Google doodles

[9A]

17 Apr 2019

Indonesia Elections 2019



Elections in Indonesia have taken place since 1955 to elect a legislature. At a national level, Indonesian people did not elect a head of state – the president – until 2004. Since then, the president is elected for a five-year term, as are the 575-member People's Representative Council, the 136-seat Regional Representative Council, in addition to provincial and municipal legislative councils.

[9A]

17 April 2014

The Peak District becomes Britain's 1st National Park



The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorland is found and the geology gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone area with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc on the north, east and west sides; the White Peak covers central and southern tracts. The historic Peak District extends beyond the National Park, which excludes major towns, quarries and industrial areas.

It became the first of the national parks of England and Wales in 1951. Nearby Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and Sheffield send millions of visitors – some 20 million live within an hour's ride. Inhabited from the Mesolithic era, it shows evidence of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. Settled by the Romans and Anglo-Saxons, it remained largely agricultural; mining arose in the Middle Ages. Richard Arkwright built cotton mills in the Industrial Revolution. As mining declined, quarrying grew. Tourism came with the railways, spurred by the landscape, spa towns and Castleton's show caves.

[9A]

17 April 2010

Karen Blixen's 125th Birthday



Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke [born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962] was a Danish author who wrote works in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries, Tania Blixen, used in German-speaking countries, Osceola, and Pierre Andrézel.

Blixen is best known for Out of Africa, an account of her life while living in Kenya, and for one of her stories, Babette's Feast, both of which have been adapted into Academy Award–winning motion pictures. She is also noted, particularly in Denmark, for her Seven Gothic Tales. Among her later stories are Winter’s Tales [1942], Last Tales [1957], Anecdotes of Destiny [1958] and Ehrengard [1963].

Blixen was considered several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature, but it wasn't awarded because judges were reportedly concerned about showing favoritism to Scandinavian writers, according to Danish reports.

[9A]

17 April 2013

Adam Frantisek Kollar's 295th Birthday





Adam František Kollár de Keresztén was a Slovak jurist, Imperial-Royal Court Councillor and Chief Imperial-Royal Librarian, a member of Natio Hungarica in the Kingdom of Hungary, a historian, ethnologist, an influential advocate of Empress Maria Theresa's Enlightened and centralist policies. His advancement of Maria Theresa's status in the Kingdom of Hungary as its apostolic ruler in 1772 was used as an argument in support of the subsequent Habsburg annexations of Galicia and Dalmatia. Kollár is also credited with coining the term ethnology and providing its first definition in 1783. Some authors see him as one of the earliest pro-Slovak, pro-Slavic, and pan-Slavic activists in the Habsburg monarchy.

[9A]

19 April 2022

Dr Elvira Rawson's 155th birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 155th birthday of Dr. Elvira Rawson de Dellepiane, a prominent first-wave feminist in Argentina who was also one of the country’s first female doctors.

Born in Buenos Aires, Rawson grew up in a tight-knit community where rich and poor neighbors looked after one another. As a child, she often saw acts of kindness promoting economic equality, and Rawson was determined to leave her mark on history, too.

After graduating from medical school in 1892, a time when women’s perspectives were missing from medical literature, Dr. Rawson initiated early efforts to study reproduction from a female point of view. Her work helped to reduce the stigma surrounding reproductive health.

In 1910, she joined forces with prominent suffragists all over the world by participating in the First International Women's Congress in Buenos Aires. It laid the groundwork for women’s rights movements not only in Argentina, but throughout Latin America. In 1919, Dr. Rawson co-founded the Women's Rights Association, which mobilized women to demand equal pay and the right to vote. Considered radical at the time, the group’s efforts did not lead to many concrete policy changes. Although, the movement received attention from major political parties and set a foundation for later feminist movements.

Throughout her career, Dr. Rawson also advocated for the health and wellbeing of children. She worked as a medical inspector for the National Department of Hygiene and later the National Council of Education, where she helped establish cafeterias in schools.

Thanks to her work and movements, women and children in Argentina have more opportunities. Today is a celebration of Dr. Elvira Rawson’s steadfast belief that a woman can—and will—achieve anything.

[9A]

13 Apr 2022

Teachers' Day 2022 [13 April in Ecuador]

[9A]

13 April 2016

Teacher's Day 2016 [Ecuador]


It’s impossible to measure the impact of a great teacher. The curiosity they ignite will become the mathematical theorems, medical breakthroughs, and beautiful art that make the world a better place. Today’s homepage by artist Nate Swinehart honors the invaluable civil servants all across Ecuador who’ve dedicated their lives to molding a thoughtful, compassionate generation of citizens. And to making sure everyone does their homework.


