July 30, 2011

Giorgio Vasari's 500th Birthday





Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, best known for his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing, and the basis for biographies of several Renaissance artists, including Leonardo da Vinci. Vasari designed the Tomb of Michelangelo in the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence that was completed in 1578. Based on Vasari's text in print about Giotto's new manner of painting as a rinascita [[rebirth), author Jules Michelet in his Histoire de France [1835] suggested adoption of Vasari's concept, using the term Renaissance [rebirth, in French] to distinguish the cultural change. The term was adopted thereafter in historiography and still is in use today.

[9A]

Aug 4, 2011

Roberto Burle Marx's 102nd Birthday




Roberto Burle Marx was a Brazilian landscape architect [as well as a painter, print maker, ecologist, naturalist, artist and musician] whose designs of parks and gardens made him world-famous. He is accredited with having introduced modernist landscape architecture to Brazil. He was known as a modern nature artist and a public urban space designer. His work had a great influence on tropical garden design in the 20th century. Water gardens were a popular theme in his work. He was deftly able to transfer traditional artistic expressions such as graphic design, tapestry and folk art into his landscape designs. He also designed fabrics, jewellery and stage sets.

He was one of the first people to call for the conservation of Brazil's rainforests. More than 50 plants bear his name. He amassed a substantial collection of plants at his home, including more than 500 philodendrons.

[9A]

Aug 4, 2014

John Venn's 180th Birthday



John Venn was a logician and philosopher best known for introducing the Venn diagram. In the diagram, circles are used to visually and logically sort groups to illustrate their relationships to each other. For example, one circle may contain things that are mammals. The other circle may contain things that have wings. The overlapping space that both circles occupy would consist of mammals that have wings.

With a concept this simple, you would think it was all fun and games to design an interactive doodle for John Venn’s 180th birthday. And you would be right, but there was also a lot more to it!

[9A]

Aug 4, 2014

Maria Zankovetska's 160th Birthday




Happy 160th birthday to Ukrainian actress Maria Zankovetska! Despite the fame she attained throughout her career, Zankovetska never forgot her roots. She paid homage to the village she was born in [Zankiv] by using it as the basis for her stage name.

[9A]

Aug 8, 2015

229th Anniversary of the first ascent of Mont Blanc





Capped by snow and shrouded in mist sits Mont Blanc, the highest point in the Alps. Its summit, forever white, towers 15,000+ feet above Europe’s sea level. Lord Byron called it “the monarch of mountains.” And for centuries, no human had ever reached its peak.

Until 1786. That year, armed only with alpenstocks and measuring equipment [the trek was for scientific purposes], Frenchmen Michel Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat set foot at the top. Now, 229 years later, thousands of hopeful hikers annually descend upon the Alpine towns of Chamonix, Saint-Gervais, and Courmayeur to recreate this exceptional feat, and take in this incredible view.

Today we celebrate Europe’s pioneering spirit, stunning landscapes, and one-of-a-kind landmarks including the incredible Mont Blanc.

[9A]

August 8, 2013

Mugunghwa Day




Hibiscus syriacus, also known as the Korean rose, national flower of South Korea.
Various state emblems of South Korea contain Hibiscus syriacus; it is generally considered by South Koreans to be a traditional symbol of the Korean people and culture. The flower's symbolic significance stems from the Korean word mugung, which means "eternity" or "inexhaustible abundance".

[9A]

Aug 12, 2013

Erwin Schrödinger's 126th Birthday





Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger was a Nobel Prize-winning Austrian-Irish physicist who developed a number of fundamental results in quantum theory: the Schrödinger equation provides a way to calculate the wave function of a system and how it changes dynamically in time.

In addition, he wrote many works on various aspects of physics: statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, physics of dielectrics, colour theory, electrodynamics, general relativity, and cosmology, and he made several attempts to construct a unified field theory. In his book What Is Life? Schrödinger addressed the problems of genetics, looking at the phenomenon of life from the point of view of physics. He paid great attention to the philosophical aspects of science, ancient, and oriental philosophical concepts, ethics, and religion. He also wrote on philosophy and theoretical biology. He is also known for his "Schrödinger's cat" thought experiment.

