Google doodles

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December 17, 2021

Celebrating Carrie Best





Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based guest artist Alexis Eke, celebrates Canadian activist, author, journalist, publisher, and broadcaster Carrie Best and her record of influential accomplishments, including co-founding The Clarion—one of the first Nova Scotian newspapers owned and operated by Black Canadians. For her humanitarian efforts, Best was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1974, and subsequently became an Officer of the Order of Canada on this day in 1979.

Carrie Mae Prevoe was born on March 4, 1903, in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia during a time of pronounced racial discrimination. Encouraged by her parents to take pride in her heritage, she decided from a young age to refuse racial stereotypes and immerse herself in historical and literary works written by Black Canadians and African-Americans. In 1925, she married Albert T. Best.

In 1943, Best was arrested for sitting in the “white only” section of New Glasgow’s Roseland Theatre—an act of protest against the forcible removal of several Black teens who attempted to sit there only days before. She then sued the theatre based on racial discrimination but lost the case. Her drive for equal rights was only strengthened by this event.

Best founded The Clarion in 1946 to publish news by and for the nation’s Black community. In 1952, Best established her own radio show titled “The Quiet Corner,” where she broadcast music and read poetry often relating to human rights for the next 12 years. Best was also a strong advocate for the rights of Indigenous peoples.

Best’s efforts were recognized with honorary law doctorates in 1975 and 1992. The University of King’s College in Halifax, one of the institutions that awarded Best, continues to carry on her legacy by offering outstanding Black and Indigenous Canadian students a scholarship named in her honor.

Thank you for fighting for the future of marginalized people in Canada and beyond, Carrie Best!

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Dec 17, 2021

Émilie du Châtelet's 315th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates the 315th birthday of French mathematician, physicist, translator, and philosopher Émilie du Châtelet, whose contributions to Newtonian theory and mission to make scientific literature more accessible helped clear the path for modern physics.

Émilie du Châtelet was born Gabrielle-Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil in Paris on this day in 1706—a time when it was rare for women to publicly pursue intellectual careers. Raised in an aristocratic household, Châtelet learned avidly from the distinguished scientists and mathematicians whom her family often entertained. She complemented her formal math and science studies with fencing and linguistics lessons, learning six languages by age 12. Despite society’s discouragement of women pursuing the sciences, Châtelet broke convention.

In her 20s, she married Marquis Florent-Claude du Châtelet, a prominent military officer, and their estate library housed approximately 21,000 books! After months of clandestine research and experimentation, Châtelet submitted a groundbreaking physics paper to the French Academy of Sciences in 1737 that predicted the existence of infrared radiation. Voltaire, an eminent writer of the French enlightenment, recognized her talents, and in 1738, the pair published “Elements of Newton’s Philosophy” under Voltaire’s name. This pioneering book broke down complex Newtonian physics into easy-to-understand terms for French readers.

Châtelet’s magnum opus came in 1740 with the anonymous publication of “The Foundations of Physics,” a work of natural philosophy that married Newtonian physics with metaphysics. Her work played an instrumental role in the acceptance of Newtonian physics across Europe. Albeit anonymously, Châtelet continued to revolutionize physics by translating “Principia,” Newton’s manifesto for the laws of motion and gravity. Published posthumously in 1759, it remains the leading French translation to this day.

Here’s to an unstoppable force in the progression of physics!

[9A]

December 17, 2011

Josef Lada's 124th Birthday





Josef Lada was a Czech painter, illustrator and writer. He is best known as the illustrator of Jaroslav Hašek's World War I novel The Good Soldier Švejk, having won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1963.

The asteroid 17625 Joseflada has been named after him.

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December 17, 2015

Celebrating Ludwig van Beethoven's 245th Year





Help Beethoven's unfortunate journey to the symphony hall by arranging his masterpieces in time for the big crescendo!

Even when you’re the preeminent musical genius of your generation, sometimes you just step in it. So begins Beethoven’s trip to the symphony hall in today’s musical puzzle, which Leon Hong created in collaboration with artist Nate Swinehart and engineers Jonathan Shneier and Jordan Thompson. It happens that our story isn’t much of a stretch in the broader context of Ludwig van Beethoven’s life, which saw more than its share of rotten luck.

Ludwig’s father, a middling singer in the Elector’s court and a man too often in his cups, pulled the precocious child out of school at the age of ten in hopes of earning some money on the shoulders of his talent [as a result, his handwriting was so bad that musicologists still struggle to authenticate his signature]. He lost two siblings prematurely, had to assume full responsibility for his family as a teenager, fell madly for unrequiting lovers twice, and, most famously, began losing his hearing at the peak of his career.

Despite all of this, Beethoven’s music prevailed. As Mozart reputedly said, “one day, [that boy] will give the world something to talk about.” That he certainly did. Sure, he may have raised his voice a few times, but he could overwhelm his friends with excessive kindness and generosity just the same. And while his romances brought him more anguish than happiness, would we have Für Elise or Moonlight Sonata if they hadn’t?

It’s unclear when Beethoven was actually born, but December 17th marks the 245th anniversary of his baptism. Today provided us a rare opportunity to construct a game in step with beautiful music, whose evocative moods, drama, lightness, and depth made conjuring visuals to match it rollickingly fun. Here’s to one of history’s greatest artists, and to hoping that, wherever you happen to be traveling this holiday, your life’s work isn’t eaten by a horse.

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May 8, 2022
Mother's Day 2022 [May 08]


Happy Mother's Day! ❤️

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May 8, 2015

Parent's Day 2015




South Korea celebrates Parent’s Day every year on May 8 -- but did you know the holiday was known as Mother’s Day until 1973? Today, sons and daughters around the country -- and in our Doodle -- thank both parents [as well as grandparents] with carnations and other tokens of appreciation.


This Doodle was created by guest artist Sueann Williams.

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May 8, 2013

Parent's Day 2013

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May 8, 2021

Parents' Day 2021

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May 4, 2021

Celebrating Hisaye Yamamoto




In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, today’s Doodle celebrates Japanese-American short story author Hisaye Yamamoto, among the first Asian Americans to receive post-war national literary recognition. Throughout an acclaimed career, Yamamoto constructed candid and incisive stories that aimed to bridge the cultural divide between first and second-generation Japanese-Americans by detailing their experiences in the wake of World War II.

