Google doodles

[9A]

Sep 16, 2019
B.B. King’s 94th Birthday

B.B. King was a true giant.

Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Little Rock-based guest artist Steve Spencer and animated by Brooklyn-based guest animator Nayeli Lavanderos, celebrates B.B. King—the iconic “King of the Blues” who brought blues music from cotton fields and street corners to grand halls and arenas across the world.

Born on this day in 1925 on a Mississippi Delta plantation near Berclair, Mississippi, Riley B. King was a sharecropper’s son whose soulful, piercing guitar solos became recognizable with a single note.
Often imitated but never duplicated, B.B. King became a blueprint for many of the world’s biggest rock stars who followed. “I wish I could just do like B. B. King,” said John Lennon of The Beatles. “If you would put me with B. B. King, I would feel real silly.”

Raised singing gospel music in church, King performed on street corners before hitchhiking to Memphis and landing a job on the air at radio station WDIA. There, locals began calling him “Beale Street Blues Boy,” later shortened to “Bee Bee” and finally “B.B.”

He began recording in 1949 and never looked back after his first hit, “Three O’Clock Blues.” Records like “The Thrill is Gone” and “Every Day I Have the Blues” have become classics of the genre.

King opened for the Rolling Stones on tour and became the first internationally acclaimed blues artist, winning 15 Grammys, being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, receiving honorary doctorates from assorted universities, and performing at the White House. Embodying the traveling bluesman, King was also known for averaging more than 300 shows a year throughout various points in his career.

In 1949, King ran inside a burning nightclub to save a guitar, risking his own life for his beloved instrument. The fire had been caused by two men fighting over a woman named Lucille, and from that day forward, King referred to all his guitars by that name.

“When I sing, I play in my mind,” he once said. “The minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille.”

[9A]

Sep 29, 2008
Miguel de Cervantes' Birthday



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

[9A]

Sep 15, 2008
Japan's Respect for the Aged Day 2008

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Sep 5, 2008
Teachers' Day 2008

[9A]

Today's Doodle.
Audre Lorde


American writer
Born: February 18, 1934, Harlem, New York, NY


https://g.co/doodle/zfu6pwn
[[Multiple images. Click through all 8.)

Audre Lorde was an American writer, feminist, librarian, and civil rights activist. She was a self-described "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," who dedicated both her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, capitalism, heterosexism, and homophobia. Wikipedia

[9A]

October 21, 2010
Dizzy Gillespie's Birthday



First known for his contributions to bebop and modern jazz, and second known for his iconic cheeks, Dizzie Gillespie's doodle is one that is both lively and unlike any other doodle to hit the homepage. Inspired by the jazz album illustrations of the mid 1900s, Dizzie's doodle quickly turned into a crescendo of shapes and color.

[9A]

Another interactive one --

June 22, 2017

Oskar Fischinger’s 117th Birthday


https://www.google.com/doodles/oskar...117th-birthday

In the world of design, Fischinger is a towering figure, especially in the areas of motion graphics and animation.

[9A]

https://www.google.com/doodles/thank-you-coronavirus-helpers-april-25-26?hl=en

Google in its unique way appreciated and thanked the tremendous mission undertaken by the frontline workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Today's Google Doodle is a gif with hearts and images of all the services supporting the healthcare system amid a raging pandemic. From doctors and nurses, to ambulance drivers, cleaners and security-men, the Google Doodle says "thank you" to all. "As COVID-19 continues to impact communities around the world, people are coming together to help one another now more than ever. We're launching a Doodle series to recognize and honour many of those on the front lines. Today, we'd like to say: To all coronavirus helpers, thank you": Google posted on its website.

[9A]

Feb 19, 2018
Day 11 | Winter Olympics


http://www.google.com/doodles/doodle-snow-games-day-11



Welcome to Day 11 of the Doodle Snow Games! On this brrr-eezy day in PyeongChang, we're joined by athletes from all over the world hoping to prove themselves best in class [[or species).
Let’s follow Magpie to the slopes for a fluttering glimpse of today’s action…

[9A]

3 June 2017
Josephine Baker's 111th Birthday





https://www.google.com/doodles/josep...111th-birthday

With her kohl-rimmed eyes and exotic costumes, Josephine Baker pounced onto the global stage in the 1920s, becoming a Jazz Age icon and one of the first internationally recognized African-American entertainers.