The philosophical issues raised by Schrödinger's cat are still debated today and remain his most enduring legacy in popular science, while Schrödinger's equation is his most enduring legacy at a more technical level. Schrödinger is one of several individuals who have been called "the father of quantum mechanics". The large crater Schrödinger,[50] on the far side of the Moon, is named after him. The Erwin Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics was established in Vienna in 1993.

Schrödinger's portrait was the main feature of the design of the 1983–97 Austrian 1000-schilling banknote, the second-highest denomination.

A building is named after him at the University of Limerick, in Limerick, Ireland, as is the 'Erwin Schrödinger Zentrum' at Adlershof in Berlin.

Schrödinger became significantly more well known by continued mention of Schrödinger's cat on The Big Bang Theory.

[9A]

August 12, 2012

Closing Ceremony 2012




The closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, also known as A Symphony of British Music, was held on 12 August 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London. The chief guest was Prince Harry of Wales representing Queen Elizabeth II.

[9A]

August 12, 2014

Awa Odori




Our doodle in Japan celebrates “Awa Odori,” the country’s largest traditional dance festival. The event brings in 1.3 million tourists to Japan every year and dancers learn choreography that hasn’t changed in more than 400 years— guess there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel… er, dance?

[9A]

October 28, 2021

Kanō Jigorō's 161st Birthday





Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Los Angeles, CA-based artist Cynthia Yuan Cheng, celebrates Japan’s “Father of Judo,” Professor Kanō Jigorō, on his 161st birthday. The name Judo means “the gentle way” and the sport is built on principles such as justice, courtesy, safety, and modesty. Kanō saw the martial art as a way to bring people together, even while throwing opponents to the mat.

Born in 1860 in Mikage [now part of Kobe, Kanō moved to Tokyo with his father at age 11. Though he was known as a child prodigy in school, he often faced adversity. To build strength, he became determined to study the martial art of Jujutsu. During his time as a student at Tokyo University, he finally found someone who would teach him—Jujutsu master and former samurai Fukuda Hachinosuke.

Judo was first born during a Jujutsu sparring match when Kanō incorporated a western wrestling move to bring his much larger opponent to the mat. By removing the most dangerous techniques used in Jujutsu, he created “Judo,” a safe and cooperative sport based on Kanō’s personal philosophy of Seiryoku-Zenyo [maximum efficient use of energy] and Jita-Kyoei [mutual prosperity of self and others]. In 1882, Kanō opened his own dojo [a martial arts gym], the Kodokan Judo Institute in Tokyo, where he would go on to develop Judo for years. He also welcomed women into the sport in 1893.

Kanō became the first Asian member of the International Olympic Committee [IOC] in 1909, and in 1960, the IOC approved Judo as an official Olympic sport.

お誕生日おめでとうございます

Happy birthday, Kanō Jigorō!

[9A]

October 28, 2014

Jonas Salk's 100th Birthday




Polio is nearly a thing of the past, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Jonas Salk. In 1952, Dr. Salk discovered and developed the first successful vaccine for polio. Combined with Albert Sabin’s oral vaccination, the virus is no longer the threat to the world that it used to be.

For the art, doodler Mike Dutton wanted to focus on those that benefited from this scientific milestone. Adults and children alike are susceptible to the disease, but children were especially at risk due to how the disease was transmitted.

[9A]

October 28, 2013

Edith Head's 116th Birthday





"You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it." -- Edith Head

Edith Head was an American costume designer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Throughout the course of her incredibly prolific career, she won eight Academy Awards -- more than any other woman -- and designed some of the most iconic dresses of the 20th century.

When the opportunity arose for us to celebrate Miss Edith's birthday, I snatched it up. It seemed like a dream doodle for me -- it perfectly combined my interests in clothing design and classic Hollywood cinema and also provided the ultimate test for my amateurish forays into fashion illustration [i.e. drawing my own outfits from time to time]!

For this doodle, I wanted to depict Edith standing tall and strong amongst a gallery of six of her drawings, which were chosen based on how iconic they were and how well they fit in with the colors of the Google logo. Recreating her drawings was great fun and incredibly inspiring.

Edith's costume designs were worn by countless celebrities and seen by millions of movie-watchers, but she herself stayed relatively behind-the-scenes. This strange balance of high-profile artwork with personal anonymity shares some interesting parallels to our work as Google Doodlers, so I am happy to have been able to pay tribute to a kindred spirit.

