Google doodles

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June 9, 2016
Dragon Boat Festival 2016





Today marks the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival observed in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and a host of other countries in east Asia and beyond. The Dragon Boat races are part of the "double fifth" festival, or Duanwu, which is held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. These boats are carved from wood and hold a 22-person crew comprised of 20 paddlers, one "sweep” who steers the boat, and one "caller" who beats a drum to keep time.

A dragon’s head is often carved into the bow of the boat to symbolize the energy and power of the dragon rising from the river — part of the legend of Qu Yuan. As an ode to this ancient tale, revelers share zongzi, or sticky rice wrapped in leaves or reeds. Doodler Alyssa Winans showed our Dragon Boat's enthusiasm for these delicious snacks in today's doodle.

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Jun 6, 2016
Teacher's Day 2016 [Bolivia]





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

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May 27, 2016
Faten Hamama’s 85th birthday





"Lady of the Arabic screen," "Star of the Century," and Egypt's "National Treasure” are just a few of the names associated with the Egyptian actress, Faten Hamama. Discovered as a child at a beauty pageant in Mansoura, Hamama's meteoric rise was perfectly timed to the bloom of the Egyptian film industry.

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April 6, 2021
Wear a Mask. Save Lives. [Apr 6]

Masks are still important. Wear a mask and save lives.

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Sep 11, 2014
Teacher's Day 2014 [Argentina]

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Sep 8, 2014
Ludovico Ariosto's 540th Birthday

Ludovico Ariosto was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic Orlando Furioso [1516].

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Sep 4, 2014
Juliusz Slowacki's 205th Birthday





Happy 205th birthday to poet Juliusz Slowacki, the father of modern Polish drama. Considered one of the “Three Bards” of Polish literature, Slowacki’s work often featured elements of paganism, polish history and mysticism.

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September 4, 2015
Joan Aiken’s 91st Birthday





Every so often an extraordinarily prolific author comes along to win the hearts of a generation. Writer Joan Aiken was one of those authors. At the age of 16, she finished her first full-length novel. She was destined for great things.

Born into a family of writers, Joan emerged with a voice all her own, publishing more than one hundred books over the course of her career. Her stunning volume of writing includes children’s books, thrillers, and literary works modeled after the fictional world created by Jane Austen. It’s hard enough to write for a single audience, but Joan was comfortable writing a range of stories that everyone could enjoy.

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Aug 18, 2015
Russian Geographical Society's 170th anniversary





In the early 1830s, the explorer Fyodor Litke paused his program of documenting little-known islands and circumnavigating the globe, returned to Russia, and took on his next challenge: the education of a five-year-old boy. Litke had been asked by Tsar Nicholas I to tutor one of his sons, Konstantin Nikolaevich.

The explorer taught his young pupil principles of navigation and appreciation for the natural sciences. This teaching relationship led to the establishment, in 1845, of the Russian Geographical Society, whose original mission was to "bring together and enable the brightest youth to explore the homeland." The Society created Russia's first national parks, and aims to protect rare species of plants and animals. Since its founding 170 years ago, the Society has never ceased its work.

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Aug 15, 2015
India Independence Day 2015





At the heart of the Indian movement for independence were nonviolence and civil disobedience, a desire to protect the rights of minorities, and a cultural renaissance driven by voices of poets and writers. Today, we celebrate the people who labored tirelessly for Indian identity, leading to the ratification of the Indian Independence Act 1947.

Today’s Doodle drawn by Leon Hong depicts the Salt March of 1930, which served as the impetus of the Civil Disobedience Movement. At the end of the march, the dissenters boiled mud and produced illegal salt in defiance of unfair salt laws, resulting in more than 80,000 arrests.

Mahatma Gandhi led the 240-mile march to Dandi, inspiring millions of Indians to commit acts of civil disobedience and changing the way the world perceived the movement for Indian independence. The message of the historic 24-day march echoed around the world for years to come and significantly influenced activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel in the US.

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Aug 6, 2015
Adoniran Barbosa’s 105th Birthday




Music tells stories, stirs emotions, and inspires change, all while getting us to nod our heads along or burst into wild swings. The right mix of melody and message is a language all its own.

Adoniran Barbosa spoke that language fluently. In Brazil, he’s known as one of the most influential samba singers the genre’s ever seen. But he did more than craft toe-tapping tunes. Adoniran uplifted the working men and women of São Paulo with his expressive storytelling, bringing the city’s malocas and cortiços to life through iconic songs like Saudosa Maloca ["Shanty of Fond Memories"].