Happy Teacher’s Day, Ecuador.

[9A]

13 April 2021

Teachers' Day 2021 [13 April Ecuador]

[9A]

3 April 2019

Teachers' Day 2019 [Ecuador]

[9A]

13 April 2018

Teachers' Day 2018 [Ecuador]

[9A]

13 Apr 2018

177th Anniversary of Semper Opera House



One hundred seventy-seven years ago today, the Semper Opera House [or Semperoper] opened its doors for the first time. Originally designed by the famous German architect Gottfried Semper, it has served as the stage for opera, ballet, and performances of many kinds during its nearly 200-year-long history.

The Semperoper has newly opened its doors not once, but three times: first after its original construction in 1841, and twice more after rebuilding due to both a devastating fire in 1869 and the WWII firestorm in 1945. The architecture evolved from its first construction – an eclectic blend of early Renaissance, Baroque, and and Greek classical styles – to the familiar Neo-Renaissance elements seen today. Semper’s consideration of the audience is evident in the design, too; all tiers sit equidistant to the stage and no partitions exist between sections. Without much to block the performers, everyone gets a good seat!

The creator of today’s Doodle, Frederik Jurk, employed gentle colors and soft, flowing lines to capture the dreamy scenes and romantic characters so frequently featured on this famous stage. "Since the subject of the doodle is already about art," he says, "letting everything speak for itself felt very natural." All set against the backdrop of the iconic architecture, the image couples the art of the building’s construction with the creativity of the artists themselves.

Thanks to the dedication of Germany’s arts community, Semperoper stands today as a storied monument to some of the country’s most influential composers, conductors, and singers.

[9A]

13 April 2022

Ola Rotimi's 84th birthday




Emmanuel Gladstone Olawale Rotimi, also known as Ola Rotimi, was in the spotlight for more reasons than one. Today’s Doodle celebrates the renowned Nigerian playwright, director, actor, choreographer and designer, who used his art to reflect on Nigeria’s rich culture, diversity, and local traditions.

Ola Rotimi was born in 1938 and grew up in a family of artists: His mother managed a traditional dance group and his father organized a community theater. His father also directed and produced a play where Rotimi would show up on stage for the first time at only four-years-old. His family’s passion for the arts, as well as his mixed parentage—an Ijaw mother and Yoruba father—greatly influenced his future work. He would later attend Boston University to study theater and earned an M.F.A. degree at Yale University in playwriting and dramatic literature.

Throughout Rotimi’s career, he wrote and directed dozens of plays and short stories that poignantly examined Nigeria’s ethnic traditions and history. He was known to have a larger-than-life vision and embraced dance, music, and even mime within his productions. Rotimi’s plays pulled back the curtain to unveil traditional Nigerian rituals, songs, and dances to audiences all over the world. Some of his most celebrated and award-winning works include The Gods Are Not to Blame, Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, and Kurunmi.

Happy birthday to “the father of Nollywood” and one of Nigeria’s foremost dramatists, Ola Rotimi.

[9A]

13 April 2018

Orhan Veli Kanık’s 104th Birthday





Orhan Veli Kanık cast off the conventions of traditional Turkish poetry in favor of a simpler, plainly human verse that was accessible to all.

Born in Istanbul on April 13th, 1914, Kanık grew up with a love for literature and the arts, but dropped out of university after a year to work as a civil servant and translator. Poetry remained his passion, and in 1936, four of his early works were published in Varlık magazine, including Oaristys and Düşüncelerimin Başucunda. From 1936-1942, he avidly penned poems for six literary magazines, many written under the nom de plume Mehmet Ali Sel.

The period of Kanık’s greatest contribution began in 1941, when he and two friends published a daring poetry manifesto called Garip, meaning “strange.” In the introduction, Kanık dismissed the rigidity of traditional poetic styles, breaking form with meter, word choice, and theme. He even considered rhyming and the use of metaphor to be amateur and unnecessary.

Kanık believed poetry belonged to, and could be appreciated by, all people. Garip advocated for the use of everyday language and unclouded emotion, rather than a separate “poetic language.” The position was considered avant-garde and was initially met with scorn; however, the eponymous Garip movement gained immense popularity and altered the future of Turkish poetry.

Garip was his most famous work, but Kanık created poetry, essays, and translations in a variety of styles until his death in 1950.