Posted by Sophie Diao, Doodler

[9A]

August 29, 2004

2004 Athens Olympic Games - Closing Ceremony

[9A]

August 29, 2009

Birthday of Michael Jackson



Michael Joseph Jackson [August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009] was an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a four-decade career, his contributions to music, dance and fashion, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture. Jackson influenced artists across many music genres; through stage and video performances, he popularized complicated dance moves such as the moonwalk, to which he gave the name, as well as the robot. He is the most awarded music artist in history.

[9A]

Sep 3, 2009

Doraemon 2009



Doraemon is a fictional character in the Japanese manga and anime series of the same name created by Fujiko Fujio, the pen name of writing team Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko. He is a male robotic cat that travels back in time from the 22nd century to aid a preteen boy named Nobita. An "official" birth certificate for the character gives him a birth date of 3 September 2112 and lists his city of residency as Kawasaki, Kanagawa, the city where the manga was created. In 2008, Japan's Foreign Ministry appointed Doraemon the country's "anime ambassador".

[9A]

September 3, 2016

Asep Sunandar's 61st Birthday




Today we celebrate what would be the 61st birthday of Asep Sunandar, one of the world’s most famous wayang golek masters. Wayang golek is a style of puppet theater that hails from Sunda, in the western part of the Indonesian island of Java. It’s an art form that takes years to master, and is an important piece of Sunda’s culture.

Wayang golek puppets are made of wood, and are controlled by rods that are connected to their hands and head. The wayang golek master is responsible for the entire show - he or she decides which story they will tell, most often an Indian epic story, and manages all of the wooden puppets’ movements and voices. Well over 10 characters can appear in each show!

Sunandar delighted audiences for years with his performances, which could last from dusk ‘til dawn. Our Google doodle features Sunandar performing with two wayang golek puppets.


Happy birthday, Asep Sunandar!

[9A]

September 3, 2021

Sergei Dovlatov's 80th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates the 80th birthday of Russian journalist and author Sergei Dovlatov. Both at home and abroad, Dovlatov captured the contemporary experience of Soviet citizens and dissidents in his masterful yet irreverent writing—regarded among the most influential and widely read Russian literature of the late 20th-century.

Sergei Dovlatov was born on this day in 1941 in the Eastern Russian city of Ufa and was raised in Leningrad [now St. Petersburg] in a family of creatives. He made his early living as a journalist and wrote fictional short stories that reflected the minutiae of daily Soviet life. Due to government censorship, his prose was first published in the late 1970s via samizdat, an underground publication network.

Dovlatov emigrated to New York City in 1979, carrying a lone suitcase with the hope of literary freedom. He soon established himself in U.S. writing circles as the co-editor of “The New American,” a successful émigré newspaper. The first of his short stories were published in 1980 by “The New Yorker” which introduced a mass readership to Dovlatov’s trademark brand of Russian humor. After this success, he wrote a new book almost annually. This body of work includes “The Suitcase,” referenced in the Doodle artwork. This beloved 1986 collection of witty autobiographical short stories was inspired by the contents of the suitcase he carried with him to the U.S.

Although his work wasn’t published in his home country until 1989, Dovlatov is a household name in Russia today. His legacy is concretized on Sergei Dovlatov Way, a New York City street corner where Dovlatov penned many of his most famous works.

Happy Birthday, Sergei Dovlatov!

[9A]

Sep 6, 2016

Fouad el-Mohandes’ 92nd birthday





Today marks the 92nd birthday of legendary Egyptian actor and comedian Fouad el-Mohandes [1924–2006]. The son of esteemed Egyptian linguist Zaki Mohandes, el-Mohandes got an early start performing on stage as a child. He later decided to leave business school to follow in the footsteps of his idol, actor Naguib el-Rihani, launching his professional career on the radio program “Sa’a li-Qalbak.”

Over the next five decades, el-Mohandes performed in dozens of plays, TV shows, and motion pictures. He co-starred with then-wife Shwikar in many of his most popular films, and gained fame for his role as “Mr. X” in two movies about “the most dangerous man in the world.” El-Mohandes was also famous for his trademark black-rimmed glasses.