In his time, other artists and composers criticized Adoniran for using “wrong” Portuguese, the vernacular of the common people. Like most of history’s influencers, his unique musical identity resonated with his listeners through its brand of honesty and authenticity, vindicating his art as a musical milestone and a cherished relic of Brazilian samba. Adoniran’s drive to be different is why his music continues to inspire generations of samba composers.

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Jul 9, 2015
Aiga Rasch’s 74th Birthday





Aiga Rasch was a German illustrator, graphic designer and painter. Though her best-known work covered the youth mystery book series Die drei ??? [The Three Investigators], it doesn't take a detective to identifyAiga Rasch's signature style. In Germany, the book series gained a wide following, with Rasch's cover art propelling the books into unmistakeable icons. Her illustrations are concise and powerful, and the colorful covers impeccably translate the stories within.

From the very beginning of the Doodle, I worked with a team of German Googlers to learn more about Rasch’s work and her place in popular culture. We thought most people would recognize Rasch’s illustrations from Die drei ???, but we weren’t sure how best to present her work.

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July 14, 2014
World Cup 2014 #63 - Germany

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Jul 20, 2014
Colombia Independence Day 2014

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Jul 21, 2014
Belgium National Day 2014

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Jul 23, 2014
Opening of Glasgow Commonwealth Games






The Commonwealth Games are underway! Hosted in Glasgow this year, this international sporting event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years. In addition to many typical Olympic sports, the games also include sports popular in the British Commonwealth like netball.

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Jul 24, 2014
Robot Taekwon V's 38th Birthday







Only one man … er, robot can save our homepage from total domination—and that robot is Robot Taekwon V! Our doodle marks the 38th anniversary of the popular Korean animated film. Released in 1976, the movie went on to become a smash hit and inspired seven sequels, all the while embedding itself deeply into Korean culture.

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Jul 27, 2014
Father's Day 2014 [Dominican Republic]

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Jul 28, 2014
Peru Independence Day 2014




We’re serving ceviche for Peruvian Independence Day. The traditional [and totally yummy] seafood dish is made with raw fish cured in either lemon or lime juice.

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Aug 1, 2014
Swiss National Day 2014





For this year's August 1 celebration, everyone is invited to a festival in the woods by guest artist Jürg Lindenberger. Many of your favorite Swiss friends will be there—Cervelat and mustard, the August 1 roll, and a happy St. Bernard. It should be a great party.

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Aug 4, 2014
John Venn's 180th Birthday





http://www.google.com/doodles/john-venns-180th-birthday [interactive]

John Venn was a logician and philosopher best known for introducing the Venn diagram. In the diagram, circles are used to visually and logically sort groups to illustrate their relationships to each other. For example, one circle may contain things that are mammals. The other circle may contain things that have wings. The overlapping space that both circles occupy would consist of mammals that have wings.

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Aug 12, 2014
Awa Odori




Our doodle in Japan celebrates “Awa Odori,” the country’s largest traditional dance festival. The event brings in 1.3 million tourists to Japan every year and dancers learn choreography that hasn’t changed in more than 400 years— guess there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel… er, dance?

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Aug 13, 2014
Anders Jonas Ångström's 200th Birthday





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

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Aug 17, 2014
Indonesia Independence Day 2014

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Sep 1, 2014
First Day of School 2014

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Aug 27, 2013
First Day of School 2013

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Mar 31, 2013
Cesar Chavez's 86th Birthday




At times the simplest answer is the best answer. Early, more complicated compositions struggling to encapsulate the magnitude of Chavez’s contributions fell away to a simple portrait, hoping to provide a serene tribute to one of the great progressive figures of our time.

César Estrada Chávez was an American labor leader, community organizer, businessman, and Latino American civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association [[NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee [[AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers [[UFW) labor union. Ideologically, his world-view combined leftist politics with Roman Catholic social teachings.

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Dec 15, 2011
Friedensreich Hundertwasser's 83rd Birthday





Friedrich Stowasser, better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser, was an Austrian visual artist 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, Austria which has become a notable place of interest in the Austrian capital, characterised by imaginative vitality and uniqueness.

