Google doodles

[9A]

25 December 2018

Holidays 2018 [Northern Hemisphere Day 3]



It’s that festive time of year again! Sending along holiday cheer to you & your loved ones during this merry time.


Happy Holidays!

[9A]

25 December 2012

Holiday Series 2012 #2

[9A]

25 December 2017

Holidays 2017

[9A]

25 December 2007

Happy Holidays from Google 2007 - 5

[9A]

25 December 1999

Happy Holidays from Google 1999

[9A]

25 December 2013

Salah Jahin's 83rd Birthday



Muhammad Salah Eldin Bahgat Ahmad Helmy, known as "Salah Jaheen" or "Salah Jahin" was a leading Egyptian poet, lyricist, playwright and cartoonist.

[9A]

25 December 2018

Holidays 2018 [Day 3]

[9A]

24 Dec 2013

Holiday Series 2013 #1

[9A]

25 Dec 2013

Holiday Series 2013 #2

[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]

28 July 2015

Peru National Day 2015



Trek through the rough, scrubby terrain of the Peruvian Andes, and you’ll eventually come upon a vicuña. These llama-like mammals, legendary for their stunningly soft wool, were considered sacred in the eyes of the Incas.

Today, vicuñas are indigenous to not only the mountains, but also Peru’s coat of arms, where they symbolize the country’s diverse wildlife. And they hold a high place in Peruvian society as the country’s national animal. This mix of ancient reverence and modern pride inspired artist Robinson Wood for today’s Doodle — a celebration of independence for Peru National Day.

[9A]

28 July 2016

Gloria Fuertes' 99th birthday




Gloria Fuertes remembered the typewriter she rented at a young age as her “first toy.” It didn’t take long for her to realize she could make its keys sing. That same year, she wrote her first verse.

Her love of narrative informed her life’s work: teaching and entertaining children, first through the printed word and later through stage and television. The result was some of Spain’s most beloved tales for children.

Today's Doodle is inspired by Fuertes’ inspired public readings that brought the magic of her words to life for the kids.

[9A]

31 Jul 2016

Munshi Premchand’s 136th Birthday




Today’s homepage celebrates a man who forever changed India’s literary landscape. Born Dhanpat Rai in a small village in northern India, the prolific author is best known under his pen name, Premchand. He’s also been called Upanyas Samrat, or “emperor among novelists,” having produced more than a dozen novels, 250 short stories, and a number of essays throughout his lifetime.

Writing wasn’t always his main focus, though. Premchand was a teacher for many years until he joined the non-cooperation movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in the 1920s. Gandhi influenced much of Premchand’s later work, which brought to light some of India’s most prominent social issues of the time.

His last and most famous novel, Godaan [1936], inspired today’s Doodle, which depicts Premchand bringing his signature working-class characters to life. On what would have been his 136th birthday, this illustration pays tribute to the many important stories he told.

[9A]

31 July 2020

Celebrating Pacita Abad






Today’s Doodle celebrates Philippine artist, feminist, and activist Pacita Abad, renowned for her bold use of color and mixed media as well as her use of art to address global themes. On this day in 1984, Abad made history as the first woman to receive the Philippines’ prestigious Ten Outstanding Young Men award.

Pacita Abad was born on October 5th, 1946 in Basco, in the northern province of Batanes, the Philippines. She pursued graduate studies in San Francisco, California in the U.S. in 1970 and became very involved in the city’s artistic community. Abad went on to study painting and then traveled the world with her art supplies, from Bangladesh to Sudan, and the cultures she encountered had a profound influence on her ever-evolving artistic style. Dedicated to improving the world through art, she used pieces like her 1979 series “Portraits of Cambodia” to raise awareness of societal issues.

Over time, Abad transitioned toward abstract work and pioneered a painting technique called trapunto [Italian for quilting]. To achieve this style, she stuffed her canvases to create a sculptural effect and integrated culturally significant materials discovered during her travels, like shells and fabrics. Abad channeled a passion for public art into her 2003 project “Painted Bridge,” for which she covered Singapore’s 55-meter Alkaff Bridge with an explosion of 2,350 vibrantly colored circles.

Abad crafted over 5,000 pieces of art, and today her colorful legacy resonates in collections in over 70 countries.

Thank you, Pacita Abad, for painting the picture of a brighter tomorrow!

[9A]

26 January 2019

India Republic Day 2019




The Constitution of India came into force on this day in 1950, an anniversary celebrated each year as Republic Day. Republic Day is one of only three national holidays celebrated all across India, the other two being Independence Day on August 15 and Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday on October 2.

Although India’s constitution was adopted in November 1949, the date January 26 was chosen for the document to take effect, because it commemorates Pūrna Swarāj Day, which took place exactly 20 years earlier. On January 26, 1930, the Indian National Congress issued a bold resolution declaring complete freedom from the British Raj. From that point, it was only a matter of time before Independence Day, followed by full sovereignty.