[9A]

September 6, 2011

Shinichi Hoshi's 85th Birthday




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

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

[9A]

Sep 9, 2011

Start of Rugby 2011




The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board [IRB] selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated France 8–7 in the final. The defending champions, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals. The result marked the third time that the tournament was won by the country that hosted the event [following New Zealand in 1987 and South Africa in 1995].

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Sep 12, 2011

Korean Thanksgiving 2011


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.

As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food such as songpyeon, yakgwa, fruits like Asian pear and hallabong, and rice wines such as sindoju and dongdongju. A major custom is to prepare the family's ancestors their favorite meals as an offering.

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September 12, 2014

Ernesto Carneiro Ribeiro's 175th Birthday




Fellow grammarians, today you meet your hero on our homepage in Brazil. We’re celebrating the 175th birthday of linguist, educator and physician Ernesto Carneiro Ribeiro, who worked to revise Brazil’s official grammar code to include conversational speech.

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September 12, 2016

Takizo Iwasaki’s 121st birthday


Most of us are familiar with the wax and plastic replica foods that help you decide what to order at a restaurant, but did you know that the practice dates back to the 1920s?

Takizo Iwasaki re-invented a practice that had been around for over a decade, of creating sampuru [or samples] of food served by restaurants. He started with a perfectly 'cooked' omelet made of wax. Reportedly, upon showing it to his wife, she couldn't even tell the difference between the sampuru and the real thing! The omelet was once open for public viewing in his home prefecture of Gifu, where most of the world's replica food is still made.

Although replica foods are now more often made of plastic than wax, the practice is still done by hand and rarely mass-produced. This is to maintain the quality of the sampuru and the unique dishes that each restaurant requests.

Today's doodle celebrates Takizo Iwasaki on what would be his 121st birthday, with an homage to that original omelet that changed the landscape of sampuru forever.

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July 2, 2018

Athos Bulcão’s 100th Birthday



Today’s Doodle is rendered in the style of one of Brazil’s great public artists, Athos Bulcão, who would have been 100 years old today. Born in Rio De Janeiro, Bulcão was trained as a doctor but fell in love with art. His change of career transformed the visual landscape of Brazil with his vibrant and colorful tile designs.

Bulcão also designed album covers and book jackets, but is best known for his work on large-scale surfaces including hallways, auditoriums, and outdoor walls. He approached his work with an open mind and a playful spirit, unconcerned about having the last word. One of his trademark mosaic techniques involved creating a variety of abstract geometric tiles, then hiring construction teams to install them without any instructions.

Working closely with Oscar Niemayer, the main architect of Brasília, and city planner Lucio Costa, Bulcão helped realize their vision of the city as a work of art unto itself. Built from the ground up in 1956, Brasília replaced Rio De Janeiro as the Brazil’s capital in 1960. Today it stands as a definitive example of “tropical modernism,” with Bulcão’s artwork integrated into many of the buildings and public areas.

Later in life Bulcão infused Brazilian embassies, hospitals, theaters, schools, and homes with his vivid designs. His legacy lives on through the Fundação Athos Bulcão, created in Brasília in 1992 to document, preserve, and promote his work, as well as to facilitate education for young artists.

Happy birthday Athos Bulcão! Feliz Aniversário!

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September 26, 2017

Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s 75th Birthday






For writer and scholar Gloria E. Anzaldúa, a border wasn't just a line on a map: it was a state of mind and a viewpoint on life. Born on this date in 1942 in the Rio Grande Valley, Anzaldúa possessed an astounding gift for transforming dividing lines into unifying visions.

Growing up on ranches and farms in Texas-Mexico border towns, Anzaldúa developed a profound appreciation for the earth and its riches. She fell in love with art and writing as a way to capture the magic of the landscape around her. She also faced racism and isolation, but that didn't stop her from becoming a stellar scholar. After graduating from Pan American University in 1969, Anzaldúa taught migrant students, traveling with them to serve as a liaison with school boards.

She realized early on that she lived in many worlds at once: she was both American and Mexican, both native and foreigner. "It's not a comfortable territory to live in, this place of contradictions," Anzaldúa noted. She understood that the way forward was not to choose a side, but to embrace a third place — a land of both, not either/or.