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Nov 30, 2011
Mark Twain's 176th Birthday






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

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

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November 4, 2019
Will Rogers’ 140th Birthday





In honor of Native American Indian Heritage Month, today’s animated Doodle celebrates the plainspoken American Indian actor, humorist, author, filmmaker, and public personality Will Rogers, who famously remarked, “I never met a man I didn’t like.” Born on this day in 1879 at Rogers Ranch in Oologah, Cherokee Territory, the entertainer became known as “America's Cowboy Philosopher.”

The son of a Cherokee senator who raised Texas longhorns on his ranch, Rogers grew up roping and riding. “A man that don’t love a horse,” he once said, ”there is something the matter with him.” He became so good at fancy rope tricks that he toured the world as “The Cherokee Kid,” a circus performer who ended up on Broadway in the Ziegfeld Follies.

Rogers produced and starred in a 1922 film called The Ropin’ Fool, moving onto speaking roles in motion pictures like A Connecticut Yankee and State Fair. By 1934, he was considered one of the most popular actors in Hollywood. He also hosted a highly rated radio show and authored bestselling books and newspaper columns. When the Great Depression hit America, Rogers emerged as a notable commentator expressing popular opinion on many issues of the time.

No matter how successful he became, Rogers always remained proud of his Cherokee heritage. While never hesitating to offer his humorous homespun wisdom about current events and politics, though apart from a brief stint as honorary mayor of Beverly Hills, Rogers resisted efforts to be drafted into public service.

Rogers’ childhood home near Oologah, Oklahoma is now a museum open to the public. His life and times also inspired a musical called The Will Rogers Follies. His legacy lives on through the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma and the Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades, California. To learn more, visit willrogers.com.

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Nov 2, 2019
Day of the Dead 2019




Today’s Doodle celebrates the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos [Day of the Dead], an occasion when families welcome the spirits of deceased loved ones back home for a sweet reunion with music and dancing during the first two days of November. Despite some similarities to Halloween and starting just one day later, the Day of the Dead is a completely different holiday, more joyful than scary.

The tradition can be traced back thousands of years to Aztec rituals blended with the cultures of medieval Spain and the Roman Catholic Church, which celebrates All Saints Day and All Souls Day on November 1st and 2nd, respectively.

Calacas y calaveras [skeletons and skulls], seen all throughout Mexico during this time, are an essential part of the festive decor. In particular, the finely dressed skeletal woman La Calavera Catrina, also known as Mexico's “Grand Dame of Death,” has become an icon of the season. Depicted in the Doodle artwork wearing her signature hat with feathers and flowers, La Calavera Catrina was created by illustrator José Guadalupe Posada, who was inspired by Mictecacíhuatl, the Aztec goddess of the underworld.

In Mexican communities worldwide, November 1st is reserved for los angelitos, inviting the spirits of little children into their homes first, with adult spirits arriving the day after. To honor the memory of close friends, relatives, and loved ones, families put up ofrendas, or altars adorned with portraits, clothing, and playthings, incense, and favorite drinks and food including the traditional sweet bread known as Pan de Muertos. Trails of marigold flowers lead the way from the cemetery to the front door, making sure the dearly departed can find their way home.

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Oct 25, 2019
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti’s 119th Birthday


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“As for the charges against me, I am unconcerned,” said Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, the Nigerian educator and activist who fearlessly campaigned for women’s rights and the liberation of Africa from colonial rule. Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Nigerian-Italian guest artist Diana Ejaita, celebrates a formidable leader who founded what many refer to as one of the most important social movements of the twentieth century.​

Born on this day in 1900 in Abeokuta, the current capital of Nigeria’s Ogun state, the former Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas grew up witnessing Great Britain consolidating control over Nigeria. As the grandchild of a slave, she became one of the first girls to enroll in Abeokuta Grammar School, before traveling to Cheshire in England to continue her education. By the time she returned home, she’d dropped her birth names and preferred to speak Yoruba.

In 1932, Ransome-Kuti established the Abeokuta Ladies Club [ALC], fostering unity between educated women and poor market workers and setting up the first adult education programs for Nigerian women. Renamed the Abeokuta Women’s Union in 1946, the organization boasted a membership of some 20,000 and pushed for healthcare, social services, and economic opportunity. Imprisoned in 1947 for protesting against unfair treatment towards women, Ransome-Kuti and her followers also led the charge to abdicate a corrupt local leader.