Celebrations take place all across the subcontinent, with the epicenter in the capital city of Delhi, where a parade runs along Rajpath near the President’s Palace. Today's guest artist, Reshidev RK, recreated the colorful celebrations and depicted the famous parade floats that decorate the city, each representing a different component of India’s history: environment, architecture, textiles, wildlife, monuments, and farming. Observances last for four days, coming to a conclusion on January 29th with the Beating Retreat ceremony, featuring the bands of the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Happy Republic Day, India!

[9A]

27 December 2017

Marlene Dietrich’s 116th Birthday



Born Maria Magdalene Dietrich in Berlin on this day in 1901, Marlene Dietrich lit up the silver screen during Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Dietrich rocketed to international fame from the moment she appeared in her breakout role as cabaret singer Lola-Lola in Germany’s first talking picture, Der Blaue Engel [1930] and its English version, The Blue Angel. The actress crossed the Atlantic soon after its premiere, continuing to work with Blue Angel director Josef von Sternberg in a string of memorable Hollywood films, including Morocco, Shanghai Express, and The Devil Is a Woman.

But Dietrich was more than a femme fatale with an unforgettable voice. Ever the risk-taker, she turned pat notions about femininity upside down, donning a tuxedo and top hat in her part as a sultry nightclub dancer in Morocco, and wearing men’s silk suits offscreen. A U.S. citizen as of 1939, she captivated World War II troops as a USO entertainer and was awarded the U.S. Medal of Freedom and French Légion d'Honneur for her wartime work.

Dietrich’s Doodle was illustrated by artist Sasha Steinberg who captured her mid-performance, suited up in her gender-bending tux and top hat. Steinberg, who is also a drag performer under the name Sasha Velour and winner of RuPaul's Drag Race [Season 9], counts Dietrich as a major influence in creating their drag alter ego.

“She was a wild original!” says Velour. “Despite the pressures of the time, she followed her own course, especially in terms of politics and gender. As a drag queen, that's particularly inspiring to me. Plus, she just had this power to her...in every role she's mysterious and strong, brilliant. That's what I aspire to be when I step on the stage.”

Happy 116th birthday, Marlene!

[9A]

27 December 2013

Johannes Kepler's 442nd Birthday




Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonice Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. These works also provided one of the foundations for Newton's theory of universal gravitation.

[9A]

8 December 2019

Camille Claudel’s 155th Birthday




Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Paris-based artists Icinori, celebrates French sculptor Camille Claudel on her 155th birthday. Facing many challenges as a woman in art, Claudel’s determination pushed her to continually break gender molds and create even in the face of adversity.

Born in Fère-en-Tardenois, Claudel began experimenting with clay as a child. At age 12, her father organized a visit from established sculptor Alfred Boucher, who took notice of Claudel’s burgeoning skills and advised Claudel to move to Paris to study art. Enrolling at the Académie Colarossi, Claudel worked on honing her craft before a fateful 1882 meeting with Boucher’s friend, renowned sculptor Auguste Rodin.

Claudel began training under Rodin in 1884, learning about his method of observing profiles and the importance of capturing expressions. Her sculptures, however, also had an impact on Rodin. For instance, her 1886 piece, “Jeune fille à la gerbe,” is widely considered to have inspired Rodin’s “Galatea,” completed a few years later.

Claudel and Rodin became romantically involved, resulting in two personally revealing sculptures, Persée et la Gorgone [Perseus and the Gorgon] and L'Âge mûr [The Age of Maturity]. The former features a self-portrait of Claudel as the Gorgon Medusa and has often been interpreted as a contemplation of the uphill battle for recognition that she faced in her artistic career. Both pieces coincided with the end of their relationship in 1893.

Much of Claudel’s work resides in Musée Camille Claudel in Nogent-sur-Seine, which opened in 2017. Here, art lovers from around the world continue to appreciate Claudel’s oeuvre.

Happy birthday, Camille Claudel!

[9A]

8 December 2022

Manuel Ponce Cuéllar's 139th birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 139th birthday of Mexican musical pioneer, Manuel Ponce Cuéllar, and was illustrated by Mexico City-based guest artist César Canseco. Ponce was the earliest Mexican classical music composer to gain international recognition and a maestro on the guitar. Although European music heavily influenced his work, he added a Mexican touch to his compositions.

Ponce was born in Fresnillo on this day in 1882. He discovered his talent at an early age and started performing piano when he was just 6 years old. At age 9, he wrote his first composition, “La Marcha del Sarampion” [March of the Measles], while sick with the disease.

When he was 21, Ponce joined the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Mexico City but left after realizing his skills were too advanced. He traveled to Europe a year later to study composition and piano. While in Germany, his fellow students encouraged him to incorporate Mexican folk elements into his music—which birthed his original style.