[9A]

Mars Google Doodle Posted Shortly After NASA Shared Evidence Of Water Flowing On The Red Planet

29 September 2015


https://www.google.com/doodles/evide...-found-on-mars
[[animated)

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21 April 2016
A #GoogleDoodle 4 Prince [[1958–2016)



http://www.google.com/doodles/a-goog...ince-1958-2016

[9A]

Buddy Holly - Google Doodle
by Mikael Paris / 5 years ago




So here is an animation I did for Google Doodle. We had to incorporate the word Google in the piece in some sort of way. The person I chose to do the doodle on was Buddy Holly, mainly because he's awesome and his music is too.. and! He was a huge musical icon of the 1950s time period.. which was one of my favorite time periods for music. So here is my little commemoration.

[9A]

Charlie Chaplin's Birthday [[16 April 1889) - revolutionary Google Doodle

Preview YouTube video Charlie Chaplin Google Doodle



Charlie Chaplin Google Doodle

Ted Tjaden [[2011 comment)
Apparently, ragtimer Frederick Hodges is the musician playing the ragtime accompanying the film, according to this blog post. And according to a good source on the Elite Syncopations Yahoo Group, Frederick is playing a variation of “Funny Folk: March and Two Step” by WC Powell [[1904).

[9A]

April 4, 2018
Dr. Maya Angelou’s 90th Birthday






http://www.google.com/doodles/dr-may...-90th-birthday

[Jerry Oz]

The great [[and now, sadly late) Hugh Masekela. I don't know of another flugelhorn artist, let alone one who combined jazz and African pop/soul. This quote was in the text: “:My biggest obsession is to show Africans and the world who the people of Africa really are.”
—Hugh Masekela

[9A]

The great [[and now, sadly late) Hugh Masekela.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQSaOxDRn6c

[9A]

Apr 4, 2019
Hugh Masekela's 80th Birthday

The great [and now, sadly late] Hugh Masekela. I don't know of another flugelhorn artist, let alone one who combined jazz and African pop/soul. This quote was in the text: “:My biggest obsession is to show Africans and the world who the people of Africa really are.”
—Hugh Masekela

Today’s Doodle celebrates the world-renowned South African trumpeter, singer, bandleader, composer, and human rights advocate Hugh Masekela. Born 80 years ago today in the coal-mining town of Witbank, South Africa, Masakela got his first horn at age 14. He went on to play with a wildly popular group known as the Jazz Epistles, the first all-black jazz band to record an album in South African history. However, within the year, its members were forced out of the country by the apartheid government.

At the age of 21, Masakela began a 30-year exile, traveling to New York where he enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music and dived into the city’s jazz scene, observing jazz giants like John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Mingus, and Max Roach on a nightly basis. “You’re just going to be a statistic if you play jazz,” Miles Davis advised him, “but if you put in some of the stuff you remember from South Africa, you’ll be different from everybody.”

Encouraged by the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong, Masakela delved into his own unique influences to create his 1963 debut album, entitled Trumpet Africaine. By the late ’60s he moved to Los Angeles, and performed at the Monterey Pop Festival on a bill that included Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, and The Who. His 1968 single “Grazin’ in the Grass” hit #1 on the U.S. pop charts.

Masakela would go on to collaborate with the likes of Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Paul Simon, and Stevie Wonder. In 1990, “Bra Hugh” returned to South Africa in time to see his song “Bring Him Back Home [Nelson Mandela]” come true. When the ANC leader was released from prison and elected South Africa’s first black president, Masakela’s music was the soundtrack.

[9A]

Apr 13, 2019
Songkran 2019





Marking the beginning of the Thai New Year, today’s Doodle celebrates Songkran, a three-day holiday that has been known to last for a whole week.

While the original festivities involved sprinkling water on one another for purification, and washing away bad luck for the year to come, Songkran has evolved into one big, joyous national water fight. In Chiang Mai, the action starts a day early with a grand procession around the northern Thai city. The Bangkok street party known as Silom takes place along a 4-kilometer street replete with vendors selling water balloons, squirt guns, street food, and drinks. On the island of Phuket, pickup trucks filled with water throwers patrol the crowded streets near the Patong Beach area, while live music and cultural events take place in Phuket Town’s Saphan Hin Park.