Born on August 23, 1921, in Redondo Beach, California, Hisaye Yamamoto was the daughter of Japanese immigrant parents. In her teens, Yamamoto wrote articles for a daily newspaper for Japanese Californians under the pen name Napoleon. Following the outbreak of World War II and due to Executive Order 9066, Yamamoto’s family was among the over 120,000 Japanese-Americans forced by the U.S. to relocate to government prison camps [aka Japanese internment camps], where they faced violence and harsh conditions. Despite the injustices encountered daily, she kept her literary aspirations alive as a reporter and columnist for the “Poston Chronicle,” the camp newspaper.

As the dust settled from the war’s end, Yamamoto was released from the internment camp and returned to the Los Angeles area in 1945. Yamamoto soon found work as a columnist with the “Los Angeles Tribune,” a weekly Black-owned and founded newspaper that sought to diversify the voices in journalism and unify the Angelo Black community with Asian Americans.

Over the next three years gathering news for the publication, Yamamoto witnessed firsthand the widespread racism that many underrepresented groups faced. These experiences profoundly changed Yamamoto, who became a literary champion of not just the Asian American community, but for others who also endured discrimination. In 1948, Yamamoto published her first short story, “The High Heeled Shoes,” which inspired Yamamoto to leave journalism and pursue writing full-time, often exploring topics related to the intersection of gender, race, and ethnicity in her works.

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July 23, 2018

Ludwig Sütterlin's 153rd Birthday





Today’s Doodle has the “write” stuff and celebrates German graphic artist and font designer Ludwig Sütterlin for creating the Sütterlinschrift, a unified, kid-friendly script that revolutionized the way Prussian and German school children learned to write from 1915-1941.

At the request of the Prussian Ministry of Culture in 1911, Sütterlin developed a handwriting style that would be easier for beginners to use, especially with the steel-spring pen, a modern invention quickly replacing goose-feather quills dipped in ink. As a result, young students could enjoy simple letters, reduced smudging, and fewer reprimands by teachers. Though forbidden by the National Socialists in 1941, Sütterlinschrift was reintroduced and remained as optional in schools until the 1960s so children could read letters from parents or grandparents.

Sütterlin was also a prolific graphic artist and craftsman who designed Art Deco glassware [as depicted in today’s Doodle], iconic promotions like the “Hammer Poster” for the 1896 Berlin Trade Fair, and notable trademarks like the “Goddess of Light” for the AEG electrical company.

Happy 153rd birthday, Ludwig Sütterlin!

[9A]

June 22, 2018

Dame Cicely Saunders’ 100th Birthday






A pioneer of the modern hospice movement, Dame Cicely Saunders felt that all should live with “a sense of fulfillment and a readiness to let go.”

Born 100 years ago today, Saunders performed many roles in her life, including nurse, doctor, author, and social worker. It was while caring for a terminally ill patient that she recognized certain challenges other medical professionals of her time did not: that his diagnosis required a fundamentally different kind of healthcare.

Through this experience, Saunders envisioned an environment that focused care on a patient’s individual and specific needs. As a result, she went on to found St. Christopher’s, the first modern hospice, in a suburb of London in 1967. There, core values included vigilant pain-management as well as a holistic and individualized understanding of practical, medical, and psychological patient needs.

Not only did Saunders’ work inspire hundreds of other hospices worldwide, but her books and teachings also established a new branch of medicine known as palliative care, which addresses the importance of holistic care among patients with life-limiting illnesses. She also went on to establish a global charity focusing on palliative care research and education, Cicely Saunders International, which still works to improve the lives of patients with progressive illness to this day.

Today’s Doodle, created by London-based guest artist Briony May Smith, was inspired by Saunders' favorite anthology, All In the End is Harvest [1984] which states, “Love and life is an eternal thing, like the growth and reaping of the harvest."

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August 13, 2019
Doodle for Google 2019 - US Winner




Congratulations to Georgia-based high school senior Arantza Peña Popo, who was announced as the winner of the US 2019 Doodle for Google national competition last night on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon!

“When I grow up, I hope to care for my mom as much as she cared for me my entire life,” Arantza wrote in the statement submitted with her artwork, entitled Once you get it, give it back, which appears today on the Google homepage. In Arantza’s Doodle, there is a framed picture of her mother carrying Arantza as a baby─inspired by a real picture in her house of her mom holding her sister. Below the picture is Arantza, caring for her mom when she’s older in the future.

Arantza started drawing when she was three years old and wants to publish alternative graphic novels and comics in the future. She graduated as valedictorian of Arabia Mountain High School in DeKalb County, Georgia, and will be attending the University of Southern Califonia in the Fall.

Described by her mother as someone who “lights up any room she is in,” Arantza is currently teaching herself how to skateboard when she’s not focusing on her school work and visual arts.

Arantza dreams of one day being able to help her mom do all the things in life she hasn't been able to yet, such as traveling around the world.

Congrats again to Arantza and thanks to all the students who shared their dreams and creativity with us this year!





Arantza meeting Jimmy at The Tonight Show in NYC!





Arantza visiting Google HQ in California with her mother for the national finals

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August 13, 2014

Anders Jonas Ångström's 200th Birthday




Which physicist has a unit of measurement, a top university’s laboratory, a crater on the moon and—here’s the kicker— a conference room at Google named after him? Did you guess Anders Jonas Ångström? Of course you did We’re wishing Ångström a happy 200th birthday on our homepage in Sweden today. Ångström is one of the founders of spectroscopy, the study of the interaction between radiated energy and matter.

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November 14, 2021

Fanny Hensel's 216th Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 216th birthday of virtuosic German pianist and composer Fanny Hensel, who is widely considered one of the most important woman composers of the 19th century.

Fanny Hensel was born Fanny Zippora Mendelssohn on this day in 1805 in Hamburg, Germany into an upper-class family. Her mother, herself taught by a student of Johann Sebastian Bach, first taught her piano. At 13, Hensel astonished a private audience in Berlin with a memorized performance of 24 preludes from Bach’s masterpiece “The Well-Tempered Clavier” [1722-1742]. Despite her prodigious talent, her ability to foster a musical career was hindered by restrictive societal conventions.

