Google doodles

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Nov 29, 2019

María Ylagan Orosa's 126th Birthday







Today’s Doodle honors Filipino food scientist, war hero, and humanitarian María Ylagan Orosa, credited with over 700 recipes—including the iconic local condiment banana ketchup—on what would have been her 126th birthday.

Born in the municipality of Taal within the Batangas province, Orosa went on to become an outstanding student, winning a partial government scholarship in 1916 to attend the University of Seattle. While living in a YMCA and working odd jobs, Orosa completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry, as well as an additional degree in food chemistry.

Orosa was then offered a position as an assistant chemist for the State of Washington before returning to the Philippines in 1922 to focus on addressing the problem of malnutrition in her homeland.

Orosa’s knowledge of chemistry led to numerous culinary innovations. For instance, by fitting a traditional earthenware pot with two sheets of metal, she invented the Palayok Oven, providing remote villages lacking access to electricity with a more effective means of cooking over an open fire.

Although adobo and lumpia are synonymous with Filipino cuisine, Orosa’s banana ketchup is not far behind. Using mashed bananas as a base instead of tomatoes, she made the sauce a long-lasting hit.
Two other inventions made her a war hero: Soyalac [a nutrient rich drink derived from soya beans] and Darak [rice cookies packed with vitamin B-1, which could also prevent beriberi disease] saved countless lives during World War II.

In recognition of Orosa's contributions to Filipino society, the National Historical Institute installed a marker in her honor at the Bureau of Plant Industry in Manila in 1983.

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6 December 2018

Zeki Müren’s 87th Birthday


Hailed as “The Sun of Art” and the “Pasha of Turkish Music,” Zeki Müren was a singer, composer, actor, and poet who became one of the most important artists in Turkish classical music history.

Born in the historic Hisar district of Bursa on this day in 1931, Müren was the only child of a Macedonian timber merchant. While a student at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts, he won first place in a contest sponsored by Turkish Radio and Television. In 1951 he gave his first live performance on Istanbul Radio. That same year he recorded “Muhabbet Kuşu” [Parakeet] with clarinetist Sükrü Tunar, the first of hundreds of songs he’d release on phonograph and cassette over the course of his career. His 1955 release “Manolyam” was the first Turkish recording to be certified gold.

For his first live concert in 1955 Müren took the stage in typical stage clothes, but over time began designing his own wardrobe, expressing a personal style that sometimes included thigh-high boots, sparkling tights, jeweled capes, miniskirts, and a peacock tail—as well as wigs and makeup. His fearlessly flamboyant look became known as a symbol of his strength of character and individuality.

Müren transcended music by beginning an acting career in the 1950s with a role in the film or Beklenen Sarki “Awaited Song” [1953]. He would go on to appear in 18 films, often composing the scores as well, and played the lead in Robert Anderson’s stage drama Tea and Sympathy [1960].

In 1991, Müren was named an official State Artist of Tukey. Today, Müren’s legacy lives on through the Zeki Müren Fine Arts Anatolian High School in Bursa, which opened in 2002. His house in Bodrum became the Zeki Müren Art Museum and his Zeki Müren Scholarship Fund has supported thousands of students over the past 20 years.

Doğum günün kutlu olsun, Zeki Müren!

[9A]

6 December 2017

Finland Independence Day 2017




December 6 is observed across Finland as Independence Day. This year marks the centennial anniversary of this joyous occasion, adding just a bit more sparkle to traditional celebrations.

On cold [and sometimes snowy] Independence Day evenings, family and friends come together over warm drinks and sweet treats, tuning in to watch the Annual Independence Day Reception at the Presidential Palace.

The ones willing to brave the cold outdoors are treated to the best of Finnish culture — hockey games, concerts, art festivals, and celebratory parades. Everywhere you turn, you’re met with infectious enthusiasm and good cheer.

Today’s Doodle by Helsinki-based illustrator Janine Rewell depicts Finland’s native animals harmoniously gathered on a winter’s night. A single candle burns in the backdrop, just like the candles that light the windows of homes across the country. Captured in the colors of Finland’s national flag, the doodle reflects the spirit of cozy camaraderie and warmth in the snowy cold.

Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivää, Suomi!

[9A]

8 Dec 2017

Jan Ingenhousz’s 287th Birthday





From the mind of a Dutch scientist in the 18th century sprouted a flowering understanding of the secret life of plants. Jan Ingenhousz – born on this day in Breda in 1730 – is remembered as the inspired thinker who discovered the photosynthetic process.

Ingenhousz began studying medicine at the age of 16 and developed an interest in inoculation. He followed that passion to London, where he immunized hundreds of village people who were at risk for smallpox. The Austrian Empress Maria Theresa heard of this remarkable feat and sent for Ingenhousz to come to Vienna and inoculate the entire Habsburg family. In those days, inoculations consisted of pricking the skin with a needle that had been dipped into the pus of an infected person’s wound – not a very pleasant-sounding business! Ingenhousz’s mission was a success, and the Empress brought him on as the family’s doctor.