Songkran is also a time for spring cleaning, spending time with family and loved ones, and paying respect to time-honored cultural traditions.

[9A]

Apr 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.

[9A]

January 11, 2019
Celebrating Earl Scruggs


http://www.google.com/doodles/celebrating-earl-scruggs

“Here’s old Earl Scruggs with his fancy five-string banjo,” the introduction for the bluegrass banjo master’s Grand Ole Opry show stated. Today's Doodle celebrates Earl Scruggs, the man who developed the “Scruggs style” [[his own three-finger method of picking) on the anniversary of the opening of the Earl Scruggs Center in 2014. His innovation changed the sound of American roots music, but fancy was not a word Scruggs would use to describe his beloved banjo. “It’s just an old hand-me-down,” he said of the Gibson Granada he’d played since the 1940s.

[9A]

November 6, 2015
Inventor of the Saxophone,
Adolphe Sax's 201st birthday



http://www.google.com/doodles/adolph...201st-birthday

[sansradio]

The great [[and now, sadly late) Hugh Masekela. I don't know of another flugelhorn artist, let alone one who combined jazz and African pop/soul. This quote was in the text: “:My biggest obsession is to show Africans and the world who the people of Africa really are.”
—Hugh Masekela

I had the great good fortune to meet and get an autograph from Mr. Masekela after a concert in my college days. He was the most accessible, down-to-earth man. On the bill and backstage with him was Miriam Makeba. She looked so exhausted that I didn’t have the heart to bother her.

[Jerry Oz]

I had the great good fortune to meet and get an autograph from Mr. Masekela after a concert in my college days. He was the most accessible, down-to-earth man. On the bill and backstage with him was Miriam Makeba. She looked so exhausted that I didn’t have the heart to bother her.

I loved her, too. Both were among the first names to bring authentic African musical sensibilities to the musical world stage. I became a fan of musicians like Fela Kuti, Oliver Mtukudzi, Glenn Storm, Johnny Clegg and Juluka and Malopoets later [[mostly after being exposed to African pop on Malcolm McLaren's classic Duck Rock lp) but my first taste of that beautiful soul was thanks to Hugh and Miriam.

By the way, the Google Doodle didn't paste in my earlier post, so here it is:

[9A]

March 4, 2013
Miriam Makeba's 81st Birthday


http://www.google.com/doodles/miriam...-81st-birthday

South African singer and civil rights activist Miriam Makeba was born in 1932 in Johannesburg. Unfortunately, her early life was marred by tragedy and hardship; when she was just 18 days old, her mother was sent to pr ison and Makeba went with her. Makeba later lived with her grandmother in Pretoria and joined her church and school choirs. In the 1950s, she moved to Sophiatown, where music filled the streets — big band, African jazz, and anything else that moved people to sing. Thanks to her musical talent, by the end of the decade, she had made a name for herself throughout the country.

[9A]

BTW, Jerry and others, I find that Google Doodle doesn't consistently link the
animation or video behind the doodle. One day it's there, and then
it's not. Sometimes, also, the doodle is too large to post here.
So I have to find a smaller rendition, if I can.

Most doodles have an opportunity to "share" them to Facebook or Twitter
or email them to someone [[with a little envelope icon.) I often email the
doodle to myself and download the doodle. Then when I post the info,
I "insert image" [[small square icon above) rather than copy and paste the
doodle, it usually fits well.

Happy to read your comments. Nina

[9A]

May 21, 2020
Celebrating Mbira



http://www.google.com/doodles/celebrating-mbira

Today’s interactive Doodle celebrates Zimbabwe’s national instrument, the mbira, as Zimbabwe’s Culture Week begins. Try your own hand at this instrument that has been played for over 1,000 years, while experiencing a story as told through the lens of a Zimbabwean girl who learns to play the mbira.

[9A]

Additions to previous posts [[explained in post #53 -- sort of):

Hugh Masekela
https://www.google.com/doodles/hugh-masekelas-80th-birthday

Audra Lorde
https://www.google.com/doodles/audre...-87th-birthday

Jacques Brel
https://www.google.com/doodles/celebrating-jacques-brel
[[This one's has no sound or video, but there's additional text supplied with the doodle.)