A trailblazer in many ways, Ransome-Kuti was also the first Nigerian woman to drive a car. She was also the only woman in Nigeria’s 1947 delegation to London, which lodged a protest and set the nation on the path toward self-government. As one of the few women elected to Nigeria’s house of chiefs, she was recognized for her advocacy work on behalf of women's rights and education, and revered as the “Lioness of Lisabi” and the “Mother of Africa.”

Her daughter—Dolupo—and three sons—Beko, Olikoye, and Fela—likewise became leaders in education, healthcare, and music, continuing their mother’s legacy of activism and advocacy.

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Oct 17, 2019
100th Anniversary of Metro de Madrid





On this day in 1919, King Alfonso XIII inaugurated the Metro de Madrid, a new transportation system for Spain’s capital city. The Metro’s distinctive diamond-shaped logo was created by acclaimed Spanish architect Antonio Palacios, who also designed the entrances, corridors, and platforms of some of the early stations. Today’s animated Doodle celebrates the centenary of Madrid’s Metro, now the sixth-longest underground railroad in the world with some 294 kilometers [about 183 miles] of track.

The Metro has come a long way during its first century of operation. On opening day, the route covered a mere 3.48 kilometers [about 2.16 miles], taking 10 minutes to travel 8 stops from Cuatro Caminos to Sol. That first day, just over 56,000 passengers rode what was then called the North-South Line.

Now, close to 2.3 million riders take the Metro every day. Serving over 300 stations, the train remains one of the most efficient ways to move around Madrid.

In honor of the Metro’s 100th birthday, the Regional Government of Madrid has installed an educational exhibition throughout the original route, now called the ‘Centenary Line.’ Period photographs will highlight the Metro’s history, and a new vinyl-wrapped train evoking the first train will run along the rails.

Chamartín Station will host a permanent exhibition of vintage trains, and while Palacios’ original entrance to the Metro de la Red de San Luis was dismantled and donated to the architect’s hometown of Porriño, a replica of the striking design will recapture its former glory.

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Oct 3, 2019
180th Anniversary of the First Italian Railroad Inauguration




On this day in 1839, a steam locomotive called Vesuvio pulled an eight-carriage train from Portici to Naples, inaugurating the first Italian Railroad. Today’s Doodle celebrates the historic event that ushered a new era in transportation and put Italy on the fast track to unification.

Departing at noon, the train completed the four-and-a-half-mile journey to Naples in less than 10 minutes, carrying passengers including King Ferdinand II of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies—or Regno delle Due Sicilie as Naples and Sicily were then known—as well as the French engineer Armando Giuseppe Bayard de la Vingtrie, whom King Ferdinand hired to construct the railway.

More than 85,000 passengers rode the line during the following two months, proving that there was public demand. In years to come, new ferrovie [or “iron ways”] were laid down, connecting the capital city of Naples to Caserta in the north as far south as Salerno.

When Vesuvio made its maiden voyage, the Italian peninsula was still divided territory—but the establishment of railways helped to unite the Kingdom of Italy. By the time of unification in 1861, over 1400 miles of railway crisscrossed the country. The new government expanded the national railway network, and by 1875, some 5,600 miles [about 9,012 kilometers] of track connected most of Italy’s major cities. In years to come railways would provide a means of transporting perishable food in refrigerated cars, facilitating trade between regions.

Trains have played a vital role in Italian history and culture, inspiring art from folk songs to posters, showing the profound impact of train travel.

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Oct 1, 2019
Julio Jaramillo’s 84th Birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and music of Ecuadorian singer Julio Jaramillo, also known as El Ruiseñor de América, or “The Nightingale of the Americas.” Born to a working-class family in the bustling port city of Guayaquil on this day in 1935, Jaramillo grew up to become an international star who toured Latin America singing boleros, tangos, rancheras, and pasillos––the sentimental love songs that are often considered Ecuador’s national musical genre.

Jaramillo fell in love with music early, learning to play guitar as a youngster. After dropping out of school, he supported himself as a shoemaker, but longed to become a singer, sometimes serenading passersby in the city streets. Traveling to Colombia in hopes of gaining exposure, he once barged into a live radio broadcast, determined to make his voice heard and managed to impress listeners with his vocals. Back home in Ecuador, he recorded “Nuestro Juramanto” [“Our Oath”], a song about undying love that brought him international acclaim and remains to this day one of the most popular of his thousands of recordings.

Jaramillo lived a colorful life, traveling the world, romancing many women, and appearing in the 1966 film Fiebre de Juventud [Youth Fever]. One of Latin America’s most acclaimed singers, he became a sort of unofficial ambassador for Ecuador in pop culture.