Hensel remained musically engaged, and around 1820, she began working as an integral part of Mendelssohn family Sunday Concerts, a semi-public exhibition where she shined for decades as a hostess, organizer, conductor, and pianist free to explore the depths of her creativity. Although her public image was overshadowed by her brother Felix’s career, she devoted herself to developing the Mendelssohnian style in over 450 compositions, which reflected her veneration of Bach and Beethoven and an innovative musical approach.

At age 41, she published Opus 1, the first original work published in her name and among the first published compositions by a woman, paving the way for women to pursue a classical tradition historically dominated by men. In 2010, musicologists uncovered the Easter Sonata, a masterful, solo piano piece written by Hensel when she was 22 years old that had been mistakenly attributed to her brother. The piece was performed under her name for the first time in 2017, nearly 190 years after its composition.

Happy birthday, Fanny Hensel!

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June 7, 2021

Roberto Cantoral's 85th Birthday






Today’s Doodle, illustrated by guest artist Totoi Semerena, celebrates Mexican pianist, guitarist, singer, poet, activist, and composer Roberto Cantoral. He soundtracked a booming era of romantic Latin pop with beloved ballads such as “El Reloj” [“The Watch”] and “La Barca” [“The Boat”], both of which have been recorded over 1,000 times by dozens of musicians such as Plácido Domingo and Linda Ronstadt.

Born in Tampico on this day in 1935, Roberto Antonio Cantoral García launched his career at 15 when he and his brother Antonio formed the duet “Hermanos Cantoral” [“Cantoral Brothers”]. But his music found mainstream success once he banded together with Chamin Correa and Leonel Galver to form the trio aptly named “Los Tres Caballeros” [“The Three Gentlemen”].

The trio traveled far and wide throughout the 50s, taking their romantic ballads on worldwide tours in countries ranging from Japan to Argentina. In 1960, Cantoral broke out on his own. His original solo compositions were performed by some of Mexico’s most distinguished singers, and he continued to share his music with the world into the 2000s, performing at music festivals, radio shows, and TV programs in over 120 countries.

Along with his musical legacy, Cantoral advocated for protecting composers’ intellectual property as an honorary president of the Mexican Society of Composers and Authors for over 25 years. In 2009, Cantoral was honored at the 10th Latin Grammy Awards with the Latin Recording Academy Trustees Award to recognize his dedication to music and community.

Happy birthday, Roberto Cantoral, and may your music live on forever in the hearts of listeners worldwide!

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Jan 26, 2020

Australia Day 2020





January 26th means different things for Australians all around the country. This year, we’re going through a particularly difficult summer, with devastating bushfires affecting many parts of the country.

Today's Doodle on Australia Day is inspired by the spirit of resilience and mateship that binds the country together.

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Feb 1, 2022

Dr. Sabire Aydemir's 112th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates the first woman to become a veterinary doctor in Turkey, Dr. Sabire Aydemir. Born on this day in 1910 in Kastamonu, Turkey, Aydemir followed her love for animals to pave her own path in the then-exclusive field of veterinary medicine.

During an era when women were not encouraged to pursue higher education, Aydemir attended the Erenköy Girls’ High School Istanbul in 1933 and set her sights on a career in medicine. She furthered her studies at Ankara University Veterinary Faculty. Despite social challenges, she graduated as Turkey’s first woman veterinarian in 1937.

In turn-of-the-century Turkey, conditions in the field of veterinary medicine were far from comfortable—most vets attended to cattle in the rugged countryside only accessible by horseback. Her career blossomed as a laboratory assistant in bacteriological research—a field in which she soon became an expert. Aydemir spent a lifetime promoting animal health and welfare, retiring as a specialist at the Samsun Atakum’s Veterinary Control Research Institute.

To honor her pioneering achievements, the Turkish government awarded Aydemir with the First Female Veterinarian of the Republic of Turkey plaque in 1984. And in 2016, she was given the Turkish Veterinary Medical Association Honor Award posthumously.

Thank you, Dr. Sabire Aydemir, for inspiring future generations of women!

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February 1, 2014

Celebrating Harriet Tubman




Harriet Tubman [born Araminta Ross, c. March 1822 – March 10, 1913] was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the movement for women's suffrage.

Born enslaved in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman was beaten and whipped by her various masters as a child. Early in life, she suffered a traumatic head wound when an irate overseer threw a heavy metal weight intending to hit another enslaved person, but hit her instead. The injury caused dizziness, pain, and spells of hypersomnia, which occurred throughout her life. After her injury, Tubman began experiencing strange visions and vivid dreams, which she ascribed to premonitions from God. These experiences, combined with her Methodist upbringing, led her to become devoutly religious.

In 1849, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia, only to return to Maryland to rescue her family soon after. Slowly, one group at a time, she brought relatives with her out of the state, and eventually guided dozens of other enslaved people to freedom. Traveling by night and in extreme secrecy, Tubman [or "Moses", as she was called] "never lost a passenger". After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, she helped guide fugitives farther north into British North America [Canada], and helped newly freed enslaved people find work. Tubman met John Brown in 1858, and helped him plan and recruit supporters for his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry.

When the Civil War began, Tubman worked for the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, and then as an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people. After the war, she retired to the family home on property she had purchased in 1859 in Auburn, New York, where she cared for her aging parents. She was active in the women's suffrage movement until illness overtook her, and she had to be admitted to a home for elderly African Americans that she had helped to establish years earlier. She became an icon of courage and freedom.

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February 1, 2013

María Elena Walsh's 83rd Birthday



María Elena Walsh was an Argentine poet, novelist, musician, playwright, writer and composer, mainly known for her songs and books for children. Her work includes many of the most popular children's books and songs of all time in her home country.

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Feb 3, 2013

Polde Bibič's 80th Birthday





Polde Bibič was a Slovenian stage and film actor, a writer, and an academic professor, best known for his role in the film Flowers in Autumn and his work in theater, Bibič was a recipient of several top awards in the field of arts in Slovenia.