Today’s Doodle celebrates the transformative poet, who would have turned 104 today.

Doodle by Cynthia Yuan Cheng

[9A]

13 April 2018

Songkran 2018


Songkran Day is one of the most significant holidays in Thailand. Typically celebrated between April 13th and 15th, it marks the beginning of the Thai New Year. There are many ways to celebrate Songkran Day, but most involve getting very, very wet. Water fights erupt throughout Thai streets, sparing no bystanders.

Today's Doodle depicts traditional bowls of water infused with flower petals, which are used by participants during various traditions, such as the pouring of water by younger generations into the hands of elders as a sign of respect. Several special guests even peek from under the surface to take part in the day's festivities.

Happy Songkran, 2018!

[9A]

13 April 2009


Songkran Festival 2009 [Thailand]

[9A]

13 April 2017

Songkran 2017



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

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

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

[9A]

13 April 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.

Happy Songkran!

[9A]

14 Apr 2019

Hùng Kings' Commemoration Day 2019




Almost 5000 years ago, in the Red River Valley of Southeast Asia, the Hùng Kings established Văn Lang, the precursor of modern Vietnam. Today’s Doodle celebrates Hùng Kings' Commemoration Day, in remembrance of the ancient leaders of the Hong Bang era, the traditional founders of Vietnam who ruled for 18 generations.

The first Hùng King, Kinh Durong Vurong, and the 17 leaders who succeeded him, laid the foundations of Vietnamese culture. The Hong Bang was a time of cultural flourishment, known for producing some of the most acclaimed Asian art of the Bronze Age.

Once a mostly regional observance, Hùng Kings' Commemoration Day has been a national holiday in Vietnam since 2007, encouraging more citizens to learn about the ancient history of their country. In the early morning, a grand procession of palanquins heaped with offerings of food, flowers, and clouds of fragrant incense makes its way up the mountain to the Hùng King Temple, accompanied by flags, banners, and traditional music. Young boys and girls in ornate holiday attire make the journey as well as delegates from all over Vietnam.

Singing, dancing, and making Bánh Chưng and Bánh Dầy — traditional rice cakes enjoyed during Lunar New year — are also important parts of Hùng Kings 'Commemoration Day. Many celebrants make time for games, engaging in battles of wits on the chessboard or forming circles to play đá lông, an acrobatic game of skill and agility played by kicking a feathered shuttlecock.

[9A]

14 April 2015

Khmer New Year 2015




Cambodian New Year [or Khmer New Year] is the traditional celebration of the solar new year in Cambodia. A three-day public holiday in the country, the observance begins on New Year's Day, which usually falls on 13 April or 14 April, which is the end of the harvesting season, when farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor before the rainy season begins. Khmers living abroad may choose to celebrate during a weekend rather than just specifically 13 April through 16 April. The Khmer New Year coincides with the traditional solar new year in several parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.

[9A]

17 Apr 2015

Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı’s 125th birthday




Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı [17 April 1886 – 13 October 1973; born Musa Cevat Şakir; pen-name exclusively used in his writings, "The Fisherman of Halicarnassus", Turkish: Halikarnas Balıkçısı] was a Cretan Turk writer of novels, short-stories and essays, as well as being a keen ethnographer and travelogue.

[9A]

17 April 2020

Thank you teachers and childcare workers




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 honor many of those on the front lines.

Today, we’d like to say:

To all teachers and childcare workers, thank you.

[9A]

23 Apr 2020

St. George's Day 2020





Today’s Doodle, illustrated by British guest artist Robin Davey, commemorates St. George’s Day. On the annual celebration of the patron saint, England celebrates St. George and his representation of values like bravery, integrity, and leadership.

According to legend, St. George single-handedly slew a dragon to rescue a city under siege. For centuries, he captured the English imagination; in fact, King Henry V’s veneration for St. George was even immortalized in William Shakespeare’s eponymous play about the monarch.

St. George was declared England’s patron saint in 1348, and in 1415 St. George’s Day was inaugurated as a national feast day in his honor. Today, the special day lives on as a testament to England’s culture and unique traditions through activities like morris dancing [[a rural folk custom) and medieval jousting.

Happy St. George’s Day!

[9A]

23 April 2021

St. George's Day 2021





Today’s Doodle, illustrated by U.K.-based guest artist Ruby Fresson, honors England’s celebration of St. George’s Day and the legend behind this special day that has captured the imagination of generations.