Since 1993, October 1st has been celebrated as Día del Pasillo Ecuatoriano, a national holiday honoring the musical form Jaramillo helped to popularize around the world. The singer’s legacy lives on at the Museo Municipal de la Música Popular Julio Jaramillo, welcoming visitors to his hometown all year long.

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Sep 16, 2019
Mexico Independence Day 2019





Today’s animated Doodle, illustrated by Mexico-based guest artist Dia Pacheco, depicts indigenous Mexican crafts and textiles—particularly Oaxacan embroidery and the traditional children’s toys known as rehilete or pinwheels—in honor of Mexican Independence Day. Doodler artist Sophie Diao, inspired by Dia’s work, added to the festivities by animating the rehiletes. This national holiday commemorates Mexico becoming a free nation.

In the town of Dolores, on el dieciséis de Septiembre [September 16th] 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang a bell and delivered his famous cry of independence El Grito de la Independencia, motivating fellow Mexicans to rise up against Spanish rule. Although Hidalgo was captured the following year, the battle had begun. To this day, Mexico’s president pays respect to this historic moment at Mexico City’s National Palace.

Mexico’s national colors—red, white, and green—flood every public place at this time of year as horns, whistles, confetti, and shouts of "Viva Mexico" and "Viva la independencia” fill the streets. Woven as they are into the fabric of this rich culture, traditional Mexican crafts, clothing, and textiles, are very much a part of the festivities, along with food, music, dancing, and fireworks.

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Sep 16, 2019
B.B. King’s 94th Birthday

B.B. King was a true giant.

Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Little Rock-based guest artist Steve Spencer and animated by Brooklyn-based guest animator Nayeli Lavanderos, celebrates B.B. King—the iconic “King of the Blues” who brought blues music from cotton fields and street corners to grand halls and arenas across the world.

Born on this day in 1925 on a Mississippi Delta plantation near Berclair, Mississippi, Riley B. King was a sharecropper’s son whose soulful, piercing guitar solos became recognizable with a single note.
Often imitated but never duplicated, B.B. King became a blueprint for many of the world’s biggest rock stars who followed. “I wish I could just do like B. B. King,” said John Lennon of The Beatles. “If you would put me with B. B. King, I would feel real silly.”

Raised singing gospel music in church, King performed on street corners before hitchhiking to Memphis and landing a job on the air at radio station WDIA. There, locals began calling him “Beale Street Blues Boy,” later shortened to “Bee Bee” and finally “B.B.”

He began recording in 1949 and never looked back after his first hit, “Three O’Clock Blues.” Records like “The Thrill is Gone” and “Every Day I Have the Blues” have become classics of the genre.

King opened for the Rolling Stones on tour and became the first internationally acclaimed blues artist, winning 15 Grammys, being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, receiving honorary doctorates from assorted universities, and performing at the White House. Embodying the traveling bluesman, King was also known for averaging more than 300 shows a year throughout various points in his career.

In 1949, King ran inside a burning nightclub to save a guitar, risking his own life for his beloved instrument. The fire had been caused by two men fighting over a woman named Lucille, and from that day forward, King referred to all his guitars by that name.

“When I sing, I play in my mind,” he once said. “The minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille.”

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Sep 30, 2008
Children's Day 2008 - Multiple Countries on Various Days

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Sep 29, 2008
Miguel de Cervantes' Birthday



Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language, and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his novel Don Quixote, a work often cited as both the first modern novel and one of the pinnacles of world literature.

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Sep 15, 2008
Japan's Respect for the Aged Day 2008

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Sep 5, 2008
Teachers' Day 2008

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Aug 27, 2008
Tomato Festival 2008

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Aug 14, 2008
2008 Beijing Olympic Games - Basketball

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Aug 11, 2008
2008 Beijing Olympic Games - Diving

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May 15, 2018
Maria Reiche’s 115th Birthday





As the sun peeks over the high desert horizon in southern Peru, it illuminates a rust-colored “blackboard” scrawled with curious white lines — some perfectly straight, many with hairpin curves — that stretch for miles. Only from the air are the subjects revealed: a monkey, a spider, a hummingbird, and many more.

These are the Nazca Lines, and for decades, Maria Reiche was their staunch guardian — a lone woman perched on a stepladder, bearing a sextant, compass, broom, and mathematical mind.

