Google doodles

[9A]

25 October 2021

Claude Cahun's 127th birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 127th birthday of French author and surrealist photographer Claude Cahun—best-known for their purposefully unsettling yet playful self-portrait photography that challenged the gender and sexuality norms of the early 20th century.

Claude Cahun was born on this day in 1894 in Nantes, France, into a Jewish family. As the grandchild of the influential French artist David Leon Cahun and a child of a newspaper owner, Cahun came of age surrounded by creativity. At 14, they met Marcel Moore, their lifelong partner and artistic collaborator. After moving to Paris to study literature in 1919, Cahun shaved their head and adopted their famed gender-neutral name in revolt against societal convention.

Despite gender non-conformity being widely considered taboo in 1920s Paris, Cahun’s decision to publicly identify as non-binary met with controversy, but they explicitly rejected the public fuss. Cahun explored gender-fluidity through literature and melancholic self-portraiture such as the 1927 series “I am in training, don’t kiss me.” This work depicted the artist costumed as a feminized weightlifter, blurring the line between masculine and feminine stereotypes. In addition to their lifelong artistic work, Cahun worked with others to resist fascist occupation. The French government awarded their efforts with the Medal of French Gratitude in 1951.

In 2018, the Paris City Council named a street in honor of Cahun and Moore in the French capital’s sixth district, where the duo once lived. In addition to increasing focus on their pioneering work in the Surrealist movement and breaking down gender barriers in the photographic arts, Cahun’s work has influenced gender bending celebrities, the modern LGBTQ+ community, and conversations on identity and expression to this day.

Happy birthday, Claude Cahun!

[9A]

23 Oct 2021

Ellya Khadam's 93rd birthday





Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Semarang, Indonesia-based guest artist Fatchurofi Muhammad, celebrates Indonesian singer, songwriter, and actor Ellya Khadam, who is widely considered a pioneer of dangdut, a genre of folk music popular in Indonesia that blends local musical traditions together with diverse styles such as Western rock-and-roll and Indian film scores.

Ellya Khadam was born Siti Alya Husnah on this day in 1928 in Jakarta, Indonesia. During her teenage years, Khadam was neighbors with a singer of the Malaysian pop music style known as deli. She developed her musical talent by imitating this genre, which allowed her to make a name for herself by first singing at weddings and later joining local musical outfits.

She rose to prominence as a singer in the Kelana Ria Malay Orchestra during the 1950s, a musical collective that drew much of its inspiration from Indian culture and music. Khadam’s career reached its peak with the release of her 1956 break-out hit song “Boneka India” [Dolls from India] now considered a touchstone of the dangdut genre. She expressed her love for Indian customs not just through using Indian tabla rhythms in her songs but also by donning traditional Indian saris and wearing a sindoor on her forehead.

In addition to her musical output, which popularized dangdut and inspired the younger generation to take the genre to new heights, Khadam starred in dozens of films into the late 1970s. Today, dangdut showcases the nation’s culture on a global scale as one of Indonesia’s most popular musical styles—even making a historic on-stage debut in New York’s Times Square earlier this year!

Happy birthday, Ellya Khadam—thank you for giving a voice to a new wave of Indonesian culture!

[9A]

23 October 2015

Lygia Clark’s 95th Birthday




Happy Birthday Lygia Clark!

Today's doodle celebrates the 95th birthday of artist Lygia Clark, famed Brazilian painter, sculptor and teacher. Lygia Clark co-founded the Neo-Concrete movement, which sought to change art from a passive viewing experience to an engaging interaction. Her art pieces, specifically the bichos, were designed to be modified, re-positioned and folded into new configurations by participants. These "critters" were an early step in Clark's attempts to bridge the gap between artist and viewer.

Later in her career, Clark turned the evocative power of her art toward healing, and became a proponent and practitioner of art therapy. Her work focused on bodily awareness as well as unconscious sensory perception, the inner life, and emotions.

[9A]

31 January 2019

Celebrating Mercedes Sosa






"I never thought that I would sing for a living," said Mercedes Sosa, the powerful Argentinian vocalist widely known as “the voice of the voiceless ones.” Also known as “La Negra” due to her long, black hair, Sosa’s powerful voice afforded her opportunities to perform at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York City, as well as the Sistine Chapel and the Colosseum in Rome. A driving force behind the “Nueva Canción” movement, her songs married traditional South American folk music with powerful lyrics advocating for human rights.

Born on July 9, 1935 in the northern Argentine province of Tucumán, Mercedes Sosa’s family lineage came from the indigenous Aymara people. Her heritage deeply influenced her stylistically and by 15, she won a radio talent contest for her traditional folk music. A dramatic tipping point of her career happened on this day in 1965, when singer Jorge Cafrune invited Sosa on stage during his set at Argentina’s renowned Cosquín Folk Festival. Her performance received a massive ovation and by the following year, she had signed a recording contract.

Many of Sosa's best-known songs were written by others, but her performances of songs like Violeta Parra’s "Gracias a la Vida" [Thanks to Life] and Horacio Guarany’s “Si Se Calla El Cantor” [If the Singer is Silenced] helped catapult her into fame. She released some 70 albums over the course of nearly a six-decade career, exploring diverse genres such as Argentinian tango, Cuban nueva trova, Brazilian bossa nova, rock, and sacred music. In later years, she collaborated with artists such as Luciano Pavarotti, Sting, Joan Baez, and even Shakira.

Fearlessly singing truth to power, she went into exile from her homeland for several years and was finally able to return home in 1982. She continued to perform around the world and later became a UNESCO goodwill ambassador.

[9A]

18 Oct 2015

Melina Mercouri’s 95th Birthday




Melina, a Greek word for honey and the nickname given to Maria Mercouri by her grandfather, could also have been used to describe the actress’s low, unmistakable voice. Known to the world for her brilliant smile and award-winning performances on Broadway and the silver screen, Melina Mercouri was also known to Greeks as a champion of the proletariat who cared deeply about Greek art and its classical roots. As the first female Minister of Culture, Mercouri poured her considerable energies into building libraries, preserving Greek archaeological sites and establishing the European Capital of Culture, a designation that highlights shared cultural heritage in a new European city every year. Today’s Doodle by Kevin Laughlin celebrates a woman whose magnetism and exuberance were matched only by her love of Greece.