His interests, however, expanded beyond inoculation and even medicine. Among his other accomplishments were discoveries around energy generation, particle motion and of course, photosynthesis. Though it was already known that plants produced and absorbed gases, it was Ingenhousz who first noticed that oxygen was produced by leaves in sunlight, and carbon dioxide produced in darkness. He published these findings in 1779, significantly influencing further research on plant life in the centuries to follow.

In today’s Doodle, we celebrate the lasting contributions of this scientist to our understanding of the natural world. For those digging into their biology textbooks this school year, be sure to thank Jan Ingenhousz!

[9A]

August 17, 2017

Indonesia Independence Day 2017







Today we celebrate Indonesia’s Independence Day, known locally as Hari Kemerdekaan.

In the country’s capital of Jakarta and other large cities throughout the archipelago, this historically significant day is celebrated with elaborate parades including marching bands and floats festooned with Indonesia’s red-and-white flag. Flag-raising ceremonies also dominate the day, while performers sing the national anthem of Indonesia. Friends and families bond over activities like sack racing and climbing palm trees [panjat pinang] and show their culinary chops in cooking competitions featuring dishes from a myriad of cultures.

Using whimsical figures and rich colors and patterns, today’s Doodle by guest artist Aditya Pratama encapsulates the spirit of “unity in diversity” [Bhinneka Tunggal Ika] the national motto of Indonesia [derived from a 14th-century Javanese poem] that defines the joy of this landmark day.

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Oct 22, 2018

Varvara Stepanova’s 124th Birthday





A poet, painter, photographer, and designer of books, magazines, posters, stage scenery, textiles and clothing, Stepanova defied societal norms of “women’s work” as she and other members of the Russian Constructivist movement subverted the notion of art as a rarified activity for elites and intellectuals.


Born in Kovno, Lithuania, on this day in 1894, Stepanova was raised in a peasant family before enrolling in the renowned Kazan art school in Odessa in 1910, a time of great creative and political upheaval in Russia.

In 1918, she published a series of books containing her “nonobjective visual poetry” whose words were chosen for sound and shape as much as meaning. By the 1920s she found herself at the forefront of the Russian avant-garde, co-founding the Constructivist movement along with her partner Aleksandr Rodchenko and such distinguished colleagues as Kasimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin, and Lyubov Popova.

In 1922 Stepanova created the sets for Aleksandr Vasilyevich Sukhovo-Kobylin’s play The Death of Tarelkin. Her clothing designs, using geometric shapes and utilitarian designs suited to particular activities fell into two broad categories: prozodezhda, or production clothing—which provided peasants, industrial workers, and theatrical performers alike with modern stylish and functional garments—and sportodezhda or sports costumes, which were designed to highlight the athletic body in motion. All of her clothing designs pioneered what is now known as “unisex” fashion.

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February 15, 2020

Nise da Silveira's 115th Birthday





“To navigate against the current, these rare qualities are needed: a spirit of adventure, courage, perseverance, and passion.”
—Nise da Silveira

Today’s Doodle celebrates visionary Brazilian psychiatrist Nise da Silveira on her 115th birthday. One of the few women in medicine in her time, she boldly challenged established psychiatric practices, pioneering a more humane approach to patient care.

Born on this day in 1905, in the northeastern city of Maceió, da Silveira completed her medical degree in 1926 at just 21 years old, as the only woman in her class. When she began work at a national psychiatric center in 1933, she was discouraged by the harsh medical procedures that doctors were relying upon to treat mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Bravely challenging the status quo, da Silveira instead began to study and advocate for more compassionate rehabilitative treatments. She developed art workshops for patients to express the inner workings of their minds through painting and sculpting, and she later became one of the first to incorporate animals into her practice as “co-therapists.” Da Silveira’s new approach proved highly successful in her patients’ rehabilitation, paving the way for an entirely new way of thinking about psychiatric care.

Da Silveira’s Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente [“Images of the Unconscious Museum”] remains open to this day, maintaining a collection of over 350,000 pieces of patient-created artwork. Her work has inspired countless others, leading to the establishment of therapeutic institutions both in Brazil and around the world.

[9A]

February 15, 2011

Ernest Shackleton's Birthday







Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton [15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

[9A]

Feb 16, 2011

Miriam Roth's Birthday



Miriam Roth [January 16, 1910 – November 13, 2005] was a preeminent pioneer of Israeli preschool education, author and scholar of children's literature, with a long career as a kindergarten teacher and educator. Many of the children's books she wrote became Israeli best-selling classics.

[9A]

February 16, 2015

Rosenmontag 2015




Rosenmontag is the highlight of the German Karneval [carnival], and takes place on the Shrove Monday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Mardi Gras, though celebrated on Fat Tuesday, is a similar event. Rosenmontag is celebrated in German-speaking countries, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium, but most heavily in the carnival strongholds which include the Rhineland, especially in Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Aachen and Mainz. In contrast to Germany, in Austria, the highlight of the carnival is not Rosenmontag, but Shrove Tuesday.

The name for the carnival comes from the German dialect word roose meaning "frolic" and Montag meaning Monday.

[9A]

23 November 2022

Celebrating Myrtle Gonzalez




Today’s Doodle celebrates Mexican American actress, Myrtle Gonzalez and was illustrated by Bay Area-based guest artist, Ana Ramírez González. Myrtle Gonzalez starred in an astounding 80 silent films in just five years between 1913 and 1917. On this day in 1914, one of Myrtle Gonzalez’s most well-known films, The Level, was released.