Reiche was born in Dresden on May 15th, 1903, and went on to study mathematics, astronomy, and geography. In 1932, she was selected from a slew of applicants to take a job in Peru — a move that would decide the course of her life. Working with historian Paul Kosok in 1941, Reiche was first introduced to the ancient figures, or geoglyphs, that stretch across the pampa.

Intrigued, Reiche fully dedicated herself to the study of the mysterious white shapes. Using a measuring tape, sextant, and compass, she measured almost 1000 lines, investigating their astronomical orientation. Reiche discovered that many of the Lines function as markers for the summer solstice, and theorized their builders used the figures as an astronomical calendar. [Today, the Lines are believed to have served a more ceremonial purpose.] Upon mapping the area [with the help of the Peruvian Air Force], she discovered the figures represent 18 different kinds of animals and birds, in addition to hundreds of geometric shapes.

Reiche was was also devoted to the Lines’ protection. With only a household broom, she physically shielded the figures from people and vehicles, in addition to raising money for their overall preservation. Gradually, the “woman who swept the desert” became known worldwide as the “Lady of the Lines.”

Reiche’s immense dedication deeply endeared her to the people of Peru, so much that in 1992 she was granted Peruvian citizenship, and the Nazca airport is named after her. In 1995, UNESCO declared the Nazca Lines a World Heritage Site.

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May 8, 2018
Parents' Day 2018

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Apr 27, 2018
King's Day 2018





Happy Koningsdag, or King’s Day, to all Dutch people everywhere! Each year on April 27, Dutch families all through the country and around the world partake in commemorating the birthday of King Willem-Alexander.

Planning and preparation for the day is the responsibility of the Oranjecomité, or Orange Committees, sourced from local communities. These groups will plan concerts, parties and vrijmarkt, or flea markets, a longstanding tradition on King’s Day. While towns across the Netherlands will participate in the festivities, the largest events take place in the capital city of Amsterdam. Over a million visitors, decked in orange clothing [and some with orange hair], flock to the city to celebrate in the streets and canals, and honor their country.

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Apr 26, 2018
Fanny Blankers-Koen’s 100th Birthday





On a rainy summer day in 1948, onlookers at London’s Wembley track saw an unexpected athlete make history. Dutch runner and 30-year-old mother of two Fanny Blankers-Koen outstrided her opponents in the women’s 200m by 0.7 seconds—the highest margin in Olympics 200m history and a record that still stands today.

Born near Baarn, the Netherlands, in 1918, Blankers-Koen had set a national record for the women’s 800m by age 17. At 18, she competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, placing fifth in the 4x100m and sixth in high jump.

After the 1940 and 1944 Olympics were canceled, many thought Blankers-Koen would never make another Olympics. When she declared her intentions to compete in the 1948 London Games, she received letters from many criticizing her for continuing to race despite being a mother and insisting she stay home.

But words couldn’t break Blankers-Koen’s stride. She captured four golds during the 1948 London Games, winning the 100m, 80m hurdles, 200m, and 4x100m relay to become the first woman to win four medals in a single Olympics. Her quick feet didn’t just set records. Blankers-Koen’s accomplishments flattened stereotypes of female athletes at the time, earning her the nickname “The Flying Housewife.”

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Apr 25, 2018
Hung Kings Commemoration Day





On the 10th day of the third lunar month, Vietnam celebrates Hùng Kings Commemoration Day [also known as Hùng King Temple Festival day]. An official holiday since 2007, the celebration pays tribute to the Hùng Kings, the 18 emperors of Vietnam who, according to legend, ruled from 2879-258 BC and founded Văn Lang [the former name of Vietnam]. Immortalizing the Vietnamese proverb “when drinking water, think of its source”, Hùng Kings Commemoration Day is a joyous way for young people to learn about their country’s ancestors and ancient rituals.

Today, celebrants from near and far make the pilgrimage to the Nghĩa Lĩnh Mountain near Việt Trì, where, as the story goes, the first Hùng King, Kinh Dương Vương, is said to have established his kingdom.

While some gather at the foot of the mountain with sticks of incense and food, others make the procession to the High Temple at the summit, preparing palanquins and sacred offerings, carrying wreaths from the country’s leaders, or dressing in colorful costumes, all accompanied by the sound of bronze drums. Activities like Chèo singing, games of chess, and rice cooking add to the fun.

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Apr 23, 2018
St. George's Day 2018




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

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

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

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