[9A]

18 October 2015

Mother's Day 2015 [Argentina]


Happy Mother’s Day to mothers of all shapes, sizes, and species! Today’s Doodle represents the universality of familial love. I had a few separate concepts, some with animals, some with people, and looking at them all, I thought it would be fun to try to tie them together.

Brainstorming for this Doodle and thinking of my own mom, lots of small moments and gestures of affection came up, so I decided to concentrate on that as a concept. When I started to sketch, early ideas included [but were not limited to] giraffes, gardening, and tossing children into pools.

I spent awhile trying to figure out how I could use style to keep the characters somewhat minimalistic and relatable since Mother’s Day is celebrated all around world.

Once I settled on the concept I did a quick rough pass at animation to make sure it would work visually. I decided to go with a watercolor texture because I think there’s something very comforting and familiar about it, that shows a more human hand.

Thank you, moms, for bearing us, and bearing with us, every step of the way.

Olivia When, Doodler

[9A]

18 October 2018

Laura Esther Rodríguez Dulanto’s 146th Birthday





Born in the Supe District of Lima on this day in 1872, Laura Esther Rodríguez-Dulanto was a physician who broke many barriers for women in Peru. Though she excelled in school from a very young age, her parents were frustrated that educational options were limited for women—no matter how gifted or motivated they might be.

There were no secondary schools for girls, much less universities or postgraduate programs. Nevertheless, Rodríguez-Dulanto’s parents persisted, appealing to local authorities until a special jury was appointed by the Ministry of Education to allow the gifted young student to advance her studies. With help from her older brother Abraham, who would teach her everything he learned after returning home from school, Rodríguez-Dulanto passed her high school exams. With a combination of intelligence, motivation, and a very supportive family, Laura Esther Rodríguez-Dulanto became the first Peruvian woman to attend college as well as the first female physician in the nation’s history.

Though it was a great achievement to begin her studies at the National University of San Marcos, 19-year-old Rodríguez-Dulanto still faced numerous obstacles. While the male students worked with human cadavers in anatomy class, she would have to sit behind a screen to conceal her presence. During her third year of medical school, she was allowed to perform dissections in a special room, accompanied by her brother who was also studying medicine. In September 1900, her hard work paid off when she earned her Bachelor of Medicine, taking her Hippocratic Oath a month later.

Rodríguez-Dulanto specialized in gynecology, publishing papers on ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids. She went on to co-found Peru’s first nursing school, teaching anatomy, physiology and hygiene, and paving the way for other women to pursue careers in medicine. Her legacy is honored with a bust in a public park in Lima, Peru, as well as a hospital in her home town of Supe, which is named after her.

Happy Birthday Dr. Laura Esther Rodríguez-Dulanto!

[9A]

28 July 2018

Feroza Begum’s 88th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and legacy of Bangladeshi singer Feroza Begum. During her lifetime, Begum achieved what many in society thought unthinkable for a female - becoming professionally trained in music, achieving a level of stardom and notoriety that was previously reserved for only male musicians.

Born to a Muslim family in 1930, Begum was drawn to music almost immediately as a child. At 10 years old, she became a student of Kazi Nazrul Islam, a poet who eventually went on to be the national poet of Bangladesh. Feroza’s voice and ability to convey deep emotion played an important role in popularizing Nazrul Sangeet [the songs written and composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam] throughout the country.

Begum released her first album at the age of 12 and went on to tour the world, performing in over 300 solo shows. Beloved by many, Feroza was awarded Bangladesh’s Independence Day Award in 1979, the highest honor an individual could receive in the newly independent country.

Today’s Doodle, painted on watercolor paper with colored inks by Doodler Olivia When, depicts Begum sharing her voice with her audience, surrounded by gold patterning commonly found on her album covers.

Happy 88th Birthday, Feroza Begum!

[9A]

1 Aug 2018

Switzerland National Day 2018



Get out the cowbells! Today is Swiss National Day. Throughout Switzerland’s 26 cantons, the Swiss flag is displayed on everything from window boxes to loaves of bread. Children light paper lanterns and ring bells in commemoration of the oath of Swiss Confederation that was sworn in 1291. Bonfires in the hills remind one and all how word was spread of that ancient pledge of mutual support. The day is also filled with solemn speeches, fireworks, concerts, and parades of flower-bedecked cows, as shown in today’s Doodle.

In Basel, the celebrations begin in earnest the night of July 31 with food stands, music, and revelry on both sides of the Rhine until the early hours of the morning. Spectacular fireworks also light up the sky near the Rhine Falls.

For many Swiss, preparations for the holiday begin at least a week earlier, with citizens collecting wood for enormous bonfires. Friendly competitions urge neighbors to outbuild each others’ woodpiles. As it grows dark, the sounds of a traditional accordion or Schwiizerörgeli can be heard. And when the bonfire flames get just right, Swiss sausages known as Cervelats will go on the flames, growing plump and succulent till just right to eat.

Happy Swiss National Day!

[9A]

4 Aug 2018

Pumpuang Duangjan’s 57th Birthday





Luk Thung is a form of Thai country music expressing the trials and tribulations of everyday life in Thailand’s rural provinces. The name, meaning “children of the field,” is also an apt description of Pumpuang “Peung” Duangjan, one of the genres most loved performers who grew up cutting sugarcane in the fields of North Thailand to help her family survive.

When Duangian wasn’t helping her family in the fields, she began an apprenticeship at the age of 12 with a Luk Thung master who taught her a vast catalog of songs and their accompanying dances. She moved to Bangkok at age 15, where she broadened her repertoire by incorporating pop songs. Her career turned a corner when she collaborated with a composer who mixed disco beats with traditional Luk Thung music. Not long after, Duangjan debuted her less reserved style on television, ushering in a new era for female Thai vocalists.

In the mid-1980s, Duangjan released several hit albums that blended traditional Luk Thung music with danceable pop production. Her fur jackets and fashionable wardrobe also made her an icon for Thai people escaping poverty. As she sang in one of her timeless songs, “I came to the city to be a big star/It’s tough, but I can survive.”

Peung’s indomitable spirit, hard work, and determination inspired future generations, cementing her legacy for many years to come.

Doodle by Cynthia Yuan Cheng

[9A]

4 August 2011

Roberto Burle Marx's 102nd Birthday




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

He was one of the first people to call for the conservation of Brazil's rainforests. More than 50 plants bear his name. He amassed a substantial collection of plants at his home, including more than 500 philodendrons, including some that were discovered by him or bear his name, like Philodendron burle-marxii.