[9A]

February 22, 2021
Zitkala-Sa's 145th Birthday!



http://www.google.com/doodles/zitkal...145th-birthday

Today’s Doodle—illustrated by American Indian guest artist of Osage, Kaw, Cheyenne River Sioux, and European heritage, Chris Pappan—celebrates the 145th birthday of writer, musician, teacher, composer, and suffragist Zitkala-Ša, a member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota [[Ihanktonwan Dakota Oyate or “People of the End Village”).

[9A]

March

In 1987, Congress declared March as National Women's History Month in perpetuity. A special Presidential Proclamation is issued every year which honors the extraordinary achievements of American women.

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November 4, 2019
Will Rogers’ 140th Birthday


https://www.google.com/doodles/will-...140th-birthday

In honor of Native American Indian Heritage Month, today’s animated Doodle celebrates the plainspoken American Indian actor, humorist, author, filmmaker, and public personality Will Rogers, who famously remarked, “I never met a man I didn’t like.” Born on this day in 1879 at Rogers Ranch in Oologah, Cherokee Territory, the entertainer became known as “America's Cowboy Philosopher.

[9A]

June 15, 2019
Celebrating the Jingle Dress Dance


https://www.google.com/doodles/celeb...le-dress-dance

Dancers move in unison and a sound fills the air, like raindrops falling on a tin roof. Today’s Doodle by Ojibwe guest artist Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley celebrates the Jingle Dress Dance, which originated during the 1920s amongst the Ojibwe tribe somewhere between Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ontario. The dance lives on today, notably in events such as the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Grand Celebration Pow Wow this weekend in Hinckley, Minnesota.

[9A]

7 April 2016
Pandit Ravi Shankar’s 96th birthday



Today we celebrate Pandit Ravi Shankar, who was born 96 years ago today. Shankar evangelized the use of Indian instruments in Western music, introducing the atmospheric hum of the sitar to audiences worldwide. He performed frequently with the violinist Yehudi Menuhin, and composed a concerto with sitar for the London Symphony Orchestra. Shankar also taught George Harrison of the Beatles how to play the sitar, and widely influenced popular music in the 1960s and 70s.

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22 September 2004
Ray Charles' 74th Birthday



Ray Charles Robinson [[September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother Ray." He was often referred to as "The Genius." Charles was blinded during childhood due to glaucoma.
Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic. He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, notably with his two Modern Sounds albums.While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first Black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company.

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1 April 2013
Wangari Maathai's 73rd Birthday



In 1971, Wangari Maathai received a Ph.D., effectively becoming the first woman in either East or Central Africa to earn a doctorate. She was elected to Kenya's National Assembly in 2002 and has written several books and scholarly articles. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her "holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights, and women's rights in particular."

Died: September 25, 2011

[9A]

28 November 2020
Celebrating Henri Salvador

​

In honor of a French entertainer par excellence, today’s Doodle, illustrated by Toulouse, France-based guest artist Sébastien Gravouil, celebrates multi-talented singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and comedian Henri Salvador. Salvador established himself as a beloved French figure across a seven-decade career and is widely credited with helping to introduce rock ‘n’ roll to France. On this day in 2000, he received the prestigious Prix in honorem award from France’s Charles Cros Academy. Today’s Doodle artwork highlights Salvador’s wide-ranging contributions to French culture, including his beloved rock ‘n’ roll music, children’s lullabies, and animated character voice overs.

[[18 July 1917 – 13 February 2008)

[9A]

31 January 2013
Jackie Robinson's 94th Birthday



Jack Roosevelt Robinson [[January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball [[MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.

[9A]

31 January 2012
Atahualpa Yupanqui's 104th Birthday




Atahualpa Yupanqui [[Spanish pronunciation: [ataˈwalpa ʃuˈpaŋki]; born Héctor Roberto Chavero Aramburu; 31 January 1908 – 23 May 1992) was an Argentine singer, songwriter, guitarist, and writer. He is considered the most important Argentine folk musician.

[9A]

13 Sept 2016
Yma Sumac’s 94th birthday


Born Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo in the mountains of Peru, Yma Sumac, or the “Peruvian songbird,” came into the world on this day in 1922. As a young girl, Yma would sing to rocks on her mountainside home, pretending they were her audience. As a teenager, Yma’s audience became very real when she was invited to sing on an Argentine radio station. After that moment, her astonishing five-octave vocal range captivated audiences in South America and beyond.