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February 3, 2010

Norman Rockwell's 106th Birthday - © 1926 SEPS by Curtis Publishing





Norman Percevel Rockwell was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over nearly five decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter, The Problem We All Live With, Saying Grace, and the Four Freedoms series. He is also noted for his 64-year relationship with the Boy Scouts of America [BSA], during which he produced covers for their publication Boys' Life, calendars, and other illustrations. These works include popular images that reflect the Scout Oath and Scout Law such as The Scoutmaster, A Scout Is Reverent and A Guiding Hand, among many others.

Rockwell was a prolific artist, producing more than 4,000 original works in his lifetime. Most of his surviving works are in public collections. Rockwell was also commissioned to illustrate more than 40 books, including Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn as well as painting the portraits for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, as well as those of foreign figures, including Gamal Abdel Nasser and Jawaharlal Nehru. His portrait subjects included Judy Garland. One of his last portraits was of Colonel Sanders in 1973. His annual contributions for the Boy Scouts calendars between 1925 and 1976 [Rockwell was a 1939 recipient of the Silver Buffalo Award, the highest adult award given by the Boy Scouts of America], were only slightly overshadowed by his most popular of calendar works: the "Four Seasons" illustrations for Brown & Bigelow that were published for 17 years beginning in 1947 and reproduced in various styles and sizes since 1964. He created artwork for advertisements for Coca-Cola, Jell-O, General Motors, Scott Tissue, and other companies. Illustrations for booklets, catalogs, posters [particularly movie promotions], sheet music, stamps, playing cards, and murals [including "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "God Bless the Hills", which was completed in 1936 for the Nassau Inn in Princeton, New Jersey] rounded out Rockwell's œuvre as an illustrator.

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Feb 9, 2010

Natsume Soseki's Birthday





Natsume Sōseki [9 February 1867 – 9 December 1916, born Natsume Kin'nosuke], was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat, Kusamakura and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer of haiku, kanshi, and fairy tales. From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1,000 yen note.

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February 9, 2017

Carmen Miranda's 108th Birthday





Carmen Miranda is a rare example of a triple threat: talented at acting, singing, and dancing. Born in Portugal and raised in Brazil, Miranda took to the performing arts at a young age. Her father's love of opera and her mother's support led her to pursue a career in show business. Inspired by baianas, Afro-Brazilian fruit vendors, Miranda donned a "fruit hat" when she performed. It would become her signature as her star soared, first in Brazil and then, worldwide.

Miranda’s big break happened following her performance at the National Institute of Music. She landed an audition at a recording studio where she was immediately signed to put out a single. Miranda’s first album was released in 1929, and was immensely popular among Brazilians. Her performing style helped samba gain respect and a place in the Brazilian [and later, the world] spotlight.

By the time she moved to the United States in 1939, Miranda was a national star in Brazil and had the power to ensure her band could travel with her. Hollywood's famous Garuman's Chinese Theatre invited her to leave her hand prints in the cement in 1941, the first Latin American to do so.

Today, we celebrate Carmen Miranda on what would be her 108th birthday.

Doodle by Sophie Diao

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Feb 23, 2017

Seven Earth-size Exoplanets Discovered!




This just in! Turns out it wasn’t just dust on the telescope lens: NASA just announced the discovery of seven earth-size planets orbiting the same star only 235 trillion miles away. In space terms, that practically makes us next-door neighbors!




This artist's concept shows what each of the TRAPPIST-1 planets may look like. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

What exactly does this new solar system TRAPPIST-1 mean for our universe? Well, three of these newly discovered planets land smack-dab in the middle of what scientists call the habitable zone, or the distance from the star it orbits “where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water.” Though scientists have some serious studying to do before we can definitively say whether any of the new TRAPPIST-1 planets are habitable, the potential is very promising.

So if three of these new TRAPPIST-1 planets land in the habitable zone, what about the other four? According to NASA, all seven planets could have liquid water, the most crucial ingredient for life -- assuming the right atmospheric conditions.

Unlike our solar system, the planets in TRAPPIST-1 are very close together. If we’re able to visit one of the TRAPPIST-1 planets one day, we could be able to watch each neighboring planet pass by on its orbital journey! Until then, you can explore TRAPPIST-1 d, the third planet in the TRAPPIST-1 solar system in 3D using your computer or mobile device. If you have a virtual reality device, you can also take a stroll around.

Happy solar-searching!




An artist's fantasy of the surface of TRAPPIST-1e. Credit: NASA

We don’t know about you, but we’re hoping to spend our next vacation luxuriating by the cosmic pool. At least that's where you'll find Nate Swinehart, the artist for today's star-studded Doodle.

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May 4, 2019

Eddie Aikau’s 73rd Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates Eddie Aikau, big wave surfer, lifeguard, and enduring symbol of Hawaiian heritage. Born on the island of Maui on this day in 1946, Eddie moved to Oahu with his family in 1959 and went on to become the first lifeguard hired by Honolulu officials to work on the North Shore of the island.

Not a single life was lost while he served as a lifeguard at Waimea Bay, making some 500 rescues without the assistance of a jet ski or any modern equipment. Eddie was famous for making rescues even in surf that reached 30 feet high. His fearlessness went on to inspire the slogan “Eddie would go.”

Hailing from a surfing family, Eddie was one of the first native Hawaiians to win the prestigious Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship in 1977, just four years after his older brother Clyde, who was the very first. Aside from his distinguished surfing career, Eddie found other ways to represent the culture of his native island. In 1978, Eddie joined the crew of the Hokule'a, a historically accurate double-hulled canoe retracing the ancient Polynesian migration route to Hawaii. The vessel sprung a leak and capsized in rough waters. Eddie was last seen heroically paddling off on his surfboard towards the nearest island to seek help for the crew, who were later rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Today, Eddie’s legacy lives on through the Eddie Aikau Foundation as well as the prestigious Eddie Aikau Invitational, which has seen some of big-wave surfing’s greatest names competing with maximum respect for the authenticity of surf culture.

Here’s to you, Eddie.

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May 5, 2019

Stanislaw Moniuszko’s 200th Birthday






Today’s Doodle by Warsaw-based illustrator Gosia Herba honors Stanisław Moniuszko, the Polish musician, composer, conductor, and teacher. Born on May 5, 1819, Moniuszko went on to become director of the Warsaw Opera House where he premiered many of his own works, including one of the most beloved operas in Polish history.