[9A]

9 Aug 2011

Singapore National Day 2011




The National Day of Singapore is celebrated every year on August 9, in commemoration of Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965. This holiday features the National Day Parade [NDP], an address by the prime minister of Singapore, and fireworks celebrations.

[9A]

9 August 2021

Singapore National Day 2021



Today’s Doodle celebrates Singapore’s National Day, which commemorates the island nation’s sovereignty and cultural heritage each year. On this day in 1965, Singapore declared its national independence.

Today, Singaporeans from all walks of life come together to celebrate their multiethnic national culture and customs. While citizens’ backgrounds vary widely, most find common ground in enjoying the diverse cuisines. Singapore’s hawker culture is a distinctive element in its national identity, and in 2020 this was recognized by its inclusion in the Unesco Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Well-loved hawker dishes Nasi Lemak [coconut milk rice], chili crab, and roti prata [flatbread] are depicted in the Doodle artwork. Originating from affordable, on-the-go meals served by early migrant street stalls in the 1800s, hawker cuisine is now traditionally prepared in the nation’s 110 hawker centers. These community dining hubs are found across the island and are great spots to get a taste of Singapore!

Happy National Day, Singapore!

[9A]

14 Aug 2021

Qixi Festival 2021





Tonight, romance is in the air as two stars reunite in the sky above. Today’s Doodle celebrates the Qixi Festival, or the Double Seventh Festival, which originated from a 2000-year-old myth of star-crossed lovers.

According to one of the ancient legends, an ox herder named Niulang married the celestial weaver Zhinü, who was a fairy and the daughter of an empress. Zhinü’s mother soon heard of her daughter’s marriage to a mortal being and forced her to return to the heavens. Heartbroken, Niulang covered himself in a magic ox hide to visit Zhinü. To separate the lovers, the empress filled the sky with the river of stars now called the Milky Way.

The couple was cast into the sky as the stars Altair and Vega and allowed by the empress to meet once a year on a bridge of magpies over the Milky Way. This annual reunion occurs on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. Today, couples commemorate this romantic tale by going on dates and exchanging gifts and flowers to show their admiration.

Happy Qixi Festival!

[9A]

14 August 2018

27th Anniversary of Bunaken National Park




The Indonesian government set aside five islands and surrounding waters in 1991, providing protection to the 58 different types of coral and more than 90 species of fish located in Bunaken National Park. Located to the north of the island of Sulawesi, Bunaken National Park is a place where Hawksbill turtles forage on reefs amid colorful schools of damselfish, clownfish, angelfish, and a dazzling array of marine dwellers.

Spectacular sea creatures are not the only inhabitants of the 280-square-mile marine park, located in the northern part of Sulawesi province. There are some 20,000 human beings, most of whom rely on fishing for at least part of their daily nutrition. Groupers, snappers, and napoleon wrasse feed along the vast coral walls that contain an impressive amount of biodiversity—nearly 70% percent of the marine species found in this part of the world.

Although illegal fishing still occurs, and coral is vulnerable to climate change, the Indonesian government applied for the park to be listed as one of UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites, which provides additional protections. Indonesian schools educate students about the fragility of the ecosystem they live within, ensuring that future generations learn how to safeguard this national treasure.

[9A]

15 Aug 2018

India Independence Day 2018





Thousands of kites dot the skies over India as the country celebrates its 72nd Independence Day. Both a solemn and joyful occasion, this marks the day in 1947 when India became an independent, autonomous state, fulfilling the dream of leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

Commemorations begin on the eve of August 15, when the president delivers an address to the nation and citizens reflect on modern India’s origins as they look with pride toward the future. On Indian television you’ll find films honoring India’s history running around the clock. Crowds of people sing the national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana,” which was played in 1947 at the United Nations to mark India’s entry.

Today’s Doodle—featuring images of some of India’s iconic colorful plantlife and mighty animals—was inspired by Indian truck art, a long-standing tradition in this four million square kilometer nation where truckers who live on the road surround themselves with cheerful folk art to occupy their minds during long months away from their families.

Happy Swatantrata Diwas

[9A]

16 Aug 2018

Ebenezer Cobb Morley’s 187th Birthday




Before Ebenezer Cobb Morley set down the rules of football in 1863, the game was much more chaotic than the version we know today. His 13th rule gives some indication of how unruly football used to be: 'No player shall wear projecting nails, iron plates, or gutta percha on the soles or heels of his boots.'

Born the son of a minister, Morley grew up a sports enthusiast and went on to study law. After joining Barnes Football Club in London, he realized that the game would be benefit from more structure and regulation. He wrote to the sports newspaper Bell’s Life to make the case for a more organized game.

A meeting followed at Freeman’s Tavern where Morley was joined by members of football clubs across England, who all had input into the rulemaking before Morley drafted his list of 13 rules, which became the standard of play in England.

Morley’s laws helped reduce violence on the field — although he did think players should be able to “hack the front leg” — and formalized the crucial rule we now call offsides, which prevents players from permanently stationing themselves behind an opponent’s defensive line, waiting for a pass.

Morley later helped establish the Football Association, which is still the governing body for football in Great Britain. In 1863 he was elected the Honorary Secretary of the F.A., holding the post until 1866 and president of the F.A. from 1867 to 1874.

Other groups from various countries made crucial developments to football as well, but thanks to Morley “the beautiful game” became less brutal, the action more spread out across the field, and is played the way it is today.

Happy Birthday Mr. Morley!

[9A]

16 August 2022

Kimiko Tsumura's 120th birthday





Noh is a sophisticated and mysterious artform of traditional Japanese theater where performers act, dance, chant and play instruments while dressed in elegant masks and elaborate costumes. Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and 120th birthday of Tsumura Kimiko, a Japanese actor and playwright who was one of the first female figures in the world of Noh. She broke down barriers in the once male-dominated artform and introduced new artistic values through her plays.

Tsumura was born in Akashi, Japan on this day in 1902. At a young age, Tsumura chose to pursue traditional theater after falling in love with playwriting. This was going to be a challenge since girls in Tokyo in the early 1900s were taught lessons in Noh but were excluded from professional productions.