The legend of St. George traces its roots back to the Middle Ages when 11th-century Crusaders returned to England and shared his venerable story of valor and sacrifice. Accounts lauded St. George as a hero who rescued not only a princess but an entire city under siege from a fire-breathing dragon! Upon his valiant horseback arrival, St. George slew the dragon, a battle scene recreated in today’s Doodle artwork. Rose bushes are said to have grown across the village after the dragon’s defeat and St. George picked a fresh rose to give to the rescued princess.

Following his success, the villagers held a massive feast in St. George’s honor—a tradition which has been passed down through the ages—as has giving a rose to a loved one in some cultures.

Happy St. George’s Day!

[9A]

23 April 2015

St. George's Day 2015

[9A]

23 April 2018

St George's Day 2018




Each year on April 23, England celebrates St. George’s Day, in recognition of the life and lore of the country’s patron saint.

According to legend, St George was born in present-day Turkey around 280 A.D.. He served as a soldier in the Roman army, rising to the rank of legatus, but was executed by the Emperor Diocletian for his Christian faith.

Popular legend also celebrates St George’s chivalry and bravery. A fearsome dragon, Ascalon, terrorized the people of a small town and demanded a daily sacrifice to allow them water for their families. One day, it was the turn of the king’s daughter to be sacrificed to the dragon, but St. George rode in on horseback, drew his sword and slayed the dragon — saving the town and the princess’s life.

Today’s Doodle depicts a group of adorable English children reenacting the legend of St. George and the dragon. The cast of characters are beloved in English folklore. You can spot St. George and his dragon, Robin Hood, and a child dressed as a lion, the symbol of bravery in medieval English heraldry. You can even see Titania and Nick Bottom, a tribute to Shakespeare whose birthday is also today!

If you find yourself in England, feast on a traditional English meal, and take in the sight of Saint George's Cross flags flying on every street. Happy St. George’s Day!

Doodle by guest artist Luke Pearson

[9A]

26 Apr 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]

27 April 2016

Freedom Day 2016




This important day marks the time that South Africa broke long-standing boundaries created by apartheid with its first ever democratic election. On this historic occasion, citizens of all races and backgrounds could finally vote. Freedom Day has become a symbol of peace, unity, and the hard-earned freedom now enjoyed throughout the country.

This year’s doodle is a tribute to the post-apartheid generation, the bright future of South Africa.

[9A]

27 April 2016

King's Day 2016




For King’s Day, or Koningsdag, the Dutch come together to celebrate the birth of their current king, Willem-Alexander. Celebrants wear orange in honor of the royal family’s house color, making King’s Day one of the most vivid of the year.

On this day, the streets are flooded with decorations and orange-clad locals on their way to outdoor concerts and festivities. This is also the one day in which street sales are allowed without a permit, bringing sellers and shoppers out in droves for the flea markets that pop up everywhere.

This year’s doodle highlights the tompouce, a local cream-rich pastry commonly frosted in orange for the occasion. Ga Oranje!

[9A]

17 January 2019

Konstantin Stanislavski's 156th Birthday





Born in Moscow on this day in 1863, Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski was raised in a prominent Russian family that supported his interest in theater as it grew from a hobby to a passion. He focused on acting at first, relentlessly refining his craft in a quest to bring emotional truth to the stage.

He later became interested in directing and production, founding the renowned Moscow Arts Theater in 1898. Their 1904 premiere of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard is widely considered a masterpiece of modern theater.

Among his contributions to the world of theatre, Stanislavksi developed an influential system for training actors, and his ideas were profoundly important to the development of what is now known as method acting. “There are no small parts,” Stanislavski observed. “Only small actors.” By devising a series of seven questions, he helped aspiring actors to understand their characters and motivation more fully The questions, which are featured in the animation of today’s Doodle include:

Who Am I?

Where Am I?

What Time Is It?

What Do I Want

Why Do I Want It?

How Will I Get What I Want?

What Must I Overcome To Get What I Want?

As simple as they may seem, answering these questions required extensive research and reflection. During rehearsals, Stanislavski would often comment “I do not believe you,” pushing actors to bring their performances to life by digging into their own psyches.

In recognition of his contributions to Russian theater, he was awarded the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of Lenin, and the title “People's Artist of the U.S.S.R.”

On what would have been his 156th birthday, here’s to a creative innovator who revolutionized modern theater as we know it. ​

[9A]

22 April 2022

Earth Day 2022



Today’s annual Earth Day Doodle addresses one of the most pressing topics of our time: climate change.