In 1912, he returned to Mexico City to teach at the Conservatorio Nacional and composed his most famous work, “Estrellita.” He studied music in Paris at the École Normale de Musique in 1925 and wrote several compositions for the guitar, inspiring other Mexican composers to follow suit. These two feats put him on the map as one of Mexico’s most esteemed composers and classical guitar players.

He wrote more than 300 compositions but was more than a composer and musician. Ponce was also a teacher, lecturer, music critic and conductor. He also penned over 200 essays as the founder and editor of 3 music journals: Revista Musical de México, Gaceta Musical and Cultura Musical. His styles ranged from baroque to impressionist, classical to romantic–all with a distinct Mexican folk touch.

Ponce was awarded the Premio Nacional de Artes y Ciencias [the National Prize of Arts and Sciences] in 1947. When he passed away the following year, he was buried in the Rotonda de las Personas Ilustres [Roundhouse of the Illustrious Men] of the Panteón de Dolores, a site that honors those who made a significant contribution to Mexican society.

[9A]

27 December 2017

Mirza Ghalib’s 220th Birthday





Today we celebrate one of Urdu literature’s most iconic poets, Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, known in popular culture by many names, but most commonly as Ghalib [meaning conqueror].

Born in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, during the reign of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah, Ghalib showed a gift for language at an early age and was educated in Persian, Urdu, and Arabic.

His verse is characterized by a lingering sadness borne of a tumultuous and often tragic life — from being orphaned at an early age, to losing all of his seven children in their infancy, to the political upheaval that surrounded the fall of Mughal rule in India. He struggled financially, never holding a regular paying job but instead depending on patronage from royalty and more affluent friends.

But despite these hardships, Ghalib navigated his circumstances with wit, intellect, and an all-encompassing love for life. His contributions to Urdu poetry and prose were not fully appreciated in his lifetime, but his legacy has come to be widely celebrated, most particularly for his mastery of the Urdu ghazal [amatory poem].

Irshad muqarar, Mirza!

[9A]

29 December 2019

Zainul Abedin’s 105th Birthday


Today’s Doodle celebrates Bangladeshi painter, educator, and activist Zainul Abedin on his 105th birthday. Widely considered a founding father of Bangladeshi modern art, he was given the title of “Shilpacharya,” or “Great Teacher of the Arts.” Throughout his colorful life, Abedin strived to preserve and honor Bangladeshi heritage.

Born along the Brahmaputra River in Mymensingh in 1914, Abedin attended the Government School of Art in Kolkata [formerly Calcutta] studying European academic styles. After completing his education, Abedin was inspired to create an art piece that paid homage to the scenic views of his childhood, which won him the Governor’s Gold Medal at age 23.


Free to craft his own style, Abedin released a series of sketches in 1943 depicting an avoidable famine that affected the region, which is widely seen as his most popular work. He would continue to draw inspiration from the human experience throughout his career, such as with Struggle [Bangla title: 'সংগ্রাম'] which was painted more than 30 years after his famine sketches.

To foster Bangladeshi cultural life, Abedin created the first center for modern art in the region with the Government Institute of Arts and Crafts [now the Faculty of Fine Arts] at the University of Dhaka in 1948. A decade later, he was honored with his country’s highest civil award, the Presidential Award for Pride of Performance, for his cultural contributions.

Four years after Bangladesh gained its independence from Pakistan in 1971, Abedin opened the Folk Art Museum at Sonargaon and the Zainul Abedin Sangrahashala [a gallery of his personal collection] in Mymensingh to instill pride in native culture.

The International Astronomical Union named an impact crater on Mercury for Abedin in 2009, calling it “Abedin.”

শুভ জন্মদিন, Zainul Abedin!

[9A]

28 Dec 2019

Iqbal Bano’s 81st Birthday





Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Karachi-based guest artist Samya Arif, celebrates Pakistani singer Iqbal Bano, famous for singing ghazal and nazm, forms of lyrical Urdu poetry. Born on this day in 1938 in Delhi, British India, Bano studied with Ustad Chand Khan, a master of classical Indian vocals, and began singing on All India Radio as a teenager. Bano is also often notably remembered for her defiant performance of protest poetry by the exiled Nobel-nominee Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

In 1952, she moved to Pakistan and married a man who vowed to support her musical career, allowing her great freedom for a female artist at the time. She sang on Radio Pakistan, provided vocals as a playback singer for popular movies, and attracted large crowds to her live concerts.

Bano sang in both Urdu and Farsi, earning admirers in Iran and Afghanistan, as well as India and Pakistan. A regular performer at the Jashn-e-Kabul cultural festival in Kabul, her powerful vocals once inspired King Zahir Shah of Afghanistan to give her a golden vase. In 1974, the Pakistani government honored Bano with the Presidential Award for Pride of Performance.