When she was seventeen, Tsumura’s life took a drastic turn when she became a student of Kanze Kasetsu, an established actor. During her studies, Tsumura learned and memorized all two hundred classical Noh plays by heart. She was then given the opportunity to travel to Busan, Korea and teach, eventually building her reputation as a skilled instructor. At nineteen, she made her first public performance on stage.

News of this performance reached her homeland and shocked the Nohgaku Association, which mediated and oversaw all Noh performances in Japan. Tsumura was ordered not to contact the association, and her teacher-student relationship with Kasetsu ended abruptly.

Unable to give up on her dream, Tsumura sought to master every aspect of the artform and opened up her own school, Ryokusen-Kai, when she returned to Japan in 1925. For the next fifty years, she wrote and performed several of her own plays, traveling back and forth between Japan and Korea. Many of her students became esteemed performers and continued her legacy of love and admiration for the artform. Tsumura paved the way for generations of female Noh actors to come, and her work is still celebrated and recognized today.

Happy birthday, Tsumura Kimiko!

[9A]

17 Aug 2015

Indonesia Independence Day 2015




“We, the people of Indonesia, hereby declare the independence of Indonesia.”

This phrase, read by Sukarno, established modern-day Indonesia on the morning of August 17, 1945. While his words were confident, the times were not. Confusion ruled in post-World War II Indonesia, and many rural citizens didn’t believe the news of independence when it finally reached them. But the announcement proved the test of time.

This historic moment has since been enshrined in a monument, depicted in today’s Doodle by Robinson Wood. Sitting center is the speech, inscribed into a slab. Standing alongside are Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, the nascent country’s first president and vice president.

[9A]

18 August 2014

Anna Ancher's 155th Birthday




Our doodle for Danish artist Anna Ancher’s 155th birthday takes inspiration from her painting “Harvesters.” You can see the original work of art on the +Google Cultural Institute: http://goo.gl/0lt0di

Anna Ancher was a Danish artist associated with the Skagen Painters, an artist colony on the northern point of Jylland, Denmark. She is considered to be one of Denmark's greatest visual artists.

Harvesters shows a man and two women on their way to start the harvest in the fields around Skagen. It is unusual in the canon of the Skagen Painters whose works mainly focused on the lives of the local fishing community or depicted interior or domestic scenes. The picture is divided authoritatively into two sections: the blue sky above and the yellow cereal below with only the figures of the harvesters breaking the swathes of colour. Anna Ancher produced a few harvest scenes, all similarly setting the harvesters as the focus of the scene. The fields of ripe crops link naturally to a theme of fertility and in contrast the man carrying the scythe at the front of the group conjures up images of death, personified as the Grim Reaper; Ancher is juxtaposing life and death, but she is also depicting the order and division of labour of the harvest: traditionally the man would scythe down the crop and the women would gather up the straw with just their hands or with a rake or pitchfork.

[9A]

16 Sept 2021

Mexico Independence Day 2021






Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Mexico-based guest artist Magdiel Herrerra, depicts a collection of elements symbolizing Mexico’s rich, cultural heritage in honor of its Independence Day. This year’s holiday holds special significance for the international Mexican community as it commemorates the 200th anniversary of the nation’s step toward independence—officially declared on September 27, 1821.

On the left of the Doodle artwork, a folklórico [folkloric] dancer is dressed in the emblematic red, green, and white of the Mexican flag. A common meal prepared to celebrate this holiday is pozole, a spiced soup traditionally made with hominy and pork that is depicted in the red bowl with radishes and lime. In the center, the artwork recreates a bell that rang before El Grito de la Independencia [The Cry for Independence], a famous speech considered the spark of the Mexican independence movement. A sombrero follows with a handwoven rebozo scarf, next to a cactus standing tall.

On the far right of the artwork, an Indigenous musician [known as a quiquizoani in the Uto-Aztecan language of Nahuatl] blows into a conch shell—a scene similar to an image found in the ancient Aztec Codex Magliabechi—filling the air with the sounds of celebration.

Happy Independence Day, Mexico!

[9A]

16 September 2022

Mexico Independence Day 2022






Today’s Doodle, hand-embroidered by Mexico City-based guest artist Maité Jiménez, celebrates Mexico’s Independence Day. On this day in 1810, Mexico began a decade-long conflict that resulted in their freedom from Spain.

The holiday originated when revolutionary leaders gathered in the small village of Dolores, Mexico. A local priest rang the church bell to summon the villagers and gave a powerful and famous speech that urged his fellow citizens to revolt against Spanish rule—now known as the Cry of Dolores. Today, the President of Mexico rings that very bell and recites the same speech on a live broadcast the night before Independence Day. Fireworks light the sky across the country as Mexicans prepare for the next day’s festivities.

On Independence day, the national military and local bands parade through the heart of Mexico City. People dressed in red, white and green gather in the streets as mariachi music fills the air. Embroidery is woven into the fabric of Mexican culture and the crowd proudly displays hand-embroidered dresses and flags. Other popular designs include the Bell of Dolores, like the one in today’s Doodle. In the evening, families and friends host dinner parties with traditional meals like pozole, a stew that’s seasoned with Chile peppers, onion and limes.

Happy Independence Day, Mexico!

[9A]

16 September 2021

Lo Man-fei's 66th birthday


Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the 66th birthday of Taiwanese dancer, choreographer, and teacher Lo Man-fei, a lifelong advocate for the development of Taiwanese dancers and performance art.


Lo Man-fei was born on this day in 1955 in Taipei City, Taiwan and took her first steps toward a career in dance at 5 years old. In college, her unique talent was fostered by some of Taiwan’s leading choreographers, including Lin Hwai-min, the founder of one of the nation’s most acclaimed dance troupes—Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. She graduated from National Taiwan University with a degree in English literature and moved to the U.S. in 1978 to study with the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the José Limón Dance Company. However, she decided to return to Taiwan to join Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. In 1979, Lo formally joined Cloud Gate—an acceptance she attributed in part to the skills passed down to her from masters such as Lin.

With a repertoire utilizing techniques from ballet, modern dance, and traditional Chinese dance, she toured the world with Cloud Gate until 1982, capturing a blend of these styles with what she referred to as her own “vocabulary” of movements. Lo worked on Broadway in the early 1980s and in 1985, earned a master’s degree in dance at New York University before returning to Taiwan. She then rejoined Cloud Gate, choreographed original performances, and nurtured a new generation of dancers as a professor at the National Institute for the Arts [now the Taipei National University of the Arts].