Gonzalez was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 28, 1891. She had a lovely soprano voice, often singing in church and at local charity events as a young girl.

As movie production shifted from New York to Los Angeles, which offered more diverse scenic landscapes for filmmakers, Gonzalez seized the opportunity to get involved in film. She participated in a few local plays before joining a silent motion picture studio called Vitagraph Company of America, where she made her film debut in The Yellow Streak.

After a few years, she moved to Universal Studios and performed in feature films like The Secret of the Swamp and The Girl of Lost Lake. Many of the bold, outdoorsy heroines she played lived in the wilderness, forcing the city girl to adapt to filming in new, treacherous climates. As shown in today’s Doodle, Gonzalez once acted in three feet of snow!

Gonzalez was proud of her Hispanic heritage, and throughout her career, she played strong women who persevered through adversity with strength and dignity.

While much of her work was lost over the years, the Library of Congress preserved a few of her films. She is remembered as one of the first Latina actresses to break into Hollywood.

This Doodle's Reach

[9A]

23 November 2018

Nikolai Nosov’s 110th Birthday





Blending fairy tales, fantasy, and science fiction, Nikolai Nosov wrote children’s literature whose playful prose delivered powerful insights into human nature. His short stories like “Alive Hat,” “Cucumbers,” and “Miraculous Trousers,” and a humorous trilogy of novels about the misadventures of a very small boy named Neznaika [whose name translates as “Know-Nothing” in English] made Nosov a favorite of young readers all over Russia and beyond.

Born on this day in 1908 in Kiev, Ukraine, Nosov attended the Moscow Institute of Cinematography and worked as a producer of animated educational films before he began publishing fiction, often in popular children’s magazines like Murzilka. In 1952 his endearing novel Vitya Maleev at School and at Home was awarded the Stalin Prize, the Soviet Union’s state award, elevating his profile as a writer considerably. The book was later adapted into a comic film called Two Friends.

In 1954 he published the first volume of the Neznaika trilogy—in both Russian and Ukrainian—with two subsequent novels in the series appearing in 1958 and 1967. Set within a town in fairyland populated by tiny people called “Mites” who are “no bigger than a pine cone,” the action centers around an impulsive and easily distracted boy whose belief that he knows everything is always getting him into trouble. In 1969, Nosov won a new literary prize for his trilogy, which has since been adapted into numerous film versions, endearing his characters to countless generations of readers as parents who grew up on Neznaika grow up and the books to their own children.

Happy Birthday, Nikolai Nosov!

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23 Nov 2018

Mestre Bimba’s 119th Birthday


A blend of martial arts, acrobatics, dance, and music, Capoeira has been practiced in Brazil for hundreds of years. Today’s Doodle celebrates Manuel dos Reis Machado, or Mestre Bimba, the master who legitimized capoeira and founded the world’s first school to promote this Afro-Brazilian martial arts style.

Mestre Bimba was born in Salvador, the capital of Bahia, on this day in 1899 as the youngest of 25 children and son of a batuque champion, another Brazilian fighting game. His parents named him Manuel dos Reis Machado, but everyone called him Bimba. He worked various odd jobs – longshoreman, carpenter, and coal miner – before dedicating his life to his real passion of capoeira.

Developed by former slaves, Capoeira was outlawed by the Brazilian government for many years. “In those days, when capoeira was spoken of, it was in whispers,” Bimba recalled. “Those who learned capoeira only thought about becoming criminals.”

As studying martial arts was forbidden by law, music was added to disguise the powerful fighting techniques as dance moves. Developing his own style, known as capoeira regional, Mestre Bimba instituted a strict set of rules and a dress code. In 1928 he was invited to demonstrate his style of capoeira for Getulio Vargas, then president of Brazil. The President was so impressed that he gave Mestre Bimba the go-ahead to open the first capoeira school in his hometown of Salvador, giving this unique martial art a new sense of legitimacy. In 2014 capoeira was recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, which hailed it as one of the most expressive popular manifestations of the Brazilian culture.

Happy Birthday, Mestre Bimba!

[9A]

8 Dec 2018

145th Anniversary of Lacerda's Lift Opening




Today’s Doodle celebrates the iconic Lacerda Elevator of Salvador, Brazil, which has been in operation for the past 145 years. Situated on Brazil’s southeastern coast overlooking the Bay of All Saints, São Salvador, Bahia was the nation’s capital until 1763. Constructed in two sections, at the top and bottom of a steep embankment, Salvador is divided into a lower city [Cidade Baixa] and an upper city [Cidade Alta], which were initially connected by a long flight of stairs.

In the early 1600s Jesuit missionaries installed a rope-and-pulley elevator to lift people and parcels on the 72-meter journey to the top. However, In the late 1860s construction began on a mechanical elevator under the leadership of developer Antonio de Lacerda and his brother, engineer Augusto Frederico de Lacerda.