After being taught music by his mother as a child, Moniuszko was sent to study harmony, counterpoint, instrumentation, and conducting with the director of the Singakademie Music Society. There, he decided to become a composer, with a special interest in the human voice.

While working as an organist in Wilno, Moniuszko began writing his songbook, Śpiewnik Domowy [Home Songbook], publishing the first of 12 volumes in 1843. During a trip to Warsaw, he met the poet Włodzimierz Wolski, who’d written a libretto for an opera named Halka, based on a Polish folk story. Moniuszko composed the music, drawing inspiration from traditional Polish dance music known as polonaises and mazurkas. Halka premiered in Wilno in 1848 and later traveled to Prague, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. Expanded to four acts in 1858, the opera was hailed as a Polish cultural treasure, making Moniuszko a national hero.

A statue of Moniuszko stands outside Warsaw’s Opera House to this day, and his legacy lives on in The Stanislaw Moniuszko Music Academy in Gdansk. An international vocal competition in his name also takes place every three years. In it, finalists compete for a chance to sing with Poland’s National Opera on the stage where Moniuszko’s legend began.

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May 15, 2013

Frank Hornby's 150th Birthday






Frank Hornby was an English inventor, businessman and politician. He was a visionary in toy development and manufacture, and although he had no formal engineering training, he was responsible for the invention and production of three of the most popular lines of toys based on engineering principles in the 20th century: Meccano, Hornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys. He also founded the British toy company Meccano Ltd in 1908, and launched a monthly publication, Meccano Magazine in 1916.

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May 15, 2013

Viktor Vasnetsov's 165th Birthday





Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov was a Russian artist who specialized in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered the co-founder of Russian folklorist and romantic nationalistic painting and a key figure in the Russian revivalist movement.

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May 14, 2013

Antonio Berni's 108th Birthday




Delesio Antonio Berni was an Argentine figurative artist. He is associated with the movement known as Nuevo Realismo ["New Realism"], a Argentine extension of social realism. His work, including a series of Juanito Laguna collages depicting poverty and the effects of industrialization in Buenos Aires, has been exhibited around the world.

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May 14, 2010

Singapore Art Festival 2010



Singapore International Festival of Arts [SIFA] is an annual arts festival held in Singapore. It is organised by Arts Festival Limited for the National Arts Council. The festival is usually held in mid-year for a stretch of one month and incorporates theatre arts, dance, music and visual arts, etc. Besides local participants, many of the events are by international artists.

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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!

[9A]

May 16, 2008

Invention of the First Laser





A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow

In 1962, Robert N. Hall demonstrated the first laser diode device, which was made of gallium arsenide and emitted in the near-infrared band of the spectrum at 850 nm. Later that year, Nick Holonyak, Jr. demonstrated the first semiconductor laser with a visible emission.

[9A]

May 16, 2013

The National Theatre's 145 Anniversary





The National Theatre in Prague is known as the alma mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art.

The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a rich artistic tradition, which helped to preserve and develop the most important features of the nation–the Czech language and a sense for a Czech musical and dramatic way of thinking.

Today the National Theatre consists of three artistic ensembles: opera, ballet and drama. They alternate in their performances in the historic building of the National Theatre, in the Theatre of the Estates and in the Kolowrat Theatre. All three artistic ensembles select their repertoire both from classical heritage, and modern authors.

[9A]

May 16, 2012

Juan Rulfo's 95th Birthday




Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo, was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel Pedro Páramo, and the collection of short stories El Llano en llamas [1953]. This collection includes the popular tale "¡Diles que no me maten!" ["Tell Them Not to Kill Me!"].

[9A]

October 2, 2019

Waheed Murad’s 81st Birthday





Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Canada-based, Pakistan-born guest artist Anoosha Syed, celebrates the iconic Pakistani actor and producer Waheed Murad. Also known as “the Chocolaty Hero,” Murad’s blockbuster films electrified South Asian cinema throughout the 1960s and ’70s. Born in the former British India on this day in 1938, Murad was the only son of distributor Nisar Murad. After a brief appearance in the 1959 film Saathi, he began working with his father’s Film Art Productions, becoming the youngest producer Lollywood had ever seen.

Casting rising actress Zeba in an early lead role and helping her rise to stardom, Zeba, in turn, encouraged Murad to pursue acting. “I asked Waheed to become a leading man but his reply stunned me,” she recalled later. Waheed asked if she was mocking him, but after taking a role in the 1962 film Aulaad, he never looked back. The pair headlined many hit movies together, including Heera Aur Patthar in 1964 and Rishta Hai Pyar Ka, which was partially shot in London and Paris.

Murad went on to receive the Nigar Award for Best Producer and Best Actor for the 1966 romantic musical Armaan. The matinee idol was adored by many. He once found his white car covered with lipstick marks from female fans in Karachi.

During a career spanning a quarter-century, he appeared in more than 100 films, including Urdu, Punjabi, and Pashto productions. In November 2010, Murad was posthumously awarded the prestigious Sitara-e-Imtiaz [star of excellence] award by the Pakistani government for his outstanding contributions to the arts. To this day, Pakistan’s Waheedi Club organizes an annual film festival in his honor.

Happy Birthday, Waheed Murad!

[9A]

October 2, 2019

Bill Robinson’s 81st Birthday




“There’s only one rule, and that is ‘Try, try, try,’” said Dr. William Robinson, widely hailed as one of New Zealand’s most versatile and accomplished scientists. Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Wellington-based guest artist Jez Tuya, celebrates the inventor of the “quake breaker,” a lead-rubber bearing that is still used to protect large buildings from seismic waves, preventing earthquake damage.

Born on this day in 1938 into a working-class family, Robinson went on to study Mechanical Engineering at Auckland University. In 1974, Robinson designed a device made from rubber and steel with lead at its core, intending to fit his invention to the foundations of large structures in order to isolate them from ground movements.

Robinson’s invention is now used on many buildings and bridges around the world, including Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. Following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the device saved many lives at Christchurch Women’s Hospital, as the building’s foundation swayed gently instead of collapsing in the quake.