Anzaldúa mapped this new frontier with her pen. Her most famous work, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, alternates between English and Spanish and includes a variety of forms — from poem to prose, from critique to confessional. This striking mix of voices and perspectives earned Borderlands a place on Literary Journal's list of best books of 1987.

In 1977, she moved to California, where her writing soon became known in academic circles. Her theories had impact across disciplines, including Chicano/a Studies, Women's Studies, LGBT Studies, and Postcolonial Studies. She was awarded a posthumous Ph.D. in literature by the University of California Santa Cruz.

Today's Doodle celebrates Anzaldúa's ability to live across borders, whether geographical, social, or philosophical. She put it best: "To survive the Borderlands / you must live sin fronteras / be a crossroads."

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April 1, 2019

Sawong "Lor Tok" Supsamruay's 105th Birthday


Rising from humble beginnings to become one of Thailand’s most acclaimed comedic actors, Sawong Supsamruay—known to audiences as Lor Tok—appeared in more than 1000 films, and stars in today’s Doodle.

Born in Bangkok on this day in 1914, Supsamruay worked on his family’s orchard as a boy until it was destroyed by a flood. He later made a living tending riverboats, driving a bicycle rickshaw, and boxing professionally. After joining a comedy troupe, he got his first chance to act on screen in the 1933 fim Wan Chakayan, officially kicking off a 50+ year acting career.

Supsamruay’s portrayal of a poor man named Lor Tok who forgets his roots after striking it rich in the popular film Klai Kuer Kin Kuer resonated so much with audiences that the name stuck throughout the rest of his career. Unlike this character, Supsamruay stayed true to himself no matter how successful he became, bringing a self-deprecating charm to his roles as the amusing sidekick to various leading men during the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s.

Although best known for his comedies, Lor Tok took on dramatic roles as well, winning a Thai National Film Association award for his performance as a moneylender in Money, Money, Money. Beyond acting, Lor Tok started his own production company, where he both directed and starred in films. In 1995 he was named a National Artist of Thailand in recognition of his outstanding accomplishments in the performing arts.

The actor’s larger-than-life legacy was introduced to a younger Thai generation through the animated Dracula Tok Show, which caricatured the beloved comedian. Today, fans can also visit the Lor Tok Museum, opened by his widow in the simple wooden house they shared together.

Happy 105th Birthday, Lor Tok!

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July 5, 2020

Hwang Hye-seong's 100th Birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates the 100th birthday of Korean professor and culinary researcher Hwang Hye-seong. Hwang is widely credited with the preservation and popularization of the traditions of Korean royal cuisine that evolved for hundreds of years under the Joseon Dynasty.

Born on this day in 1920, Hwang Hye-seong attended high school in Fukuoka, Japan before returning to Korea to pursue a career in education. She went on to become a professor of gastronomy and took an interest in the little-studied field of Korean royal court cuisine.

Hwang’s studies brought her to the Nakseonjae complex in Seoul, the home of the last living queen of the Joseon Dynasty. There, she met Han Hui-sun, the only remaining court lady who had worked in the royal kitchen.

Dedicated to the protection of the Joseon traditions against the sands of time, Hwang spent decades learning from Han. She scrupulously documented nearly everything there was to know about the royal culinary practices under the dynasty, from the arrangement of table-setting—a process depicted in today's Doodle—to the terminology used by the royal family. Thanks to Hwang’s efforts, in 1970, the South Korean government named the royal cuisine of the Joseon Dynasty an Important Intangible Cultural Property, and in 1973 Hwang was honored as its official skill holder.

Today, Hwang’s passion has been carried on by her four children, all of whom followed her footsteps into culinary careers.

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July 5, 2017

Venezuela National Day 2017



On July 5, 1811, Venezuela became the first independent state in South America. Venezuelans celebrate this special day with parades, cultural shows, street gatherings, and of course fireworks!

Like its vibrant heritage of African, Spanish, and indigenous influences, Venezuela's terrain is vast. Islands and coastal plains surround the Andes to the north. Along the Orinoco River to the south lie savannas and tropical rainforests.

Today’s Doodle showcases the Morrocoy National Park in northwest Venezuela. The crystal-clear waters of the Caribbean Sea line the 79,296-acre park, and the sea and the park together nourish hundreds of bird species and ocean wildlife, including flamingos, pelicans, turtles, and dolphins.