A complex system of counterweights, hydraulics, and steam engines powered the elevator, which opened in 145 years ago, in 1873. In the 1900s the elevator was revamped with electric power, and it received an Art Deco makeover in 1930. Today there are two towers with a total of four bays, each of which can accommodate up to 32 passengers for the 30-second journey—roughly a million people use the elevator each month. Exactly 12 years ago the elevator was recognized by Brazil’s National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage. Dawn is a great time to ride this legendary lift, when it’s decorated with lights and there’s a gorgeous view of Fort Santo-Antonia-da-Barra. More than a means of transportation, the Lacerda Elevator has become a tourist attraction and a symbol of Brazilian ingenuity.

[9A]

17 December 2022

Celebrating Ana Mercedes Hoyos




Today’s Doodle celebrates Ana Mercedes Hoyos, a distinguished Colombian artist. She was an award-winning painter and sculptor who won over seventeen national and international awards. Hoyos was a pioneer in modern art who focused on the complexities of Colombian culture. On this day in 1968, Hoyos was awarded first place in the Bogotá Museum of Modern Arts’ “Environmental Spaces” exhibition.

Born to a family of architects in Bogotá, Colombia on September 29, 1942, Hoyos was encouraged to study art history from an early age. She attended Colegia Marymount before studying visual arts at the University of Andes. She first explored more minimalistic and abstract styles, which led to her first series Ventanas [Windows]. Many consider this collection the turning point of her career, as it won the Colombian National Salon of Artists’ Caracas Prize.

In the next few decades, Hoyos ventured into new realms. In the mid 1970s, she released Atmósferas [Atmospheres], a series exploring the parameters of light that won international recognition. She then created works featuring flora and fruit typically found in Cartagena, where she lived in the 1980s.

Hoyos’ artistic journey eventually led her to still-life paintings that examined the multicultural diversity of Colombia. These still lifes combined exaggerated light with explosive tropical colors to capture the Caribbean’s rich cultures and sceneries. Hoyos’ paintings portrayed Afro-Colombian heritage in a magical, mesmerizing way.

Nowadays, people can enjoy her work far and wide at renowned art institutions like the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, the United Nations University in Tokyo, the National Museum of African American History and Culture in D.C., and perhaps most importantly, the Bogotá Museum of Modern Art, where her journey started.

[9A]

17 December 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]

17 December 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!

[9A]

17 December 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.

[9A]

15 Dec 2011

Friedensreich Hundertwasser's 83rd Birthday



Friedrich Stowasser , better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser and architect who also worked in the field of environmental protection.

Hundertwasser stood out as an opponent of "a straight line" and any standardization, expressing this concept in the field of building design. His best known work is the Hundertwasserhaus in Vienna, which has become a notable place of interest in the Austrian capital, characterised by imaginative vitality and uniqueness.

[9A]

15 December 2015

Chico Mendes’ 71st Birthday




Rubber tapping requires serious patience. You strip the bark, then wait — drip, drip, drip — as the liquid appears. Eventually, the waiting pays off, and the drops unite into a beautiful, valuable collection.

Chico Mendez’s life was similar. A second-generation tapper, he passed his days like most other workers: waiting. But inspiration struck — drip! — and he worked to unite his fellow tappers to fight for rainforest preservation. Then, he went global — drip! — bringing the National Council of Rubber Tappers to life, and speaking for human rights and environmentalism. He saw how his small efforts grew into a movement, saying: “At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now, I realize, I am fighting for humanity.”

Today’s doodle by Kevin Laughlin commemorates Mendez, who was tragically assassinated for his brave efforts.

[9A]

15 December 2014

40th anniversary of the Cycleway programme



Ciclovía, also ciclovia or cyclovia, is a Spanish term that means "cycleway", either a permanent bike path or the temporary closing of certain streets to automobiles for cyclists and pedestrians, a practice sometimes called open streets.

The inspiration for Ciclovías is credited to Bogotá, Colombia, although the National Capital Commission in Canada's capital Ottawa already organised open streets for active transportation in 1970. The events have taken place since December 1974 when they started through the efforts of organizer Jaime Ortiz Mariño and others cyclist aficionados. However, it wasn't until 1976 when Bogota's Mayor Luis Prieto Ocampo signed the 566 and 567 decrees that Ciclovia became an official program promoted by the City government and supported by the Transportation Department. In Bogotá, permanently designated bikeways are also known as ciclorrutas, while streets temporarily closed for that purpose are called ciclovías.

Each Sunday and public holiday from 7 am until 2 pm certain main streets of Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, and other cities are temporarily blocked off to cars allowing runners, skaters, and bicyclists to workout in a more comfortable environment. At the same time, stages are set up in city parks. Aerobics instructors, yoga teachers and musicians lead people through various performances. The great variety of traditional food and drinks offered in snack stalls motivates many locals and tourists to go around the Ciclovía. Bogotá's weekly ciclovías are used by approximately 2 million people [about 20% of the population] on over 120 km of car-free streets.

[9A]

15 December 2015

Chihiro Iwasaki’s 97th Birthday




Today’s doodle celebrates Japanese illustrator Chihiro Iwasaki, who painted the magical worlds of boys and girls. Her whimsical style of watercoloring – replicated here by artist Jennifer Hom – captured the lightness of youth. And her prolific career [she painted thousands of pieces over several decades] helped pioneer the awareness of illustration throughout Japan.