In 1977, President Zia ul-Haq seized power and imposed martial law, strictly censored the press, and suspended political parties in Pakistan. The following year, Bano’s favorite poet, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, wrote a poem critical of the authoritarian ruler which Bano boldly sang before a crowd of 50,000 at a Lahore stadium in 1985. While doing so, she was wearing a black sari—a traditional women’s garment prohibited by the government. Though she was officially banned from singing live or on TV, Bano attracted a cult following, and her message and voice are still heard to this day as a symbol for revolution.

[9A]

27 November 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.

[9A]

23 Nov 2018

Valdemar Poulsen’s 148th Birthday







Today’s Doodle celebrates Valdemar Poulsen, a Danish engineer whose innovations made magnetic sound recording and long-range radio transmission possible. Many modern conveniences, from telephone answering machines to cassettes, even VHS tapes and floppy disks, used the basic technology that he developed by stringing a steel piano wire at a slight angle between two walls. By sliding an electromagnet down the wire he was able to record sound using a microphone and play it back through a telephone earpiece.Born in Copenhagen on this day in 1869, Poulsen studied medicine for a time before joining the Copenhagen Telephone Company as a technician. During his time he invented the telegraphone—or telegrafon in Danish–– and was awarded a patent. The cylindrical electromagnetic phonograph was capable of recording up to thirty minutes of speech. In 1900 he showed off his device at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, where he recorded the voice of Austrian emperor Francis Joseph—still the earliest surviving magnetic recording. After winning a Grand Prix in Paris, he founded the American Telegraphone Company, but sales were sluggish as the device was truly ahead of its time.

That same year brought another breakthrough, a “singing arc” radio that would transmit up to 150 miles. Subsequent improvements of this design, capable of reaching 2,500 miles, were eventually used by the U.S. Navy.

Although he dropped out of medical school, Poulsen was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Leipzig. He was also a Fellow of the Danish Academy of Technical Science and the Swedish Institute for Engineering Research, and won the Gold Medal of the Royal Danish Society of Science and the Danish Government Medal of Merit. A stamp was issued in his honor and the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences established an annual award in his name.

[9A]

16 Nov 2018

44th Anniversary of the Arecibo Message







Forty-four years ago today, a group of scientists gathered at the Arecibo Observatory amidst the tropical forests of Puerto Rico to attempt humankind’s first communication with intelligent life beyond our own planet. Their three-minute radio message—a series of exactly 1,679 binary digits [a multiple of two prime numbers] which could be arranged in a grid 73 rows by 23 columns—was aimed at a cluster of stars 25,000 light years away from earth.

This historic transmission was intended to demonstrate the capabilities of Arecibo’s recently upgraded radio telescope, whose 1000-foot-diameter dish made it the largest and most powerful in the world at the time. "It was strictly a symbolic event, to show that we could do it," said Donald Campbell, Cornell University professor of astronomy, who was a research associate at the Arecibo Observatory at the time. Nevertheless some of those present were moved to tears.

The message itself was devised by a team of researchers from Cornell University led by Dr. Frank Drake—the astronomer and astrophysicist responsible for the Drake Equation, a means of estimating the number of planets hosting extraterrestrial life within the Milky Way galaxy. ‘‘What could we do that would be spectacular?’’ Drake recalled thinking. “We could send a message!’’

Written with the assistance of Carl Sagan, the message itself could be arranged in a rectangular grid of 0s and 1s to form a pictograph representing some fundamental facts of mathematics, human DNA, planet earth’s place in the solar system, and a picture of a human-like figure as well as an image of the telescope itself.

Since the Arecibo Message will take roughly 25,000 years to reach its intended destination [a group of 300,000 stars in the constellation Hercules known as M13], humankind will have to wait a long time for an answer. How long? In the 44 years since it was first transmitted, the message has traveled only 259 trillion miles, only a tiny fraction of the 146,965,638,531,210,240 or so miles to its final destination. During that same time, our understanding of the cosmos has advanced by leaps and bounds, raising hopes that someone may be out there, listening.

[9A]

16 November 2022

Celebrating the Angklung




Today’s animated Doodle celebrates the Angklung, an Indonesian musical instrument made of bamboo. On this day in 2010, UNESCO officially declared angklung a World Heritage item.

Angklung typically consists of two tubes and a base. Master artisans whittle bamboo into tubes of different sizes, which determine the angklung’s pitch. When a player gently shakes or taps the bamboo base, the instrument produces a single pitch. Since Angklungs only play a single note, players must cooperate to create melodies by shaking their angklungs at different pitches.

The Angklung’s origin dates back 400 years to West Java, Indonesia. Villagers believed the sound of bamboo could attract the attention of Déwi Sri, the goddess of rice and prosperity. Each year, the village’s best craftsmen used special black bamboo to create angklungs. During the harvest season, they held ceremonies and played Angklungs in hopes that the deity would bless them with fertile crops.

The instrument is still a staple in Indonesian culture and oftentimes, the government hosts Angklung performances to welcome honorable guests to Indonesia’s Presidential Palace. Angklung’s uplifting sound can be heard in classrooms around the world since it’s a great way for teachers to introduce students to Indonesian music and culture.