Using real time-lapse imagery from Google Earth Timelapse and other sources, the Doodle shows the impact of climate change across four different locales around our planet. Stay tuned throughout the day to view these scenes, each remaining on the homepage for several hours at a time.

Today’s Doodle includes real imagery from:

Mt. Kilimanjaro | Tanzania, Africa
Glacier retreat at the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro
Images taken each December annually from 1986 to 2020
See more on Google Earth



Sermersooq | Greenland
Glacier retreat in Greenland


Images taken each December annually from 2000 to 2020
See more on Google Earth


Great Barrier Reef | Australia
Coral bleaching on Lizard Island, Australia
Images taken each month from March to May 2016
See more on Google Earth

Courtesy of The Ocean Agency

Harz Forests | Elend, Germany
Forests destroyed by bark beetle infestation
due to rising temperatures and severe drought
Images taken each December annually from 1995 to 2020
See more on Google Earth

Acting now and together to live more sustainably is necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Go here to learn more about climate change and how you can take action.

This Earth Day, learn how Google Earth Timelapse is being used in partnership with other technologies and programs to empower everyone to take climate action across our planet’s cities, oceans, and forests.


Art | Sophie Diao, Alyssa Winans


Engineering | Katherine Lee, Jordan Thompson


Producer | Lindsay Elgin


Marketing | Perla Campos, Sierra Menzies


Business Affairs & Partnerships | Madeline Belliveau


Doodle Team Leads | Jessica Yu, Nate Swinehart, Brian Kaas, Tom Tabanao


Google Earth Team | Raleigh Seamster, Karin Tuxen-Bettman, Patrik Blohmé, Christiaan Adams



A special thank you to our partners
for their collaboration on this Doodle


CLIMATE CENTRAL
Andrew Pershing, Ph.D., Leila Hadj-Chikh


THE OCEAN AGENCY


ICLEI EUROPE





Credit: U.S. Geological Survey
Department of the Interior/USGS
U.S. Geological Survey

[9A]

22 April 2011

Earth Day 2011






Truly a team effort for a global celebration, this year's Earth Day doodle started with a desire to depict different environments around the world. Starting with Asia, the doodle walks users through Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and America. Having laid down the overall composition, I turned to my teammates to determine what should happen in this nature-packed doodle. We all huddled in a room and brainstormed various cute interactions, internet memes, and nature jokes that could fit into each region. When users hover over various parts of the doodle, they may catch a salmon swimming up stream, parrots darting through the sky, a frog leaping across the grass, a bear having a snack, a koala performing gymnastics, a sleepy lion, butterflies rustling trees, a penguin sliding down an iceberg, and a sneezing baby panda.


posted by Jennifer Hom

[9A]

22 April 2018

Earth Day 2018




“It is so important in the world today that we feel hopeful and do our part to protect life on Earth. I am hopeful that this Earth Day Google Doodle will live as a reminder for people across the globe that there is still so much in the world worth fighting for...With all of us working together, I am hopeful that it is not too late to turn things around, if we all do our part for this beautiful planet.”


- Dr. Jane Goodall


In 1970, 20 million Americans came together to deliver a message: our environment sustains us, and so we too must work to sustain it. Since then, Earth Day has spawned a movement of millions across the globe working towards a sustainable future. This day of solidarity sheds light on ways everyone can contribute to a better planet.

Today’s annual Earth Day Doodle was created in partnership with one of the planet’s most influential advocates: Ethologist [animal behavior expert], conservationist, activist, and animal-lover Dr. Jane Goodall, who has dedicated her life to studying and protecting our environment.

Born April 3, 1934, in London, England, Dr. Goodall always dreamt of living among wildlife in Africa. At 26, she followed her passion for animals and Africa to Gombe, Tanzania, where she began her landmark study of chimpanzees in the wild by immersing herself in their habitat as a neighbor, rather than a distant observer. Her discovery in 1960 that chimpanzees make and use tools rocked the scientific world and redefined the relationship between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom. As a UN Messenger of Peace, Dame Commander of the British Empire, and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, Dr. Goodall travels the world nearly 300 days a year, speaking about the threats facing chimpanzees, environmental crises, and her reasons for hope.