Throughout her life, Iwasaki had but one wish: for all the children of the world to live in peace. Today, on what would have been her 97th birthday, let’s keep her hope alive by taking a virtual tour of the Chihiro Art Museum.

Today’s doodle celebrates Japanese illustrator Chihiro Iwasaki, who painted the magical worlds of boys and girls. Her whimsical style of watercoloring – replicated here by artist Jennifer Hom – captured the lightness of youth. And her prolific career [[she painted thousands of pieces over several decades) helped pioneer the awareness of illustration throughout Japan.

Throughout her life, Iwasaki had but one wish: for all the children of the world to live in peace. Today, on what would have been her 97th birthday, let’s keep her hope alive by taking a virtual tour of the Chihiro Art Museum.

[9A]

14 December 2012

Xul Solar's 125th Birthday



Xul Solar was the adopted name of Oscar Agustín Alejandro Schulz Solari [14 December 1887 – 9 April 1963], an Argentine painter, sculptor, writer, and inventor of imaginary
languages.

In 1939, Xul initiated a project to establish a "universal club," which he called "Pan Klub" in Neocriollo. His purpose was to create a type of salon for intellectuals and those of mutual interests, and inaugurated the club at his home. Nearly fifty years later, his widow, Micaela [Lita] Cadenas established the Fundación Pan Klub, based on the original precepts set by Xul during his lifetime. This foundation established the Museo Xul Solar in 1993, in a building whose design was based on Xul's work. The museum exhibits works that Xul himself selected for the Pan Klub, as well as houses objects, sculptures, and the documents compiling his personal archive. The foundation also preserves Xul's home, where his extensive library is located.


From 1980 to 1996, an Argentine literary magazine named Xul was published. In the essay that accompanied the publication of its anthology, several reasons are given for why the magazine was named as such. The last paragraph of the essay begins, "What should have been first remains for the last: XUL, the name of the magazine, was an homage to Xul Solar, a singularly complex individual, writer among many other things, although he was known mainly as one of the principal plastic artists of Argentina."

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14 December 2016

105th Anniversary of First Expedition to Reach the South Pole



Today marks the 105th anniversary of Roald Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole. Known as "the last of the Vikings," Amundsen was a lifelong adventurer with a gift for organization and planning. "Victory awaits him who has everything in order," wrote Amundsen, and his South Pole journey was a perfect illustration of that principle.

Amundsen's expedition party consisted of 19 people and nearly 100 Greenland sled dogs. The dogs -- along with the use of skis to cross treacherous terrain -- were key to the team's success. And like their canine companions, the explorers knew that playfulness could help them endure the extreme conditions on the icy frontier. While prepping from Framheim, their base camp in the Bay of Whales, the team maintained a sense of fun. They held guess-the-temperature contests, celebrated birthdays, and told stories. When a subset of the crew made the final trek to the South Pole in December of 1911, their camaraderie and careful preparation helped them win the race to "the bottom of the world."

In honor of that achievement, today's Doodle depicts the crew at the finish line, taking a moment to bask in the glory while the Antarctic wind whips outside their tent.

[9A]

December 18, 2022

Qatar National Day 2022




Today’s Doodle celebrates Qatar National Day. On this day in 1878, Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani succeeded his father, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Thani, as the ruler of Qatar. Known as the country’s founder, Sheikh Jassim unified the tribes in the region to create the modern State of Qatar.

National Day is celebrated on December 18th to honor the unification of the country almost a century prior. On the public holiday, people in Qatar celebrate with a huge parade through the capital, Doha, as planes perform stunts above the procession. In the afternoon, there are dazzling fountain shows featuring colorful water jets that spray to the rhythm of music. And the sunset finale ends with a breathtaking fireworks display.

To celebrate their core values of solidarity, loyalty, and pride, people in Qatar decorate their cars and homes with patriotic symbols such as the maroon and white flag waving in the artwork of today’s Doodle.

Happy National Day, Qatar!

[9A]

Dec 18, 2022

2022 World Cup Finals




The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association [FIFA, the International Federation of Association Football], the sport's global governing body and the most popular sport. The championship has been awarded every four years since the 1930 FIFA World Cup, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of World War II. The 2018 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Russia, was won by France, who beat Croatia 4–2.

The World Cup final match is the last of the competition, and the result determines which country is declared the world champion. If after 90 minutes of regular play the score is a draw, an additional 30-minute period of play, called extra time, is added. It is split into segments of two 15 minutes of play time. If the game is still tied after extra time, it is then decided by a penalty shoot-out. The team winning the penalty shoot-out are then declared champions.

[9A]

Dec 18, 2022

Celebrating Doris Pilkington Garimara


Today’s Doodle celebrates Doris Pilkington Garimara [born Nugi Garimara] who was an award-winning Martu author. Doris’ work recounts the experiences of the Stolen Generations and their reconnection with Indigenous Australian culture and identity. On this day in 2004, Doris Pilkington Garimara received a Western Australian State Living Treasure award for her writing, which has enriched Australian arts and culture.

The Doodle artwork was illustrated by Warumungu/Wombaya guest artist Jessica Johnson who lives and works on Gadigal land.