[9A]

16 November 2017

Chinua Achebe’s 87th Birthday



“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”

One man took it upon himself to tell the world the story of Nigeria through the eyes of its own people. Chinua Achebe [born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe] was the studious son of an evangelical priest. A student of English literature, he started writing in the 1950s, choosing English as his medium but weaving the storytelling tradition of the Igbo people into his books.

His characters were insiders — everyday people such as the village chief [in Things Fall Apart], the priest [in Arrow of God], or the school teacher [in A Man of the People]. Through their stories, we witness a Nigeria at the crossroads of civilization, culture, and generations.

His pen brought to life the land and traditions of the Igbo: the hum of everyday village life; the anticipation and excitement of sacred masquerades; the stories of the elders and the honor of warriors; the joy of family and the grief of loss.

Considered by many to be the father of modern African literature, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker Prize in 2007. Surrounded by iconic images of his most famous literary works, today’s Doodle celebrates his legacy on what would have been his 87th birthday.

Daalụ nke ukwuu, Chinua Achebe!

[9A]

27 May 2020

Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso's 95th birthday



Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Chile-based guest artist Pablo Luebert, celebrates the 95th birthday of a luminary ambassador of the southern night sky: Chilean astrophysicist, author, and professor Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso. Light-years ahead of her time, she was the first Chilean to earn a doctorate in astrophysics, a pioneer not only in her field, but also for women scientists around the world.

Born in the Chilean capital of Santiago on this day in 1925, Carmen Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso was determined from a young age to become a science researcher and teacher. Her scientific career formally took off in 1949, when she joined the faculty at the University of Chile, home of the historic National Astronomical Observatory. In her early years, Adelina crunched data from distant stars, including that collected by her colleague Hugo Moreno León; the two eventually married and formed a fruitful partnership that resulted in a wealth of scientific publications.

But for Adelina, the sky wasn’t the limit. To further her exploration into the mysteries of the cosmos, she moved to the United States in the late 1950s. She graduated from the University of Indiana in 1964 with her unprecedented doctorate in astrophysics, and upon her return home, she helped to establish and lead the country’s first Bachelor of Astronomy program at her alma mater, the University of Chile.

In honor of her stellar scientific contributions, Adelina Gutiérrez Alonso became the first woman and astronomer inducted into the Chilean Academy of Sciences in 1967.

[9A]

28 Dec 2019

Thanpuying Puangroi Apaiwong's 105th Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates Thai composer Thanpuying Puangroi Apaiwong on her 105th birthday. Of her more than 100 compositions, she is best known for the classic “Bua Kao” [“White Lotus”], which was awarded as “Song of Asia” by UNESCO in 1979 and made her a staple in the national repertoire.

Born Mom Puangroi Sanit Wong in Bangkok on this day in 1914, she learned to play the piano and the guitar at a young age. Composing and playing tunes for her family, she showed an undoubted passion and went on to study music at Trinity College London.

During the first half of the twentieth century, as foreign music like Western classical and jazz gained popularity, a new genre named Phleng Thai sakon [roughly translating to "international-style Thai music"] arose. The genre blended elements from traditional Thai music with instruments of Western classical, and Apaiwong became one of its leading artists. She composed music for plays and movies, for the royal family, and for special national occasions.

Apaiwong devoted her life to music, playing weekly for nearly 22 years with a group of classical musicians to raise funds for various educational institutions. She was also awarded the Performing Arts award by the Board of National Culture in 1986, as well as five royal decorations for her contributions.

สุขสันต์วันเกิด, Thanpuying Puangroi Apaiwong!

[9A]

28 December 2012

Leonardo Torres Quevedo's 160th Birthday




Leonardo Torres y Quevedo was a Spanish civil engineer and mathematician of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Torres was a pioneer in the development of the radio control and automated calculation machines, the inventor of a chess automaton, and a innovative designer of the three-lobed non-rigid Astra-Torres airship and the Whirlpool Aero Car located in Niagara Falls. With his Telekine, Torres-Quevedo created wireless remote-control operation principles. He was also a famous speaker of Esperanto.

[9A]

24 Dec 2012

Holiday Series 2012 #1

[9A]

25 Dec 2012

Holiday Series 2012 #2

[9A]

25 December 2016

Holidays 2016 [Day 3] Warm Climates




‘Tis the season! During this festive time of year, there’s nothing quite like lounging around with family and friends. Here’s to a day filled with love, joy, and plenty of cheer to go around.

Doodle by Gerben Steenks

[9A]

11 February 2019

Lyubov Orlova’s 117th Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and work of the Russian movie star Lyubov Orlova.

Born near Moscow on this day in 1902, Orlova began musical training at an early age. Her parents hoped she would become a classical pianist, and she impressed the Russian opera singer Feodor Chaliapin with her talent when she was still a little girl. She began her studies at the Moscow Conservatory and worked with the Moscow Musical Theater, singing in operas and dancing before making the transition to the big screen.