In 1995, Robinson founded Robinson Seismic, a company specialising in isolation technology. He also pursued research in other fields, including high-temperature superconductivity. A fellow of New Zealand’s Royal Society, in 1998 Robinson received the Rutherford Medal, his country’s most prestigious science and technology award. In 2014, the Robinson Research Institute was established in his honor at Victoria University in his hometown of Wellington.

“I’ve invented more devices which have failed than devices which have been a success,” said Robinson in a 2007 interview. “You’ve gotta be willing to actually try and fail and learn from your failure.”

Thanks to an innovator who never stopped trying—and whose work will continue saving lives for many decades to come.

[9A]

Oct 4, 2017

Violeta Parra’s 100th Birthday




Today we celebrate the 100th birthday of Violeta Parra, the Chilean composer, folk singer, social activist, author, and artist.

Born in the small, southern Chilean town of San Fabián de Alico, Parra picked up the guitar at an early age and began writing songs with her siblings. She started her career performing in small venues, later traveling across Chile to record a large breadth of traditional Chilean folk music. Her increasing popularity eventually earned her her own radio show and an invitation to perform at a youth festival in Poland. While in Europe, she also explored the visual arts, creating oil paintings, wire sculptures, ceramics, and burlap tapestries called arpilleras which were exhibited in the Louvre Palace in Paris in 1964.

She is perhaps best remembered as the “Mother of Latin American folk,” pioneering the Nueva canción chilena, a renewal of Chilean folk traditions that blossomed into a movement which celebrated the fight for social justice throughout Latin America. Upon her return to Chile in 1965, she established Centro Cultural La Carpa de La Reina, a community center for the arts and political activism.

Violeta’s artistic legacy shines through in this selection from “Gracias a la vida”:

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto
Me dio dos luceros que cuando los abro
Perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco
Y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado
Y en las multitudes el hombre que yo amo

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me two stars, which when I open them,
Perfectly distinguish black from white
And in the tall sky its starry backdrop,
And within the multitudes the one that I love.

[9A]

Oct 5, 2017

Magda Szabó's 100th Birthday






Symbolically, a door can be interpreted in countless ways. It can represent anything from the extraordinary to the mundane: the promise of a new opportunity, a mysterious gateway to the unknown, or just the point of entry to the next room. Today, we celebrate Magda Szabó, the Hungarian author whose most internationally recognized book takes its title from this symbol. Her ability to craft an evocative narrative within an everyday setting is a part of what’s made her the most translated author in Hungary, with publications reaching 42 countries and translated into over 30 languages.

Though she is recognized today as one of the most influential figures of contemporary Hungarian literature, Szabó was actually forced into literary exile during the early 1950’s by the Communist Party. Before being censured, she began her career as a poet, winning several awards for her art. After being brought back into favor by the very same group that had enforced her silence, she explored the implications of this in what became her most well known novel “The Door”. She also went on to publish well-known children’s books, collections of plays, and works of fiction and drama.

One hundred years may have passed since the day she was born, but Szabó’s works live on, thanks in large part to the timelessness of her characters, her settings, and her stories.

[9A]

October 5, 2016

100th Anniversary of completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway




From the country’s small villages to its big cities, Russia depends on the mighty Trans-Siberian Railway to traverse more than 6,000 miles and seven time zones between Moscow and Vladivostok.

In just seven days, the railway transports travelers and cargo from western Russia, across rocky tundra and frequently impassable countryside, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Built over 26 years and completed a century ago, it remains a critical facet of Russian trade with Europe and China, and is a stalwart example of Russian engineering.

Today’s Doodle celebrates the railway that helped link a nation with the world. Doodler Matt Cruickshank relied on his first-hand experience traveling the Trans-Siberian Railway in April 2015 to bring the Doodle to life.

During the trip, Matt sketched out images of the Russian cities and countryside that would help form the foundation of the animation. “I felt compelled to echo the visual strength of Russian graphics coupled with a folk art style,” Matt explains.

The Doodle also features Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48, II. Waltz” as performed by the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. “The accompanying score gave the short film the momentum and gravitas that brought the whole project together."

[9A]

Apr 5, 2021

Sadri Alışık's 96th Birthday




Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Istanbul, Turkey-based guest artist Sedat Girgin, celebrates the 96th birthday of prolific Turkish comedian and actor Sadri Alışık.

Born in Istanbul on this day 1925, Mehmet Sadrettin “Sadri” Alışık fell in love with the performing arts at 7 years old after attending a local play. To hide his dramatic ambitions from his father, who disapproved of acting as a career, Alışık enrolled in a university painting program post-high school to disguise the time he spent acting in various Istanbul theatres.

Alışık’s clandestine devotion soon paid off, debuting on the silver screen in the 1944 film “Günahsizlar” [“The Innocent Ones”]. His film success led to decades of serious performances in historical and crime dramas before he showcased his dynamic acting skills in comedy. In 1963, he brought Tourist Ömer to life. A comedic and relatable portrayal of an everyday Turkish gentleman, Tourist Ömer was a smash hit that starred in eight movies, an iconic run that came to a sci-fi end in 1974 with “Ömer the Tourist in Star Trek.”

Outside of his more than 200 film and television appearances, Alışık loved to paint, sing Turkish classical music, and write poetry. He bid farewell to entertainment with his role in “Yengeç Sepeti” [“Crab Basket”], his 1994 cinematic swan song for which the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival awarded him Best Actor. Today, his legacy lives on in acting studios founded in Istanbul and Ankara, both named in his honor.

Happy birthday, Sadri Alışık! Thank you for setting the stage for the future of Turkish performing arts.

[9A]

Apr 9, 2021

Amácio Mazzaropi's 109th Birthday





Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Brazilian guest artist Arthur Vergani, celebrates Brazilian actor, screenwriter, producer, and director Amácio Mazzaropi on his 109th birthday. Through his signature role as the beloved character “Jeca Tatu,” Mazzaropi used humor to address serious topics and became a fixture of Brazilian cinema.