Doris’s most renowned book, Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, details her mother Molly’s remarkable escape from Moore River Settlement. Moore River Settlement was a camp for Indigenous people that were forcibly removed from their families as a part of assimilation policies. In 1931, 14-year-old Molly and her two young family members spent nine weeks trekking 1,000 miles of harsh desert to escape. They traveled along a fence that stretched across Western Australia, knowing that their hometown, Jigalong, was on the northern end of the fence. The book concludes with Molly’s return home. But she’d have to make the same journey years later when her family was forcibly taken to the Moore River Settlement once again.

Doris Pilkington was born Nugi Garimara on July 1, 1937, in Western Australia. In her book Under the Wintamarra Tree, she wrote about her experience dealing with cultural erasure when she and her baby sister Annabelle were forced to accompany their mother to the camp. When Molly made the second long trek home with 18-month-old Annabelle, she had to leave four-year-old Doris behind as she couldn’t carry both daughters. At Moore River Settlement, Doris slept in rooms with barred windows, learned to feel ashamed of her culture, and received punishment for speaking her native language, Mardudjara. Those who tried to escape were held in solitary confinement, and Doris wouldn’t get a chance to see her mother again until age 25.

After years of unlearning the shame around her culture, Doris took ownership of her birth name and began speaking and writing in Mardudjara. Today, her stories inspire Indigenous Australian people to reconnect with their stolen heritage.

Thank you for sharing your people’s story with the world and encouraging a reclamation of culture, Doris Pilkington Garimara.

[9A]

December 18, 2011

Christoffer Polhem's 350th Birthday


Christopher Polhammar [18 December 1661 – 30 August 1751] better known as Christoffer Polhem, which he took after his ennoblement in 1716, was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the economic and industrial development of Sweden, particularly mining. He was ennobled by King Charles XII of Sweden for his contributions to Swedish technological development.

Polhem was not only active within the field of mechanics, he actively wrote essays concerning medicine, social criticism, astronomy, geology and economics.

[9A]

December 18, 2013

Qatar National Day 2013


Qatar National Day is a national commemoration of Qatar's unification in 1878. It is celebrated annually on 18 December. The holiday was established by a 21 June 2007 decree of the then Crown Prince and Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.[It is also known as Founder's Day.

Pearl-Qatar in Doha, Qatar, is an artificial island spanning nearly four square kilometers. It is the first land in Qatar to be available for freehold ownership by foreign nationals. As of 2018, there are 27,000 residents. Once fully completed, The Pearl will create over 32 kilometers of new coastline, for use as a residential estate with an expected 18,831 dwellings and 45,000 residents by 2018.

[9A]

December 18, 2011

Yury Nikulin's 90th Birthday




Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin was a Soviet and Russian actor and clown who starred in many popular films. He is best known for his roles in Leonid Gaidai's comedies, such as The Diamond Arm and Kidnapping, Caucasian Style, although he occasionally starred in dramatic roles and performed in Moscow Circus.

He was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1973 and Hero of Socialist Labour in 1990. He also received a number of state awards, including the prestigious Order of Lenin, which he received twice in his lifetime.

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December 18, 2012

120th Anniversary of the Nutcracker Ballet





The Nutcracker is an 1892 two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky [[Op. 71). The libretto is adapted from E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King".

Although the original production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. The complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the Christmas season, especially in North America. Major American ballet companies generate around 40% of their annual ticket revenues from performances of The Nutcracker. The ballet's score has been used in several film adaptations of Hoffmann's story.

Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions. Among other things, the score is noted for its use of the celesta, an instrument that the composer had already employed in his much lesser known symphonic ballad The Voyevoda [1891].

[9A]

December 18, 2009

Sapsan Train Opening



The Sapsan is a Russian gauge high speed electric express train. The train is a Siemens Velaro model, which in turn is based on the ICE 3M/F high-speed trains manufactured by Siemens for the German Deutsche Bahn [DB], known as the Siemens Velaro RUS.

The trains started regular service on the Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway in December 2009 at a maximum speed of 250 km/h [155 mph].

On 22 March 2022, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Siemens suspended its contract to supply additional trainsets, as well as announcing it would end maintenance and other services from 13 May 2022.

[9A]

December 18, 2017

Holidays 2017 [Day 1]






The festive season is here and this pair of slippery-footed siblings are excited to spend time with their warm-weather relatives! Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks to see what kind of fun this feathery family has in store.

[9A]

Dec 19, 2016

Franz Sacher’s 200th Birthday





In the world of baked goods, few cakes have the culinary status–or intriguing backstory–of the Sacher-Torte, first concocted by the Austrian confectioner, Franz Sacher, in Vienna in 1832.

Perhaps destiny had a hand in its creation. Sacher was a 16-year-old apprentice honing his craft in the court of Austrian state chancellor, Prince Metternich, when the kitchen was tasked with creating a special dessert for the prince’s fussy guests. On the day of the dinner, the chef became ill, and the tall order fell to Sacher.

The trainee whipped up a chocolate cake topped with apricot jam and bittersweet chocolate icing. It was a hit with the prince’s guests, but it wasn’t until Sacher’s son Eduard refined the recipe decades later, that the Sacher-Torte became a Viennese sensation.