She made her onscreen debut in the 1930s, and her breakthrough role was starring in the film Jolly Fellows directed by Grigoriy Aleksandrov, whom she would go on to marry. Together they produced many successful films, including Цирк [[Circus) and Волга-Волга [Volga-Volga]. Orlova was awarded various honors for her talents, including the prestigious title People’s Artist of the U.S.S.R.

Orlova was a strong believer that age was simply a state of mind. Always preferring to keep her exact age a mystery, her character in the play Lovely Liar even famously remarked: “I will never turn over the age of thirty-nine, even for a single day!”

In the later years of her career, she returned to the stage, appearing at Moscow’s Mossovet Theater in plays directed by Yury Zavadsky.

On what would have been her 117th birthday, we honor Lyubov Orlova, a legend of Soviet cinema.

[9A]

11 February 2013

Elsa Beskow's 139th Birthday






Elsa Beskow was a famous Swedish author and illustrator of children's books. Among her better known books are Tale of the Little Little Old Woman and Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender.

The Elsa Beskow Award was created in 1958 to recognize the year's best Swedish picture book illustrator.

[9A]

8 Feb 2019

65th Anniversary of the Quebec Winter Carnival




What better way to liven up Canada’s coldest season than to host a big celebration amidst the snowfall and subzero temperatures? The tradition of winter festivals dates back to the 17th-century colonies known as New France, but the first organized carnivals in modern times occurred 125 years ago in Québec City, setting the blueprint for more than a century of frosty fun.

The Québec Winter Carnival, which became an annual tradition starting in 1954, is also the oldest of the festivals held across Canada to relieve the routine of short days and chilly nights. Frank Carrel, proprietor and managing editor of the Quebec Daily Telegraph, devised the Carnival as a way to raise spirits during the winter season. Erecting an ice palace in front of the Parliament building, the Carnaval de Québec also featured a parade, concerts, sporting competitions, and a number of other activities across the city.

Now attended by more than half a million people each year, the carnival has its own official representative named Bonhomme, a large snowman who always wears a red cap, black buttons, and a ceinture fléchée, or “arrowed sash.” He lords over his own ice palace and leads a night parade along Grande Allée, which is decorated with lights and ice sculptures.

Over the years the carnival soundtrack has evolved from polkas and waltzes to rock and dance music. Today, the 65th anniversary of the Québec Winter Carnival kicks off and children throughout the city can be seen enjoying the snowy celebrations while paying homage to their favourite snowman —a scene depicted in today’s Doodle by Canadian-born, New-York-based guest artist Randeep Katari. Other festivities include the annual ice canoe race on the St. Lawrence River, axe throwing, and—for the truly intrepid—the Snow Bath, a rare convergence of snowdrifts and swimming trunks.

Joyeux Carnaval!

[9A]

8 Feb 2019

Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge’s 225th Birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, a German analytical chemist whose place in history resulted in large part from an accident followed by a chance encounter.

Runge was born outside of Hamburg on this day in 1795. The son of a Lutheran pastor, he expressed interest in chemistry from an early age and began conducting experiments as a teenager.

During one such experiment, Runge accidentally splashed a drop of belladonna extract in his eye, taking note of its pupil-dilating effects. Ten years later, while studying under renowned chemist and inventor Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner at the University of Jena, Runge was asked to reproduce belladonna’s effects as part of a demonstration for one of Döbereiner’s friends: the writer and polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Impressed by the 25-year-old chemist, Goethe handed Runge a bag of rare coffee beans and suggested he analyze their chemical makeup. Shortly thereafter, Runge isolated the active ingredient we know today as caffeine!

After earning his doctorate from the University of Berlin, Runge went on to teach at the University of Breslau until 1831 when he left academia to take a position at a chemical company. During this time, he invented the first coal tar dye and a related process for dyeing clothes. His contributions to the world also include: being one of the first scientists to isolate quinine [a drug used to treat malaria], being considered an originator of paper chromatography [an early technique for separating chemical substances], and even devising a method for extracting sugar from beet juice.

Here’s to Runge, without whom the pain of forgoing one’s morning cup of coffee might never have had a scientific explanation!

[9A]

6 February 2020

Waitangi Day 2020



Today’s Doodle celebrates New Zealand’s Waitangi Day, a recognition of the signing of the nation’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, on this day in 1840. To commemorate the country’s rich collection of bird fauna, the artwork depicts three of the nation’s endemic birds: the iconic flightless Kiwi in the centre, with the Tūī and the Kererū on either side.

The islands of New Zealand are home to around 168 different native birds, and over half of these species cannot be found anywhere else in the world. With the Tūī, prized by the Māori people for their imitation skills using its two voice boxes, the Kererū [[whose unique flying noises are a distinctive sound in New Zealand’s bush) and the Kiwi [[the world’s only bird with nostrils at the end of their long bill) New Zealand’s avian community has developed unique characteristics from evolving on the isolated South Pacific island.