In 1999, Cloud Gate 2, an evolution of Taiwan’s renowned troupe, appointed Lo as its artistic director and Cloud Gate later established a scholarship in her honor. She is best known today for her solo performance in “Requiem,” a 10-minute, non-stop spinning routine choreographed specifically for her by none other than Lin Hwai-min himself.

Happy Birthday to Lo Man-fei, who always put her best foot forward!

[9A]

16 September 2014

40th anniversary of the first broadcast of Casimir





The spotlight is on Casimir the Dinosaur on our homepage in France today. Casimir starred in the famous French cartoon “l'Île aux enfants” [“The Children’s Show”], which first aired 40 years ago today.

[9A]

18 Sept 2014

204th anniversary of the First Government Assembly in Chile



Enjoy an “empanada al horno” to mark Chilean National Day. On this day in 1810, the Chilean National Government held its first assembly, a pivotal step in the country's fight for independence.

[9A]

30 November 2021

Janaína Dutra's 61st birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates Brazilian social activist and lawyer Janaína Dutra, a leader of the Brazilian LGBTQIA+ movement who is widely considered the nation’s first transgender person to practice law.

Janaína Dutra was born on this day in 1960 in the Canindé district of Brazil’s northern Ceará state. By age 14, she began facing homophobic discrimination, but the support of her large family never faltered. She followed her sister to Fortaleza, where Dutra took her first steps toward a life devoted to advocating for the LGBTQIA+ community. In 1986, Dutra earned her law degree from the University of Fortaleza, making history as the first transgender graduate accepted as a member of the Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil [Brazilian National Bar Association].

Throughout the 1980s, Dutra furthered her career by developing Brazil’s first HIV prevention campaign that focused on the transgender community in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. Dutra also contributed to the foundation of the Grupo de Resistência Asa Branca [White Wing Resistance Group] and served as the first president of the Associação de Travestis do Ceará [ATRAC - Ceará Transvestites’ Association]—a landmark non-profit organization focused on developing social and legal support for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Known to always carry a copy of an anti-homophobia law passed by her hometown, Dutra spent a lifetime attending conferences, seminars, and round tables to advocate for equality. In 2011, the Janaína Dutra LGBT Reference Center was founded in Fortaleza, which carries on Dutra’s mission by protecting human rights for members of the LGBTQIA+ community to this day.

[9A]

30 November 2021

Celebrating Lotfi Zadeh




Today’s Doodle celebrates world-renowned Azerbaijani-American computer scientist, electrical engineer, and professor, Lotfi Zadeh. On this day in 1964, Zadeh submitted “Fuzzy Sets,” a groundbreaking paper that introduced the world to his innovative mathematical framework called “fuzzy logic.”

Lotfi Asker Zadeh was born on February 4, 1921 in Baku, Azerbaijan [then a Soviet Socialist republic], and at 10 years old moved with his family to his father’s homeland of Iran. His exceptional academic achievements brought him to the U.S. to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his graduate studies. He went on to earn his doctorate in electrical engineering in 1949, and later taught systems theory at Columbia University in New York. In 1959 he became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley–which remained his academic home throughout his career and where he made his most famous and fuzzy breakthrough.

In 1965, he published “Fuzzy Sets,” which has since been cited by scholars nearly 100,000 times. The theory he presented offered an alternative to the rigid “black and white” parameters of traditional logic and instead allowed for more ambiguous or “fuzzy” boundaries that more closely mimic the way humans see the world. This concept has since been applied to a huge range of technological applications—from a Japanese subway system to the anti-skid algorithms that keep cars safe on the road.

Known as a gracious yet brilliant thinker, Zadeh received countless accolades throughout his career, including an honorary professorship from the government of Azerbaijan in 1993.

So here’s to you, Lotfi Zadeh! There’s nothing fuzzy about your huge impact on the scientific world.

[9A]

30 November 2011

Mark Twain's 176th Birthday






A great writer and humorist, Mark Twain once said, "Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." His characters are as sincere as they are funny and playful; his work is iconic and a part of literary history. As an author that readers around the world have adored for a century, Mark Twain is a perfect fit for a doodle!

Since Google never likes to take itself too seriously, I wanted to pick a scene from Twain's work that is both recognizable and funny. The fence-painting sequence from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer seemed a perfect fit. Not only does it incorporate a little bit of mischievous humor [painting fences is certainly thrilling!] it also plays cleverly with the white space of the homepage. Alluding to a comic-book format, I drew Tom and Ben working on the fence and, therefore, spreading our famous white space across the doodle.

posted by Jennifer Hom

[9A]

21 October 2010

Dizzy Gillespie's Birthday





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

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie [October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993] was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic and rhythmic complexity previously unheard in jazz. His combination of musicianship, showmanship, and wit made him a leading popularizer of the new music called bebop. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, scat singing, bent horn, pouched cheeks, and light-hearted personality provided one of bebop's most prominent symbols.

posted by Jennifer Hom

[9A]

22 Oct 2011

Franz Liszt's 200th Birthday




Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, pianist and teacher of the Romantic period.

A prolific composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the New German School. He left behind an extensive and diverse body of work that influenced his forward-looking contemporaries and anticipated 20th-century ideas and trends. Among Liszt's musical contributions were the symphonic poem, developing thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form, and radical innovations in harmony.

[9A]

22 October 2020

Ivan Bunin's 150th Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 150th birthday of Russian poet, novelist, and translator Ivan Bunin, who in 1933 became the first Russian to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. Widely acclaimed for his rare mastery of both prose and poetry, Bunin carried the tradition of classical Russian literature into the 20th century, establishing his legacy as one of the nation’s most revered stylists of his time.

Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin was born on this day in 1870 in the western Russian city of Voronezh. He grew up with a passion for painting—an early creative expression he later credited as an influence on his writing style. Bunin began to publish poetry and stories as a teenager, leading to the 1891 release of his first book, “Stikhotvoreniya: 1887–1891”.

In 1901, Bunin won the prestigious Academy of Sciences’ Pushkin Prize for his book of poetry titled “Listopad” [“Falling Leaves,” 1901]. Around this time he began to turn his focus towards prose, establishing himself as one of Russia’s most popular writers. Known for his understated and musical writing style, Bunin went on to craft vivid portraits of Russia through works like “Derévnya” [“The Village,” 1910], the autobiographical novel “Zhizn Arsenyeva” [[“The Life of Arseniev,” 1930), his diaries “Okayánnye Dni” [“Cursed Days: A Diary of Revolution,” 1936], and the book of short stories “Tyomnye allei” [“Dark Avenues,” 1943].