Today, the dessert is a signature of Café Sacher in Vienna's Hotel Sacher [and other locations in Austria]. The authentic recipe for the Original Sacher-Torte remains a deep, dark, delicious secret.

Our Doodle honors Sacher’s 200th birthday with an animation of his famous cake, illustrated Viennese style with a pot of coffee. With each “bite,” the torte slices slowly disappear, leaving barely a crumb.

[9A]

19 December 2022

Celebrating the 2022 World Cup Champions: Argentina





A World Cup final for the ages delivered a crowning glory for soccer icon Lionel Messi on Sunday as Argentina beat reigning men's champion France on penalty kicks.

One of the most dramatic major sporting events in history had the teams tied 3-3 after extra time, with the French ultimately missing twice in the shootout before Gonzalo Montiel converted to seal an exhausting and emotional victory.

[9A]

19 December 2022

Celebrating Judith Leyster




One could say painting came easel-y to Judith Leyster, a 17th-century master painter and a central figure in the Dutch Golden Age. However, misogyny and a forged signature caused art dealers to misattribute her paintings to male artists for decades. On this day in 2009, the National Gallery of Art and the Frans Hals Museum held exhibitions to rightfully honor her legacy. Today’s Doodle celebrates her work.

Leyster, whose name means “lodestar” [a person or thing that serves as an inspiration or guide], was born in Haarlem in 1609. Although art historians know little about her formal education, rumor has it she showed remarkable talent at a young age. When poet Samuel Ampzing visited Haarlem to chronicle the city in 1628, he famously described 19-year-old Leyster as a painter of “good and keen insight.”

At the time, professional female painters were rare in Europe. But Leyster never let this dissuade her. Using her spontaneous and free signature brushstrokes to capture everyday life, Leyster finished her first known painting, Serenade and Jolly Topper, in 1629. She signed with a distinct monogram: “J.L.” crossed by a star—a play on her last name.

A few years after completing her first painting, Leyster became one of the first women admitted to Haarlem’s prestigious painters’ guild. During this time, she also set up her own studio and began taking in students.

Leyster may have earned the respect of her peers and enjoyed financial success as an artist, but she was erased from history when art scholars later mistook her paintings as those of her male contemporaries’.

In 1892, a keen observer finally noticed a star insignia on one of Leyster’s paintings in the Louvre and remarked that it did not match the signature of the male artist’s. This forced the artworld to reckon with their decades-long misattribution, allowing Leyster to reclaim her place in history. Scholarly detectives have since identified more than 30 Leyster masterpieces. Curious to see them? Among her known works, the most famous is a self-portrait turning to the viewer with a knowing smile.

[9A]

19 December 2011

110th Anniversary of the Uganda Railway's Completion



Construction began at the port city of Mombasa in British East Africa in 1896 and finished at the line's terminus, Kisumu, on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria, in 1901.

Several films have featured the Uganda Railway, including Bwana Devil, made in 1952, the Tsavo man-eaters are part of the plot of the 1956 film Beyond Mombasa, The Ghost and the Darkness, in 1996 and Chander Pahar, a 2013 Bengali movie based on the 1937 novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. In addition the 1985 film Out of Africa shows the railway in a number of its scenes. A documentary on the construction of the line, The Permanent Way was made in 1961.

[9A]

19 December 2010

Edith Piaf's 95th Birthday


Édith Piaf was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars.

Piaf's music was often autobiographical, and she specialized in chanson réaliste and torch ballads about love, loss and sorrow. Her most widely known songs include "La Vie en rose" [1946], "Non, je ne regrette rien" [1960], "Hymne à l'amour" [1949], "Milord" [1959], "La Foule" [1957], "L'Accordéoniste" [1940], and "Padam, padam..." [1951].

Since her death in 1963, several biographies and films have studied her life, including 2007's La Vie en rose. Piaf has become one of the most celebrated performers of the 20th century.

[9A]

16 December 2003

100th Anniversary of Flight




Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere [i.e. air flight or aviation] or through the vacuum of outer space [i.e. spaceflight].

[9A]

22 Dec 2003

Happy Holidays from Google 2003 - 1

[9A]

Dec. 18, 2022

Chanukah [Hanukkah] Begins at Sundown

and ends Monday, Dec. 26









[Note: Google no longer honors a single religious holiday. Instead, they honor most major holidays collectively. These images are from past Doodles. Nina]

[9A]

20 December 2010

Mehmet Akif Ersoy's Birthday






Mehmet Akif Ersoy was a Turkish pan-Islamist poet, writer, academic, politician, and the author of the Turkish National Anthem. Widely regarded as one of the premiere literary minds of his time, Ersoy is noted for his command of the Turkish language, as well as his patriotism and role in the Turkish War of Independence.

A framed version of the national anthem by Ersoy typically occupies the wall above the blackboard in the classrooms of every public as well as most private schools around Turkey, along with a Turkish flag, a photograph of the country's founding father Atatürk, and a copy of Atatürk's speech to the nation's youth.

[9A]

11 September 2021

Christine de Pizan's 657th birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 657th birthday of Italian writer and poet Christine de Pizan. She is considered the first woman in Europe to support herself solely by writing professionally.