Yma arrived in the United States in 1946 and was signed by Capitol Records shortly after. During her 1950s prime, she sang at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and Royal Albert Hall - to name a few.
Here’s to Yma, whose captivating voice will always be remembered.

[9A]

12 Aug 2018
Mario Moreno 'Cantinflas' 107th Birthday



With a twitch of his slender mustache and a burst of witty doublespeak, Cantinflas captured the hearts of film audiences all over Mexico, where he appeared in some four dozen films beginning in1937. The rest of the world discovered his talents as David Niven’s bumbling valet in the 1956 film Around the World in 80 Days. He eventually became beloved by filmgoers and people of all generations across Latin America not just for his work as a comedic actor/singer/writer/producer, but for his philanthropy as well.

[9A]

14 October 2020
Celebrating Claudia Jones

​

Today’s Doodle commemorates Trinidad-born activist, feminist, journalist, orator, and community organizer Claudia Jones. Among her groundbreaking accomplishments, Jones founded and served as the editor-in-chief for the West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News—Britain’s first, major Black newspaper. Through its global news coverage, the Gazette aimed to unify the Black community in the worldwide battle against discrimination. The publication also provided a platform for Jones to organize Britain’s first Caribbean carnival in 1959, which is widely credited as the precursor to today’s annual celebration of Caribbean culture known as the Notting Hill Carnival. On this day in 2008, Jones was honored with a Great British Stamp in the “Women of Distinction” series to commemorate her lifetime of pioneering activism

[9A]

17 September 2020
Mandawuy Yunupingu's 64th birthday

​

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

[9A]

31 October 2020
Eloísa Angulo’s 101st Birthday



Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Lima, Peru-based guest artist Lucía Coz, celebrates the 101st birthday of Peruvian Creole singer Eloísa Angulo, known by many as “Sovereign of the Creole Song.” A blend of Spanish, African, and native Andean influences, música criolla [[Creole music) remains a vibrant symbol of the rich culture and heritage of coastal Peru, and Angulo is among the genre’s most treasured performers.

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21 Jan 2013
Dr Martin Luther King Day 2013


​

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21 Sept 2018
Celebrating Mister Rogers


http://www.google.com/doodles/celebrating-mister-rogers

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

[9A]

18 Jul 2018
Kurt Masur’s 91st Birthday





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

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

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

[9A]

16 Oct 2018
Lachhu Maharaj’s 74th Birthday

​

Lachhu Maharaj was best known for his inherent sense of rhythm which was best exemplified in his solo performances. Even though he played alongside nearly all the greatest tabla players of his time, his solo performance are the most remembered. Girija Devi, whom he often collaborated with, claimed that “he would play for hours without repeating himself, new gats, tukras and parans, leaving his audiences awestruck.”

[9A]

17 Oct 2018
Chiquinha Gonzaga’s 171st Birthday

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2lUIVsMnuc

Born on this day in Rio de Janeiro in, 1847, Francisca Edwiges Neves Gonzaga [[famously known as Chiquinha Gonzaga) showed an affinity for music from childhood. Playing the piano by age 11, she studied music with the maestro Elias Álvares Lobo. When she was 16, her parents insisted she enter an arranged marriage, which ended after her husband insisted she devote herself either to him or to music. At a time when independent women faced major social pressure, Gonzaga sacrificed everything to follow her musical ambitions. She would go on to become the first female conductor in South America and one of the most important figures in Brazilian music history.

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2 Mar 2019
Desi Arnaz’s 102nd Birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and legacy of Desi Arnaz, the Cuban-born American actor, musician, comedian, and producer best known for playing Ricky Ricardo in the 1950s hit sitcom I Love Lucy.

[9A]

1 February 2016
Celebrating Frederick Douglass

​


Born Frederick Bailey in Maryland in February 1818, Frederick Douglass was the son of an enslaved woman and an unknown white father. His early life was spent on a plantation. However, when Douglass was eight years old, he was sent to Baltimore to work for the family of Hugh and Sophia Auld. In the Auld household, he learned a very valuable and life-changing lesson: education was the key to his freedom.