An opponent of the Russian Revolution, Bunin left the country in 1920, ultimately settling in France, where he continued to publish novels and poetry for the rest of his life.

Happy birthday, Ivan Bunin!

[9A]

12 December 2018

'Baya' Fatima Haddad’s 87th Birthday




Born in Bordj El Kiffan, a suburb of Algiers, on this day in 1931, Fatima Haddad was an Algerian artist known simply as Baya. Her vivacious watercolors, gouaches, and ceramics depict powerful images of women and nature in an expressive and personal style that defies easy categorization.

Orphaned as a young girl, Baya was adopted in 1942 by the French art collector Marguerite Camina Benoura, who employed Baya’s grandmother as a housekeeper. Showing talent from an early age, Baya made “fascinating small animals and strange female figures” in the sand of her beachside hometown. She was exposed to Benoura’s collection of modern art, including works by Matisse, and by age nine she was painting as well.

The art dealer Aimé Maeght, known for representing Miró, Calder, Léger, Braque, Giacometti, and Chagall, exhibited Baya’s first solo show of paintings at his Paris gallery when she was only 16 years old. “I speak not as others have, to deplore an ending, but rather to promote a beginning,” wrote the influential poet and critic André Breton in her exhibition catalog. “And at this beginning, Baya is queen.”

Picasso invited her to work with him in 1948, and traces of her influence can be seen in his Women of Algeria series. She married the musician El Hadj Mahfoud Mahieddine and raised a family during a time of revolution in Algeria, but declined an offer to move to France, in affirmation of her Algerian identity. Baya became so beloved in her homeland that a portrait of the artist and one of her paintings appeared on Algerian postage stamps in 2008.

Breaking conventional rules of composition and perspective, Baya’s bold, colorful paintings explode with energy, evoking a world of ecstatic women with their eyes wide open.

Happy Birthday, Baya!

[9A]

10 Dec 2018

Nelly Sachs' 127th Birthday




Born into a Jewish family in Berlin on this day in 1891, Nelly Sachs studied dance and literature as a child and began writing as an adolescent. She published her poetry in German periodicals as well as a collection of stories called Legends and Tales. During this time, she corresponded with distinguished Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf—who became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1909—and who eventually saved Sachs’ and her mother’s lives. Lagerlöf petitioned the Swedish royal family to help the Sachs escape Germany at the start of World War II.

After escaping to Sweden, Sachs supported herself and her mom in a one-room apartment by working as a translator. During this time, she wrote powerful poems and plays about the aftermath of the war and family members who died in concentration camps. Her haunting poem “O die Schornsteine" ["O the Chimneys"], evokes the spirits of the dearly departed through the image of smoke rising from the camps. Sachs described the “metaphors” in her poetry as “wounds,” but her work also explores themes of transformation and forgiveness. She expanded on these ideas in her 1951 play Eli: Ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels [Eli: A Mystery Play of the Sufferings of Israel].

The first German-speaking woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, Sachs’ poignant poetry spoke eloquently about the Holocaust. Sachs won many other accolades including the 1965 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. “In spite of all the horrors of the past,” she said when accepting the award. “I believe in you.”

Happy Birthday, Nelly Sachs!

Doodle illustrated by German/Finnish artist Daniel Stolle.

[9A]

10 Dec 2018

Clarice Lispector’s 98th Birthday





“I write very simply,” said the Brazilian author Clarice Lispector. “I don’t dress things up.” Her intensely personal short stories and novels about the innermost feelings of characters searching for meaning in life made her one of the most celebrated literary figures of the 20th century.

Born on this day in 1920, Clarice Lispector fled the Ukraine with her family, who had been persecuted for being Jewish, to the city of Recife in northern Brazil. At age nine she and her two sisters moved to Rio, where they were raised by her father following her mother’s passing.

Lispector began writing stories at age seven. While studying law she cultivated her passion by writing for newspapers and magazines—both fiction and journalism—before publishing her first novel at age 23. Perto do coração selvagem [Near to the Wild Heart] was hailed for its innovative interior monologue style, revealing the thoughts and emotions of an adolescent woman. It earned her the Graça Aranha Prize for the best debut novel of 1943. The same year her book was published she married a diplomat and left Brazil to live nearly two decades in Italy, Switzerland, England, and America. She visited Brazil regularly but did would not move back until 1959.

Collections of stories like Family Ties and The Foreign Legion explore the alienation of modern life by revealing their character’s private reflections on the mundane details of daily existence. Taken as a whole, her 85-story body of work can be read an autobiography: the inner thoughts of a woman’s entire life from adolescence to old age.

In recent years many of her works—including her 1973 masterpiece Água Viva [The Stream of Life]—have been translated into English, allowing a new generation of readers to discover this enchanting individual author.

Happy Birthday, Clarice Lispector!

[9A]

9 Dec 2018

Sir Douglas Nicholls’ 112th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates Sir Douglas Nicholls, the athlete, pastor, and political leader who championed the upliftment of Australia’s Indigenous people and went on to become the first Aboriginal Australian to be knighted by the Queen of England.

Born in Yorta Yorta Country, New South Wales, on this day in 1906, Nicholls was raised in Cummeragunga Mission Station, an Aboriginal reserve on the Murray River. After receiving a basic education he worked as a “tar boy,” preparing sheep for shearing, and later joined a dredging team building levees on the river.

Although he stood just 5’2” Nicholls was a gifted athlete who won various sprinting titles, was an expert boomerang thrower, and who excelled in football. As the first Indigenous Australian to play football professionally, Nicholls endured scorn from teammates and trainers, but eventually found his team and helped the Northcote club reach the grand finals for three seasons—winning the title in 1929.

Motivated by the founder of the Australian Aborigines’ League, Sir Nicholls got involved in politics and began speaking out for the rights of Indigenous people. “I know we can proudly hold our own with others if given the chance,” Nicholls proclaimed in 1938 at Australia’s first gathering to advance the cause of Aboriginal civil rights.