In today’s Doodle, Dr. Goodall shares her personal message to the world on Earth Day 2018, including some of her inspiration and what we can all do to have a positive impact on our planet. She shares: “It is so important in the world today that we feel hopeful and do our part to protect life on Earth. I am hopeful that this Earth Day Google Doodle will live as a reminder for people across the globe that there is still so much in the world worth fighting for. So much that is beautiful, so many wonderful people working to reverse the harm, to help protect species and their environments. And there are so, so many young people, like those in JGI’s Roots & Shoots program, dedicated to making this a better world. With all of us working together, I am hopeful that it is not too late to turn things around, if we all do our part for this beautiful planet.”

[9A]

22 Apr 2013

Dooly the Little Dinosaur's Birthday




Dooly the Little Dinosaur is a cartoon serialized from 1983 to 1993 by South Korean cartoonist Kim Soo-jung with a little dinosaur as the subject, and it refers to animations and other media mix works based on the original. It is a 1987 South Korean comic series and animated film and television series created by Kim Soo-jung. Dooly is one of the most respected and commercially successful characters of South Korean animation. It was printed in 1995 in South Korea. Dooly also has a resident registration card, which means he is a citizen of South Korea.

[9A]

22 April 2014

Earth Day 2014




I had a lot of hair-brained ideas for Earth Day 2014, before at last stumbling upon the solution you see before you. My desk was littered with hastily scrawled notes and sketches involving old tractor tires, the number of water bottles consumed by north americans per annum, and sea turtles wearing plastic shopping bags like waist-coat travesties.

My colleague, cohort, and coder extraordinaire Corrie Scalisi had recently been on holiday in East Africa, and after a brainstorm session during which I had expounded on the ways I could spell 'Google' using trash, related to me some truly moving facts about the horticultural tendencies of garden-variety dung beetles.

Most of us are aware of the beetles' propensity for whisking away lumps of dung for their own purposes. Perhaps less known, is the most marvelous side effect dung-rolling has of bolstering soil quality and richness, which in turn fosters tree growth in areas where the beetles live.

The notion that the 'animals' we share our planet with can cause such positive repercussions within their habitat moved me to focus on the many and varied beings that the Earth has given rise to.

With that, I set about sketching out ways I could incorporate a diverse range of fauna into the google logo, with specific emphasis on not giving to much importance to members of my own class: Mammalia.

Posted by Kevin Laughlin, Doodler

[9A]

22 April 2004

Earth Day 2004

[9A]

22 April 2012

Grace Cossington-Smith's 120th Birthday




Grace Cossington Smith was an Australian artist and pioneer of modernist painting in Australia and was instrumental in introducing Post-Impressionism to her home country. Examples of her work are held by every major gallery in Australia.

[9A]

26 April 2021

Anne McLaren's 94th birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates the 94th birthday of British scientist and author Anne McLaren, who is widely considered one of the most significant reproductive biologists of the 20th century. Her fundamental research on embryology has helped countless people realize their dreams of parenthood.

Anne McLaren was born in London on this day in 1927. As a child, she had a small role in the 1936 H.G. Wells’ sci-fi film “The Shape of Things to Come.” In the scene—set in 2054—her great-grandfather lectured her on the advancement of space technology that had put mice on the moon. McLaren credits this formative, albeit fictional, history lesson as one of the early inspirations for her love of science. She went on to study zoology at the University of Oxford, where her passion for science only grew as she learned from talented biologists such as Peter Medawar—a Nobel laureate for his research on the human immune system.

In the 1950s, McLaren began to work with mice to further understand the biology of mammalian development. While the subjects of her research were tiny, the implications of their study proved massive. By successfully growing mouse embryos in vitro [[in lab equipment), McLaren and her colleague John Biggers demonstrated the possibility to create healthy embryos outside of the mother’s womb.

These landmark findings—published in 1958—paved the way for the development of in vitro fertilization [IVF] technology that scientists first used successfully with humans twenty years later. However, the development of IVF technology carried major ethical controversy along with it. To this end, McLaren served as the only research scientist on the Warnock Committee [est. 1982], a governmental body dedicated to the development of policies related to the advances in IVF technology and embryology. Her expert council to the committee played an essential role in the enactment of the 1990 Human Fertilization and Embryology Act—watershed, yet contentious, legislation which limits in-vitro culture of human embryos to 14-days post embryo creation.

In 1991, McLaren was appointed Foreign Secretary, and later vice-president, of the world’s oldest scientific institution—The Royal Society—at the time becoming the first woman to ever hold office within the institution’s 330-year-old history.

McLaren discovered her passion for learning at a young age and aspired to spark this same enthusiasm for science in children and society at large. In 1994, the British Association for the Advancement of Science—an institution dedicated to the promotion of science to the general public [now the British Science Association]—elected her as its president. Through the organization and its events, McLaren engaged audiences across Britain on the wonders of science, engineering, and technology with the aim of making these topics more accessible to everyone.