Christine de Pizan was born in the Republic of Venice on this day in 1364. She spent her childhood exploring libraries in the court of France’s King Charles V, where her father served as court astrologer. Armed with a pen and her love of literature, she began writing romantic ballads in 1393. This early foray into wordsmithing enraptured several powerful patrons, including King Charles VI.

De Pizan is best known today for her role in a medieval literary feud that rivals any modern celebrity drama. It began in the early 1400s with heated debates regarding the popular poem “The Romance of the Rose.” De Pizan denounced the work’s treatment of women and struck back in 1405 with one of her most famous works, “The Book of the City of Ladies.” In it, she incorporated stories that highlighted the leadership and wisdom of important women from history and mythology. She released the sequel, “The Treasure of the City of Ladies,” later that year, completing the series now considered to be among the earliest feminist literature.

Throughout her career, de Pizan published 10 volumes of poetry, many of which were “complaints,” the term for medieval protest poems and songs against vice or injustice. Today, de Pizan is among the 1,038 influential women represented in Judy Chicago’s iconic 1970s art installation “The Dinner Party” on display at the Brooklyn Museum.

Happy Birthday, Christine de Pizan!

[9A]

19 August 2020

Julius Lothar Meyer's 190th birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates German chemist, professor, and author Julius Lothar Meyer on his 190th birthday. Meyer was one of two scientists to independently discover the periodic law of chemical elements and pioneer the earliest periodic tables.

Julius Lothar Meyer was born into a medical family in Varel, Germany on this day in 1830. Initially devoted to the study of medicine, he soon shifted his focus to physiological chemistry. He earned his doctorate in 1858 and began his career as a science teacher the very next year.

In 1864, Meyer published a seminal textbook called “Die modernen Theorien der Chemie" [“Modern Chemical Theory”]. The treatise included a rudimentary system for the organization of 28 elements based on atomic weight, a precursor to the modern periodic table. But Meyer was not alone in the sprint toward this scientific milestone, as Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev was independently developing similar ideas of his own.

Meyer designed a more comprehensive table in 1868, but before he could publish, Mendeleev released his own paper that placed all the known elements in one table and cemented his place in science history. Meyer’s subsequent 1870 paper was groundbreaking in its own right, as its graphical demonstration of the relationship between atomic volume and atomic weight provided strong evidence for the periodic law describing cyclical patterns among the elements. Meyer’s now-famous display is depicted behind him in today’s Doodle artwork.

Happy birthday, Julius Lothar Meyer, and thank you for braving the elements for the sake of scientific knowledge!

[9A]

1 December 2016

30th Anniversary of Film “Kin-Dza-Dza!”




Kin-Dza-Dza! is a 1986 Soviet sci-fi cult dystopian comedy, created by Mosfilm, the oldest film studio in Europe. A construction worker and a student push the wrong button on an unidentifiable device and end up on an obscure and advanced telepathic planet called Pluke where a series of strange and hilarious events unfold. The lives, philosophies and social structures of those who inhabit this distant planet are explored and paralleled to life here on earth in an unusually entertaining and thought-provoking manner.

Because the Plukanians are inherently telepathic, they only speak a few actual words—ky [pronounced “koo”] and kyu, which is a swear word. One of the fun plot details that permeate the film is that the material used in making the heads of regular matches serves as currency on the planet.

For the 30th anniversary of Kin-Dza-Dza, today’s Doodle depicts the most famous scene from the film where the main characters, Bi and Uef, are squatting and chanting a resounding “ku!”

[9A]

1 December 2014

First Day of Summer 2014 [Australia]

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3 Dec 2014

Anna Freud's 119th Birthday





Take a peek inside the mind of psychoanalyst Anna Freud for her 119th birthday. As the daughter of famed neurologist Sigmund Freud, Anna followed her father’s footsteps into the field and is recognized as the founder of psychoanalytic child psychology.

[9A]

5 December 2017

Veronika Dudarova’s 101st Birthday




In today’s Doodle, Google-hued lights shine on a group of musicians led by Veronika Dudarova, the first Russian woman to conduct an orchestra.

Born in 1916, Dudarova spent her formative years studying piano and musicology in the company of some of Russia’s most renowned musical talents. In 1947, she graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, joining the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra as a junior conductor. She spent 13 years in that role before taking over as principal conductor in 1960. In 1991, Dudarova formed the Symphony Orchestra of Russia, which she led until 2003.

One of the very few female conductors in the world, Dudarova holds the Guinness World Record as the only woman to lead a major symphony orchestra for more than 50 years. During her career, she won the State Russian Music Award, was named the People’s Artist of the USSR, and even had a minor planet named after her.

On what would’ve been Dudarova’s 101st birthday, we honor the conductor’s dramatic style as she leads the Google letters in a passionate, homepage-worthy performance.

[9A]

5 December 2014

Father’s Day 2014 [Thailand]

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6 Dec 2014

Finland Independence Day 2014






Independence Day of Finland is a national public holiday, and a flag flying day, held on 6 December to celebrate Finland's declaration of independence from the Russian Empire when the Bolsheviks took power in late 1917.