Look up into the sky, or down to the ground, and enjoy these wonders of biodiversity.

Happy Waitangi Day, New Zealand!

[9A]

4 Feb 2020

Celebrating Nkosi Johnson




“Care for us and accept us – we are all human beings,” said Nkosi Johnson, the South African activist who courageously campaigned for the equal rights of children with AIDS. Today’s Doodle honors the life and legacy of a voice of change heard by millions around the world.

Xolani Nkosi was born HIV-positive in Johannesburg, South Africa, on this day in 1989. A public relations officer named Gail Johnson soon adopted Nkosi from an AIDS care center with his mother’s blessing. Together, Gail and Nkosi began their historic fight against the autoimmune disease.

When it became time for Nkosi to attend school, he faced discrimination because of his infection. In response, his foster mother organized workshops that educated the South African community about AIDS, and her efforts led Parliament to pass legislation that required schools to uphold anti-discrimination policies that protected children like Nkosi.

This landmark decision sparked Nkosi to speak publicly about what it is like to be a child with AIDS. Audiences around the world heard his speeches, which helped destigmatize the global perspective on those affected by the disease. Together with Gail, they established Nkosi’s Haven, an NGO still active today that provides a safe home and healthcare for families affected by AIDS.

Unfortunately, Nkosi died in 2001 at the age of 12. In honor of his bravery, the KidsRight organization created the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2005. Each year the award—a “Nkosi” statuette, is —given to a young winner celebrated for promoting children’s rights.

[9A]

2 January 2020

Amaka Igwe’s 57th Birthday



"I will give you all I have, so you can add it to what you have and be better than me."
–Amaka Igwe

Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Nigerian-raised, Brooklyn-based guest artist Data Oruwari, celebrates award-winning Nigerian writer, director, entrepreneur, and producer Amaka Igwe on her 57th birthday. Igwe helped transform the Nigerian film industry and built a media empire from the ground up.

Uzoamaka ‘Amaka’ Audrey Igwe was born on this day in 1963 in Port harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. At an early age, Amaka showed deep interest in the performing arts, as she organized her school's variety shows, taught performance dance, as well as wrote, acted, and directed plays.

During her postgraduate studies, Igwe started focusing on theater and what she considered to be her first gift: writing. She developed her first television series screenplay, Checkmate, widely considered the best Nigerian soap opera of the 1990s.

This led to her directorial debut in the feature film Rattlesnake [1995 for Crystal Gold Limited], a smash hit in her home country, followed by films like Violated [1995 for Crystal Gold Limited] and A Barber's Wisdom [2001 for Mnet], which helped set a higher production standard for “Nollywood” at the time. She wrote and directed the phenomenally successful Fuji House of Commotion [2001-2012 for Crystal Gold Limited], which gave her dominance of the national television series industry.

Passionate about growing the local industry, Igwe also helped organize the guild system that served the executive boards of the Association of Movie Producers, and was also a patron of the National Association of Cinematographers, the Screenwriters Guild and the Guild of Movie Editors.

As a champion of efficient local distribution as the basis for Nollywood’s growth, Igwe and her business partner also organized an enhanced market distribution system and helped improve quality and fairness in the industry.

On an international level, Igwe led delegations to South Africa, United Kingdom, United States and France, among other countries, to present the unique Nigerian approach to visual storytelling, propogating global awareness of Nollywood.

She also co-founded the African Film and Media Content Expo, entitled BOBTV, with Big Picture Limited, with the aim of providing a global platform for Nigeria’s creative industries. For 11 years, they presented BOBTV to the world, engaging more than 400 departments from 104 Nigerian universities, as well as the Motion Picture Industry Practitioners and the Nigeria Government through its agencies.

Cementing herself as a matriarch of Nollywood, Igwe evolved a media empire by co-founding a production company, radio station, and TV network. Amaka Igwe shall be remembered as a gifted storyteller, producer, director, pioneer of Nollywood, wife, and mother of three.

In 2011, she was announced as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria [MFR], an award that honors Nigerians who made significant contributions to the nation.

Here’s to Amaka Igwe, a true pioneer of Nigerian entertainment.

[9A]

28 December 2022

Fanny 'Bobbie' Rosenfeld's 118th birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 118th birthday of Canadian sports star Fanny Rosenfeld, famously nick-named Bobbie Rosenfeld for her bobbed hair. Rosenfeld put her heart [and sole] into advocating for women in sports, and ran in the first Olympics that allowed women to compete in track and field.

Rosenfeld was born in Ekaterinoslav, Russia [now Dnipro, Ukraine] on this day in 1904, and her family moved to Barrie, Canada during her infancy. As a young girl, she excelled in sports such as basketball, softball, lacrosse, hockey, and tennis.