Happy birthday, Anne McLaren. Thank you for all your incredible work and for inspiring many new generations to come because of it!

[9A]

26 April 2014

King's Day 2014




Koningsdag [King's Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Celebrated on 27 April [26 April if the 27th is a Sunday], the date marks the birth of King Willem-Alexander.

[9A]

26 April 2012

Israel Independence Day 2012



Independence Day is designated to be on the 5th day of Iyar [ה' באייר] in the Hebrew calendar, the anniversary of the day on which Israeli independence was proclaimed, when David Ben-Gurion publicly read the Israeli Declaration of Independence. The corresponding Gregorian date was 14 May 1948.

[9A]

26 April 2017

Cassini Spacecraft Dives Between Saturn and its Rings!







Saturn, get ready for your close-up! Today the Cassini spacecraft starts a series of swoops between Saturn and its rings. These cosmic acrobatics are part of Cassini's dramatic "Grand Finale," a set of orbits offering Earthlings an unprecedented look at the second largest planet in our solar system.

By plunging into this fascinating frontier, Cassini will help scientists learn more about the origins, mass, and age of Saturn's rings, as well as the mysteries of the gas giant's interior. And of course there will be breathtaking additions to Cassini's already stunning photo gallery. Cassini recently revealed some secrets of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus -- including conditions friendly to life! Who knows what marvels this hardy explorer will uncover in the final chapter of its mission?

Cassini is a joint endeavor of NASA, the European Space Agency [ESA], and the Italian space agency [ASI]. The spacecraft began its 2.2 billion–mile journey 20 years ago and has been hanging out with Saturn since 2004. Later this year, Cassini will say goodbye and become part of Saturn when it crashes through the planet’s atmosphere. But first, it has some spectacular sightseeing to do!

NASA's Grand Finale toolkit lets you dive into the gap right along with Cassini. Enjoy the show!

Doodle by Nate Swinehart

[9A]

24 Apr 2017

Celebrating Maria Zambrano





Maria Zambrano was a prolific Spanish writer, thinker, and philosopher associated with the Generation of ‘36—a literary movement composed of artists, poets, and playwrights who documented the experiences of creative people during the tumultuous times of the Spanish Civil War. On this date in 1988, Zambrano was the first woman to receive the Miguel de Cervantes Prize for her work in the genres of philosophy and essay. This prize honors the lifetime achievements of outstanding Spanish writers who have had profound historical impact.

It’s nearly impossible to distill Zambrano’s layered ideologies into just a few words. She centered her thinking on the topics of the person, the word, love, time, creativity, and compassion as it relates to the human condition. She explored the political, the ethical, the vital, the spiritual, the mystical, the phenomenological, the anthropological, the historical, the rational, and the poetic. Zambrano is perhaps most famous for her combination of these areas as a means to understand a new reality: a notion she coined “poetic reason.” This theory applies human emotion and creativity to traditional rational and logical modes of thought, in order to give a new voice of truth to the human experience.

[9A]

24 April 2008

ANZAC Day 2008


Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served". Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps [ANZAC] who served in the Gallipoli Campaign, their first engagement in the First World War [1914–1918].

[9A]

24 April 2012

Gideon Sundback's 132nd Birthday






Few have heard of Swedish-American inventor Gideon Sundback, though most people use one of his inventions every day. I certainly hadn't heard of him before I began work on this doodle celebrating his work on the zipper, which he filed a patent for in 1914.

Such an iconic piece of fabric fastening needs little introduction, so I collaborated with doodle engineer Kris Hom to develop an interactive zipper on the homepage which zips opens to reveal search results for "Gideon Sundback."

Happy zipping!


Posted by Sophia Foster-Dimino, Doodler

[9A]

24 April 2014

Jan Karski's 100th Birthday [born 1914]




Jan Karski [24 June 1914 – 13 July 2000] was a Polish soldier, resistance-fighter, and diplomat during World War II. He is known for having acted as a courier in 1940–1943 to the Polish government-in-exile and to Poland's Western Allies about the situation in German-occupied Poland. He reported about the state of Poland, its many competing resistance factions, and also about Germany's destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto and its operation of extermination camps on Polish soil that were murdering Jews, Poles, and others.