Born on this day in São Paulo in 1912, Mazzaropi spent time as a child visiting his grandfather’s country home, which influenced the on-screen persona he later developed. As a teenager, the future icon of Brazilian comedy left home to work for Circo La Paz, a traveling circus. There he came up with the idea to perform as a hillbilly, embodied in Marazzaropi’s future performance as Monteiro Lobato’s character Jeca Tatu.

Mazzaropi produced content for radio and television for many years before appearing in his first film, “Sai da Frente” [“Get Out of the Way,” 1952]. With his film career off the ground, and after several other roles, Mazzaropi bought Fazenda Santa, a farm turned studio that also served as the location for many of his films. It was here that Mazzaropi opened his own production company in 1958. Mazzaropi wove social commentary into simple language and covered important subjects to great effect, which caused audiences to flock to his productions for over 20 years.

Interestingly, while Mazzaropi became one of Brazil’s most acclaimed comedic actors, he was also a major supplier of milk to Leites Paulista. Today, Fazenda Santa is Hotel Fazenda Mazzaropi, home to the Mazzaropi Museum, which has a collection of over 20,000 items.

Happy birthday, Amácio Mazzaropi!

[9A]

November 24, 2018

Charles-Michel de l'Épée’s 306th Birthday






Today’s Doodle honors the Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée, a French educator who founded the first public school for the deaf. Dispelling the misconception that people with impaired hearing were incapable of learning, Épée developed a visual method that became the blueprint for the teaching of the deaf in France and that changed countless lives at a time when many deaf people were discriminated against.

"Every deaf-mute sent to us already has a language," he wrote. "He is thoroughly in the habit of using it, and understands others who do. With it he expresses his needs, desires, doubts, pains, and so on, and makes no mistakes when others express themselves likewise.”

Born in Versailles on this day in 1712, Épée was the son of an architect who studied theology and law before devoting his life to serving the poor. He began tutoring two deaf sisters who lived in the slums of Paris and who communicated through their own sign language. In 1760, he used his own inheritance to found the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets à Paris, a school for the deaf that was open to all regardless of their ability to pay.

The French National Assembly eventually recognized him as a "Benefactor of Humanity" and asserted the rights of deaf people under France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. His school went on to receive government funding and remains open to this day renamed as Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris.

Happy Birthday, Charles-Michel de l'Épée!

[9A]

April 9, 2021

Clive Sullivan's 78th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates the 78th birthday of Welsh-born rugby winger and coach Clive Sullivan, who made history as the first Black captain of any major British sports team when he was selected to lead the country’s national side, the Great Britain national rugby league team, The Lions.

Clive Sullivan was born on this day in the Splott district of Cardiff, Wales. From a young age, he was drawn to the sport of rugby, often playing in school. By his teenage years, he had suffered various rugby-related injuries that required operations on his knees, feet, and shoulders, leading doctors to state he’d never walk normally again. However, Sullivan refused to let this hold him back and worked to overcome his childhood injuries. At just 17, his perseverance paid off when he accepted a trial for Hull Football Club, whom he impressed so much with his tremendous speed that they signed him as a professional player the very next day.

Sullivan went on to play over 350 games with Hull FC and over 200 with Hull Kingston Rovers, cementing his status as one of rugby’s most formidable opposition wingers. In 1967, he made his international debut for Great Britain, which granted him his historic captaincy in 1972. After a stint as a coach for Hull FC, the team unexpectedly called him back to compete once again as a player at the age of 39.

To honor Sullivan, a section of one of Hull’s most prominent roads was renamed Clive Sullivan Way in 1985.

Happy birthday, Clive Sullivan - Thank you for breaking barriers and opening doors for generations to come.

[9A]

April 9, 2012

Elias Lönnrot's 210th Birthday






Elias Lönnrot was a Finnish physician, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for creating the Finnish national epic, Kalevala,
from short ballads and lyric poems gathered from the Finnish oral tradition during several expeditions in Finland, Russian Karelia, the Kola Peninsula and Baltic countries.

[9A]

April 9, 2012

Eadweard J. Muybridge's 182nd Birthday




Notable work: The Horse in Motion

Music: "Fig Leaf Rag" by Kevin MacLeod


Eadweard Muybridge [ 9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904, born Edward James Muggeridge] was an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection.

[9A]

Apr 27, 2012

Theo Angelopoulos' 77th Birthday



Theodoros "Theo" Angelopoulos was a Greek filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer. He dominated the Greek art film industry from 1975 on,[1] and Angelopoulos was one of the most influential and widely respected filmmakers in the world.[2][3][4] He started making films in 1967. In the 1970s he made a series of political films about modern Greece.

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

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

[9A]

May 4, 2012

Keith Haring's 54th Birthday




In the early 1980s, as a native Manhattanite raised by and among artists, I was aware of Keith Haring and his work, but my 1984 job interview would be the first time we would meet. After some awkward small talk, we quickly realized that we had many friends and social activities in common. At that age [we were both just 25], such things meant a great deal. He hired me as his personal assistant and studio manager, and I worked alongside him until his premature death from AIDS-related illnesses in 1990. We shared many interests, worked well together, and established a deep, reciprocal trust. When he became ill and decided to create the Keith Haring Foundation, I was honored to accept his offer to be its executive director. I have now held that position for 23 years, and my responsibility and privilege is to promote and manage a legacy: respecting past connections and relationships, cultivating and nurturing new ones, staying true to Keith's artistic and philanthropic goals, and doing whatever is needed to ensure his place in history.

Keith tapped into the collective unconscious and expanded upon a universal language of symbols and messages – executed in simple lines, energized by the spirit [and for a time, context] of graffiti and fueled by his intense commitment to make his work as accessible as possible. Although he first came to the public’s attention through his chalk drawings in the New York City subway stations, he utilized the same graphically compelling visual vocabulary in thousands of works on paper, canvas, limited edition prints and multiples, sculpture, public murals and, eventually, merchandise – avenues of dissemination that to him were all of equal importance. This ambitious, populist spirit and prolific output brought his work to the widest audience imaginable.

Curious and cautious about the role technology was beginning to play in our society, Keith often included

images of computers in his work. He was both excited by and nervous about the impact of the personal computer on our daily lives. Using his art to convey these and other social concerns was at the root of his ever-increasing popularity. Over the past 30 years, images he created that speak about racism, drug addiction, AIDS and tolerance have become iconic.