Happy Independence Day, Venezuela!

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July 5, 2016

Venezuela National Day 2016





Today marks Venezuelan Independence day, when the people of Venezuela chose to found their own nation based on principles of equality and freedom. Venezuela's colorful culture includes a mix of influences from Africa, Spain, and her own indigenous peoples. Like its heritage, the countryside and animal life are rich in diversity: Venezuela is in the top 10 countries on Earth for variety of animal species and plant life. Today's Doodle shows this off in spades — the sparkling Colibrí Coliblanco takes wing across our home page, a native bird of Venezuela.

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May 16, 2018

Tamara de Lempicka’s 120th Birthday



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

-Tamara de Lempicka

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy 120th birthday, Tamara de Lempicka!

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May 16, 2014

Maria Gaetana Agnesi's 296th Birthday



Music: "Brandenburg No. 4" by Kevin MacLeod

Maria Gaetana Agnesi was an Italian mathematician, philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian. She was the first woman to write a mathematics handbook and the first woman appointed as a mathematics professor at a university.

She is credited with writing the first book discussing both differential and integral calculus and was a member of the faculty at the University of Bologna, although she never served.

She devoted the last four decades of her life to studying theology [especially patristics] and to charitable work and serving the poor. She was a devout Catholic and wrote extensively on the marriage between intellectual pursuit and mystical contemplation, most notably in her essay Il cielo mistico [The Mystic Heaven]. She saw the rational contemplation of God as a complement to prayer and contemplation of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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May 17, 2014

Norway's 200th Year of Independence


1814 has historically been considered the most important year in the history of Norway. Sovereignty was transferred from the King of Denmark to the King of Sweden. The Constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll on May 17, later to be designated and celebrated as Norwegian Constitution Day.

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April 27, 2017

Theodor Kittelsen’s 160th Birthday



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

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

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

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April 27, 2019

Abraham Valdelomar’s 131st Birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates Abraham Valdelomar, the Peruvian writer, illustrator, and founder of literary journals who was a fixture of the cultural life centering around the Palais Concert, a famous café in downtown Lima.

Growing up in the small coastal town of Pisco, Peru, Valdelomar moved to the capital city with his family at age 5, and published his first magazine while still in school. By 1906, he was working as an illustrator for the magazine Applause and Whistles. While serving in the Peruvian Army, he chronicled the conflict with Ecuador for the publication El Diario. In 1913 he worked with the Peruvian Embassy in Rome, writing a newspaper column called “Chronicles of Rome.”

A witty caricaturist who authored books, short stories, essays, and journalistic pieces, Valdelomar is fondly remembered for his cuentos criollos, or local stories set in his beloved Pisco. The most famous of these is El Caballero Carmelo, the tragicomic tale of an old fighting rooster, first published in the newspaper La Nación de Lima.

In 1916, Valdelomar founded the literary magazine Colónida, which included his own work as well as that of a new wave of young literary talent in Perú, including the poet José María Eguren.

Today, Valdelomar’s legacy lives on through his prolific writings. His image also appears on Perú’s 50 Sol note, a testament to his standing as one of the country’s most esteemed authors.

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February 22, 2020

Carnaval de Barranquilla



In honor of Colombia’s Carnaval de Barranquilla, today’s Doodle features some of the colorful costumes and masks on display during this annual celebration of cultural heritage stemming from indigenous, African, and European traditions. Across four days, over a million people will visit Barranquilla on the Caribbean coast to watch floats, dance in the streets, and maybe take part by wearing a “Marimonda” mask as seen in the Doodle artwork.

The modern Carnaval de Barranquilla is over 100 years old and reflects the legacy of blended cultures that have shaped the city since its establishment nearly 400 years ago. At its core, festivities derive from folk traditions that demonstrate what many consider to be the definition of what it means to be Colombian.

Some of the most significant events during the four days are the Batalla de Flores [Battle of Flowers], the Gran parada de Tradición y Folclore [Great Parade of Tradition and Folklore], and the Gran parada de Comparsas [Great Parade of Groups]. In recognition of the festival’s traditions, UNESCO honored the Carnaval de Barranquilla by naming it a World Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2013.

Enjoy the colorful sights and local music like Cumbia coming from the many loudspeakers and floats!