Emigrating to the United States after the war, Karski completed a doctorate and taught for decades at Georgetown University in international relations and Polish history. He lived in Washington, D.C., to the end of his life. He did not speak publicly about his wartime missions until 1981, when he was invited as a speaker to a conference on the liberation of the camps. Karski was featured in Claude Lanzmann's nine hour film Shoah [1985], about the Holocaust, based on oral interviews with Jewish and Polish survivors.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Karski was honored by the new Polish government, as well as being honored in the US and European nations for his wartime role. In 2010 Lanzmann released a short documentary, The Karski Report, which contained more about Karski's meetings with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and other US leaders in 1943.

Karski later stated: "I wanted to save millions, and I was not able to save one man."

[9A]

24 April 2003

Celebrating DNA's 50th Anniversary





DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that contains the genetic code of organisms. This includes animals, plants, protists, archaea and bacteria. It is made up of two polynucleotide chains in a double helix.

DNA is in each cell in the organism and tells cells what proteins to make. Mostly, these proteins are enzymes. DNA is inherited by children from their parents. This is why children share traits with their parents, such as skin, hair and eye color. The DNA in a person is a combination of the DNA from each of their parents.

[9A]

24 April 2013

Gabriel Figueroa's 106th Birthday






Gabriel Figueroa Mateos [April 24, 1907 – April 27, 1997] was a Mexican cinematographer who is regarded as one of the greatest cinematographers of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. He has worked in over 200 films, which cover a broad range of genres, and is best known for his technical dominance, his careful handling of framing and chiaroscuro, and affinity for the aesthetics of artists.

[9A]

24 April 2017

Rajkumar’s 88th birthday






Today’s Doodle honors Rajkumar, widely considered one of India’s finest and most prolific actors. Beginning in 1953, the method actor’s career spanned 200 films and a wide swath of movie genres and roles, establishing Rajkumar as a dynamic and enduring presence in Kannada cinema.

Early drafts of today’s Doodle featured different interpretations of the beloved star’s work. The first illustrates Rajkumar singing and holding the white bird from Kasturi Nivasa, a quintessential Kannada drama and a cornerstone of Rajkumar’s cinematic legacy. Another Doodle draft showcases an array of iconic characters Rajkumar played over a half century of acting. Ultimately the Doodle team decided to feature Rajkumar’s larger-than-life personality beaming at a crowd of moviegoers from the silver screen where his legacy lives on for generations of Indian audiences.

[9A]

24 April 2009

Tomitaro Makino's Birthday





Tomitaro Makino [ April 24, 1862 – January 18, 1957] was a pioneer Japanese botanist noted for his taxonomic work. He has been called "Father of Japanese Botany". He was one of the first Japanese botanists to work extensively on classifying Japanese plants using the system developed by Linnaeus. His research resulted in documenting 50,000 specimens, many of which are represented in his Makino's Illustrated Flora of Japan. Despite having dropped out of grammar school, he eventually attained a Doctor of Science degree, and his birthday is remembered as Botany Day in Japan.

[9A]

25 Apr 2015

100th anniversary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli




The landing at Anzac Cove on Sunday, 25 April 1915, also known as the landing at Gaba Tepe, and to the Turks as the Arıburnu Battle, was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by the forces of the British Empire, which began the land phase of the Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War.

The assault troops, mostly from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps [ANZAC], landed at night on the western [Aegean Sea] side of the peninsula. They were put ashore one mile [1.6 km] north of their intended landing beach. In the darkness, the assault formations became mixed up, but the troops gradually made their way inland, under increasing opposition from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. Not long after coming ashore, the ANZAC plans were discarded, and the companies and battalions were thrown into battle piecemeal and received mixed orders. Some advanced to their designated objectives, while others were diverted to other areas and ordered to dig in along defensive ridge lines.

Although they failed to achieve their objectives, by nightfall the ANZACs had formed a beachhead, albeit much smaller than intended. In some places, they were clinging onto cliff faces with no organised defence system. Their precarious position convinced both divisional commanders to ask for an evacuation, but after taking advice from the Royal Navy about how practicable that would be, the army commander decided they would stay. The exact number of the day's casualties is not known. The ANZACs had landed two divisions, but over two thousand of their men had been killed or wounded, together with at least a similar number of Turkish casualties.

Since 1916, the anniversary of the landings on 25 April has been commemorated as Anzac Day, becoming one of the most important commemorative dates for Australia and New Zealand. The anniversary is also commemorated in Turkey and the United Kingdom.

[9A]

25 April 2010

ANZAC Day 2010 - New Zealand