The race that spurred Rosenfeld's track career was a sporting carnival, where her softball teammates encouraged her to enter the 100-yard dash and she beat the top Canadian sprinter. After that run, she underwent intense training and began making headlines at competitions like the Canadian National Exhibition’s Athletic Day and Ontario’s first women's track and field championship.

Rosenfeld sprinted in the 1928 Olympic games in Amsterdam–the first Olympics where women were allowed to compete in track and field. She narrowly missed first place and earned a silver medal in the 100-meter race and her relay team won gold in the 4x100-meter relay.

Not long after the Olympics, a severe case of arthritis forced Rosenfeld to change tracks from competing. She remained involved in sports as a coach, executive or manager to various women's sports teams and worked as an athletics reporter at the Globe and Mail for 20 years. Her column, “Sports Reel,” covered not only sports news, but also countered the stereotype that sports made women unfeminine.

Rosenfeld was among the first athletes inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and bestowed the Canadian woman athlete of the first half-century award. Ever since 1978, the Canadian Press has been granting the annual Bobbie Rosenfeld Award to a female athlete of the year. Bobbie Rosenfeld continues to inspire generations of young female athletes who see her legacy as a symbol that they too can achieve the impossible and overcome any hurdles in their pursuit of greatness.

[9A]

28 Dec 2022

Lili Elbe's 140th birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates the 140th birthday of Lili Elbe, a former Danish painter. She is considered one of the most significant painters of her time as well as an influential figure in the LGBTQ+ community as one of the first recipients of gender affirmation surgery. The Doodle artwork was illustrated by Amsterdam-based guest artist Hilde Sam Atalanta.

On this day in 1882, Lili Elbe was born with the name Einar Magnus Andreas Wegener in Vejle, Denmark. As a teenager, she moved to Copenhagen and enrolled at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where she met Gerda Gottlieb. The pair enjoyed painting together, fell in love, and married before Elbe transitioned. One day when Gottlieb’s model didn’t show up for a portrait, Elbe put on a dress and posed for her wife instead. Elbe said she was surprisingly comfortable wearing the dress and stockings and began questioning her gender identity. Through these experiences, she began to envision living life as a woman, and she began living authentically as herself with the name Lili.

In 1912, the couple moved from Copenhagen to Paris, where Lili could live as her true self with less criticism. Elbe learned about the possibility of gender-affirming surgery in the 1920s when the process was highly unknown and experimental. While risky, Elbe knew she wanted her body to match her gender identity and received a series of surgeries in Germany. The procedures allowed her to be legally recognized as a woman and she was granted a passport with her name. She chose the last name Elbe after the river flowing through Dresden—where she got the surgeries and was affirmed as a woman. At the time, the law did not recognize marriages between women, so the pair divorced amicably.


Elbe remarried and had hopes of becoming a biological mother, so she sought a uterus transplant procedure. Sadly, she never achieved her dream of motherhood as she died soon after the surgery from her body rejecting the organ.

Her legacy lives on through the two books about her life and through the LGBTQ+ film festival MIX Copenhagen, which presents Lili awards to the winner of Best Feature, Best Documentary and Best Short Film. Man into Woman is adapted directly from her diaries and became one of the first widely published books about a transgender person’s life, while The Danish Girl is a fictional book and film inspired by her life.

Happy birthday, Lili Elbe!

[9A]

18 December 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]

18 December 2011

Christoffer Polhem's 350th Birthday




Christopher Polhammar, better known as Christopher 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.

[9A]

19 Dec 2011

110th Anniversary of the Uganda Railway's Completion




The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the line is now in the hands of the Kenya Railways Corporation and the Uganda Railways Corporation.

[9A]

31 Dec 2011

New Year's Eve 2011

[9A]

31 December 2012

New Year's Eve 2012

[9A]

31 December 2013

New Year's Eve 2013

[9A]

30 Dec 2013

Daniil Kharms' 108th Birthday




Daniil Ivanovich Kharms was an early Soviet-era Russian avant-gardist and absurdist poet, writer and dramatist.

[9A]

30 December 2017

Etab's 70th Birthday


A Saudi Arabian musical pioneer, Tarfa Abdel-Kheir Adam was one of the first female singers from the Gulf to perform publicly. Her talent, first discovered when she was 13 years old, spread worldwide—and she became known by the stage name "Etab."

Etab's strong personality helped kick-start her career in the 1960s, later launching her to international pop stardom. With more than 15 albums to her name, Etab mixed traditional and contemporary Arab songs to create a style of her own, collaborating with top poets and singers from around the region. She used her distinctive, husky voice not just for singing, but also for advocating for female equality within her field. Etab was a prominent member of the Union of Arab Artists and the Egyptian Music Syndicate.

Today’s Doodle celebrates the cultural legacy of Etab, who would've been 70 years old today.

Happy Birthday, Etab!