In 1940, Nicholls retired as a football player due to knee injuries. Drawn to the church after the loss of his mother, he became the first pastor of Aboriginal Church of Christ in Australia. “Pastor Doug” held regular meetings that led to a thriving community center. He was appointed to a parliamentary committee which investigated abuses towards Indigenous people and edited Smoke Signals, the journal of the Aboriginal Advancement League.

In 1976 Nicholls was appointed governor of South Australia, becoming the first Indigenous Australian to hold the office. Nicholls was named a Member of the British Empire, Victorian Father of the Year, Order of the British Empire, and in 1972 traveled to London to be knighted by the Queen of England.

Happy Birthday, Sir Douglas Nicholls!

[9A]

1 Dec 2018

Maria Walanda Maramis’ 146th Birthday





Today’s Doodle honors Maria Walanda Maramis, a National Hero of Indonesia who fought tirelessly for the advancement of women in her home country at the beginning of the 20th century.

Born in a small village in North Minahasa Regency on this day in 1872, Maramis was the youngest of three children. Orphaned at an early age, she was raised by an uncle along with her siblings. Maramis and her sister were offered only basic schooling because of their gender.

After moving to Manado, the capital city of North Sulawesi province, she began writing an op-ed column in a local newspaper, Tjahaja Siang. Her writings emphasized the importance of mothers as caretakers of their family’s well-being, health care, and education.

Based on these principles, she founded the organization PIKAT, an Indonesian acronym for “Percintaan Ibu Kepada Anak Turunannya,” which translates as “The Love of a Mother Toward her Children.” PIKAT members learned essential household skills like cooking and sewing and caring for their children’s health. The organization expanded as far away as to Java where local women organized their own branches.

Turning her attention to politics, Maramis fought for women’s right to vote in choosing their representatives. Her efforts paid off in 1921 when the government allowed women to participate in elections. PIKAT’s work went on, aided by Maramis’ daughter Anna Matuli Walanda.

In 1969, in appreciation of her accomplishments on behalf of Indonesian women, the government decreed Maramis a National Hero. Her work towards the emancipation of women is celebrated on her birthday and a statue stands in her honor in the village of Komo Luar.

Happy Birthday, Maria Walanda Maramis!

[9A]

27 Nov 2018

Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita’s 132nd Birthday





“The reason why I so much enjoy being friends with cats is that they have two different characters: a wild side and a domestic side. This is what makes them interesting,” said Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita. “A cat’s a wild animal, and I like that.”

Born in Tokyo on this day in 1886, Foujita, the son of a Japanese army general,dreamed of becoming a painter in Europe. After graduating from art school in Japan, he relocated to France in 1913, where he befriended various School of Paris luminaries such as Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse, and even studied dance with Isadora Duncan.

Foujita’s first solo exhibition at the prestigious Gallery Chéron in June 1917 sold out quickly. The exhibition consisted of watercolors painted with a fine brush in a distinctive style that blended Eastern and Western influences and finished with a silvery wash.

Celebrated during his lifetime, Foujita received international awards and prominent commissions. His 1930 Book of Cats, featuring 20 etched plate drawings, became one of the most popular cat books ever published. Today, his work can be seen in Kyoto’s National Museum of Modern Art before rotating to the Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris in early 2019.

In 2011 his estate established the Foujita Foundation which carries on his legacy by the supporting artistic projects of young people experiencing difficulties from an interdisciplinary approach while encouraging educational development, cultural openness, and personal fulfillment.

Happy Birthday, Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita!

[9A]

27 Nov 2018

Fe del Mundo’s 107th Birthday





“I’m glad that I have been very much involved in the care of children, and that I have been relevant to them,” says Filipina physician Fe del Mundo. “They are the most outstanding feature in my life.”

Born in Manilla on this day in 1911, del Mundo was inspired to study medicine by her older sister who did not herself live to realize her dream of becoming a doctor. Also known as “The Angel of Santo Tomas,” del Mundo devoted her life to child healthcare and revolutionized pediatric medicine in the process.

A gifted student who became the first woman admitted to Harvard Medical School, del Mundo returned home after completing her studies in the U.S. During World War II, she set up a hospice where she treated more than 400 children and later became director of a government hospital. Frustrated with the bureaucracy, she eventually sold her house and belongings to finance the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines. Del Mundo lived on the second floor of the Children's Medical Center in Quezon City, making early morning rounds until she was 99 years old, even in a wheelchair.

When she wasn’t treating patients she was teaching students, publishing important research in medical journals, and authoring a definitive ‘Textbook of Pediatrics.’ She established the Institute of Maternal and Child Health to train doctors and nurses, and became the first woman to be conferred the title National Scientist of the Philippines and received many awards for her outstanding service to humankind.

Happy Birthday, Fe del Mundo!

[9A]

18 Nov 2011

Louis Daguerre's 224th Birthday





Making a daguerreotype was a very long and tedious process that required very careful and precise chemistry. Since it's been almost 22 years since my last science project and I knew nothing about Chemistry, exposing the team [or myself] to harmful chemicals or any potential spills wasn't sounding like the best idea.

Louis Daguerre was a master chemist... which is why the photo gods named the Daguerreotype process after him. Mr. Daguerre was also a photographer and an artist so I figured from one creative mind to another, that's what I would focus on. The black and white portraits of public figures and families that were taken by Daguerre at the time were such rich moments... moments I tried to convey with an illustrated version of a daguerreotype. Playing dress up with the letters and displaying them in a boxed frame similar to the era sounded like a good [safer] plan.

posted by Willie Real

[9A]

17 Nov 2011

Lola Mora's 145th Birthday





Dolores Candelaria Mora Vega de Hernandez accomplished many things in her lifetime and in widely varying roles. She was an urban planner, researcher, and pioneer in mining within Argentina. She contributed heavily to the rail layout project of the Northern Trans-Andean Railway, or Huaytiquina. But perhaps she is best known for her work as a painter and sculptor. Many of her pieces can be viewed publicly throughout the country, including the Mermaid's Fountain [Fuente de las Nereidas] in Costanera Sur in Buenos Aires, and her grand bas-relief monument, depicting the signing of Argentina's Declaration of Independence, which can be seen at the Historial House of Tucuman.

Based on her life's work, I wanted to depict Lola Mora sculpting herself out of bas-relief bronze –our way of recognizing her important contributions and devotion to her country.

posted by Mike Dutton

[9A]

17 Nov 2011

Giò Pomodoro's 81st Birthday




Giò Pomodoro [ 17 November 1930 – 21 December 2002] was an Italian sculptor, printmaker, and stage designer. His brother is the sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro.