Keith once expressed his fantasy that in the future, his images might be "beamed" around the world in seconds. That future is now, and I firmly believe that for Keith, the Internet would have been a realization of that excitement and cautious curiosity. That the world’s largest search engine is honoring Keith's birthday is nevertheless a perfect, 21st century, tribute to his art and ambitions. As Keith himself said in 1984, "Art lives through the imaginations of the people who are seeing it. Without that contact, there is no art. I have made myself a role as an image-maker of the twentieth century and I daily try to understand the responsibilities and implications of that position. It has become increasingly clear to me that art is not an elitist activity reserved for the appreciation of a few, but for everyone, and that is the end toward which I will continue to work."

Julia Gruen, Executive Direct of the Keith Haring Foundation

[9A]

May 4, 2015


Bartolomeo Cristofori’s 360th Birthday



You may have never heard of Bartolomeo Cristofori, but you definitely know his invention. Cristofori was an Italian musical instrument maker credited with inventing the pianoforte, or: the piano. One of his biggest innovations was creating a hammer mechanism that struck the strings on a keyboard to create sound. The use of a hammer made it possible to produce softer or louder sounds depending upon how light or hard a player pressed on the keys. In fact, that’s how Cristofori’s new instrument got its name -- in Italian, piano means soft, while forte means loud. Being able to change the volume was a major breakthrough. And that’s exactly what Doodler Leon Hong wanted to highlight in this interactive Doodle. We talked to Hong to get the inside scoop on how this musical Doodle came to be.
Though the piano is one of the most popular instruments, the name Bartolomeo Cristofori isn’t widely known. How did you first learn of him?

The topic was first suggested by the Google team in Italy. I was also astonished I had never heard of him given that he'd had such a large impact on music. We're always trying to find topics that are educational, fun, and surprising – Cristofori is an ideal topic. Hopefully after the doodle, people will think of Cristofori everytime they see a piano.
What music is playing in the doodle ? How did you go about recording it?

The melody is from Johann Sebastian Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. It was important to me to have a piece that was from the same time period as Cristofori's life. In addition, I was also looking for a memorable tune composed of notes with all the same duration so it would fit nicely with the animations. The timing and loudness had to be precise and consistent so I plotted the notes using software and rendered the sound files with a virtual piano instrument.

[9A]

May 5, 2015

Nellie Bly's 151st Birthday



Animation: Katy Wu // Music: "Nellie" by Karen O


In 1880, the Pittsburgh Dispatch published an article titled "What Girls Are Good For.” In dismissive terms, the column’s author wrote that women shouldn't be allowed to work because their place was at home.

Days later, a pseudonymous rebuttal appeared in the paper. The response, by a 16-year-old girl whose real name was Elizabeth Jane Cochran, argued how important it was for women to be independent and self-reliant. Within a decade, the author of that response would become known worldwide as Nellie Bly: a hard-hitting young journalist who went undercover at a lunatic asylum and traveled around the world in a record-breaking 72 days.

Throughout her life and career, Nellie Bly spoke up for the underprivileged, the helpless and minorities, and defied society’s expectations for women. We love her adventurous spirit, and we share her belief that women can do anything and be anything they want [we like to think if she were around today she’d be a fellow fan of trailblazing women like Ada, Anita and Ann]. So when it came time to honor Nellie with a Doodle, we wanted to make it special. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs wrote, composed and recorded an original song about Nellie, and Katy Wu, the artist who created this doodle, created an animation set to Karen O’s music celebrating this intrepid investigative reporter.

Nellie was born on May 5, 1864 in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pa. After her response was published in the Dispatch in 1880, the editor, George Madden, tracked her down and hired her as a reporter. At the time, women reporters commonly used pen names; hers came from a song by fellow Pittsburgher Stephen Foster. She spent several years at the paper before moving to New York for a job at New York World, which was owned by Joseph Pulitzer. In 1887, she went undercover at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island to write an exposé about the conditions there. Her resulting book, “Ten Days in a Mad-House,” made her famous.

But Nellie is best known for her trip around the world. Inspired by Phileas Fogg, the hero of Jules Verne’s novel, “Around the World in 80 Days,” Nellie set sail from New York in November 1889 determined to beat Fogg’s time. Traveling by steamships and sailboats, she sent dispatches back to her newspaper as she circled the globe. Instead of sitting idly and just observing, she was always a part of the action and conversation, despite the fact that public spaces were typically reserved for men at the time.

When creating the Doodle, we took inspiration from Karen O’s lyrics and Nellie’s journey around the globe. Throughout the video, Katy used newspaper as a unifying theme—with paper tearing, folding and crumpling as the story goes along. And though the video is mostly black and white, she added some color to represent Nellie's energy and vibrancy.

Back in the 19th century, Nellie fearlessly showed a generation of people “what girls are good for.” We’re excited to tell her story in today’s Doodle—and we hope Nellie inspires women and girls everywhere to follow in her footsteps and show the world what they can do.

Liat Ben-Rafael, Program Manager, Google Doodles

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May 13, 2015

Inge Lehmann’s 127th Birthday






At the turn of the twentieth century, a teenager in Østerbro, Denmark felt the ground move beneath her feet. It was her first earthquake, but it wouldn’t be her last.

More than two decades of study and observation later, Inge Lehmann’s work sent shockwaves through the scientific community. By observing earthquakes, she discovered the earth has both inner and outer cores. Her work has withstood the test of time. In fact, it’s still the foundation for seismological science today.

Inge used deduction and evidence to discover something unseeable. Today’s Doodle sheds light on her powerful but invisible discovery. Doodler Kevin Laughlin helps us experience the gift Inge illuminated for the world by revealing it as a glowing orb. Not all of his early drafts looked the same, but the earth’s inner core glowed at the center of each.

Pioneers like Inge make this world a better place by helping us understand it from the inside out. But Lehmann’s legacy isn’t just scientific. Having been educated at a very young age in a Copenhagen school that treated female and male students as absolute equals, she was a strong proponent of gender equality. Her pioneering spirit is an inspiration to us as we continue to do more on diversity.