[9A]

11 Nov 2011

Magusto 2011




"Magusto" is a Portuguese tradition celebrated by all generations: from grandparents, to moms and dads, and little children. On this day, people come together to eat chestnuts, drink new wine and mingle with friends and family. The event tends to happen around a bonfire, with the younger generation energetically jumping over it [editor's note: kids, don't try this at home, but if you must, ask your parents first]!

We all have great memories of coming to school on this day with a bag of chestnuts, learning how to prepare them and, of course, ending the afternoon eating them together

Happy Magusto to All!

doodle by Mike Dutton. post by Monica Bagagem

[9A]

8 Nov 2011

Edmond Halley's 355th Birthday





Edmond was an English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720.
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only naked-eye comet that can appear twice in a human lifetime. Halley last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061.

[9A]

31 Oct 2011

Halloween 2011





When I was a little kid, Halloween seemed like the most grown-up holiday of all. For one thrilling night of the year, I got to stay up late trick-or-treating, watch scary movies with my friends, and wield sharp and pointy objects [safety first, of course!] while carving a macabre face into a pumpkin.

Now that I'm older, my perspective on Halloween has shifted a bit. It’s now the holiday that most celebrates a childlike sense of wonder and amazement. Ordinary people and places are temporarily transformed into creepy and whimsical versions of their former selves: a zombie rises with the aid of corn syrup and some red food coloring, your everyday home becomes a haunted house with eerie lights and a spooky soundtrack, and a pumpkin—an otherwise plain-looking squash—is a grinning ghoul, with the help of only a candle, a knife and some elbow grease.

To celebrate Halloween this year, the doodle team wanted to capture that fascinating transformation that takes place when carving a pumpkin. Instead of picking up a few pumpkins from the grocery store, however, we decided to work on six giant pumpkins, specially delivered from nearby Half Moon Bay [some weighing well over 1000 pounds]. What you see is a timelapse video of the ~8 hours we spent carving in the middle of our Mountain View, Calif. campus.

Googlers got into the Halloween spirit as well—you can see their costumed cameos if you have a quick eye. Many thanks to Slavic Soul Party! and composer Matt Moran for providing a fitting soundtrack for our Halloween hijinks.

From all of us on the doodle team, please take care, be safe and have fun this Halloween!

posted by Sophia Foster-Dimino


This Doodle's Reach

[9A]

31 Oct 2011

Parkes Observatory's 50th Anniversary




The Parkes Observatory is a radio astronomy observatory, located 20 kilometres [12 mi] north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. It hosts Murriyang, the 64 m CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope also known as "The Dish", along with two smaller radio telescopes. The 64 m dish was one of several radio antennae used to receive live television images of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Its scientific contributions over the decades led the ABC to describe it as "the most successful scientific instrument ever built in Australia" after 50 years of operation.

[9A]

22 October 2021

Celebrating Theodor Wonja Michael




Today’s Doodle celebrates Afro-German author, journalist, actor, government official, and social activist Theodor Wonja Michael, who survived a German labor camp to become the nation’s first Black federal civil service officer. Dedicated throughout his wide-ranging career to the struggle against racism, he lived to become one of the oldest remaining representatives of a historic generation of Black German people. On this day in 2013, Michael published his emotive memoir “Black German: An Afro-German Life in the Twentieth Century.”

In 1925, Theodor Wonja Michael was born on January 15 in Berlin, Germany to a father of Cameroonian birth and a native German mother. After elementary school, he was denied occupational training due to Germany’s discriminatory Nuremberg Laws. He pursued acting instead, but at 18 he was sent to work in a forced labor camp.

After the end of World War II, Michael went on to earn a master’s degree in political science. He pursued a career in journalism and founded and edited the journal “Afrika-Bulletin.” In 1971, he agreed to contribute his expertise of African issues to West Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, where he worked as a secret agent and retired as a director in 1987. Initially hesitant to join, Michael used his government service to fight discrimination from within and open doors for other Black Germans. He eventually returned to acting and became one of Germany’s most renowned Shakespearean stage actors.

In honor of his role as a representative of the Black German community, Michael became the first recipient of the nation’s Black History Month Award in 2009.

Thank you, Theodor Wonja Michael! Your story continues to inspire new generations to stand firm in the fight against racial prejudice.

[9A]

22 October 2012

Abu Simbel





Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel, Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230 km [140 mi] southwest of Aswan. The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Nubian Monuments",which run from Abu Simbel downriver to Philae [near Aswan], and include Amada, Wadi es-Sebua, and other Nubian sites. The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. They serve as a lasting monument to the king Ramesses II. His wife Nefertari and children can be seen in smaller figures by his feet, considered to be of lesser importance and were not given the same position of scale. This commemorates his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. Their huge external rock relief figures have become iconic.

[9A]

22 October 2008

50th Anniversary of Deltawerken



The Delta Works [Dutch: Deltawerken] is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta from the sea. Constructed between 1954 and 1997, the works consist of dams, sluices, locks, dykes, levees, and storm surge barriers located in the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland.

The aim of the dams, sluices, and storm surge barriers was to shorten the Dutch coastline, thus reducing the number of dikes that had to be raised. Along with the Zuiderzee Works, the Delta Works have been declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

[9A]

27 Oct 2008

Diwali 2008




Diwali is a Hindu religious festival of lights and is one of the most important festivals within Hinduism. The festival usually lasts five days, or six in some regions of India, and is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika [between mid-October and mid-November]. One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, Diwali symbolizes the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance". The festival is widely associated with Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity and Ganesha, god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles, with many other regional traditions connecting the holiday to Sita and Rama, Vishnu, Krishna, Durga, Shiva, Kali, Hanuman, Kubera, Yama, Yami, Dhanvantari, or Vishvakarman. Furthermore, it is a celebration of the day Rama returned to his kingdom in Ayodhya with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana after defeating the demon Ravana in Lanka and serving 14 years of exile.

[9A]

20 Oct 2008

Day of Trees 2008 [Czech Republic]





Arbor Day [or Arbour in some countries] is a secular day of observance in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant trees. Today, many countries observe such a holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date varies, depending on climate and suitable planting season.