Google doodles

[9A]

Mar 2, 2009

Dr. Seuss' 105th Birthday





Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American children's author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, and filmmaker. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books under the pen name Dr. Seuss. His work includes many of the most popular children's books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death.

Geisel adopted the name "Dr. Seuss" as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College and as a graduate student at Lincoln College, Oxford. He left Oxford in 1927 to begin his career as an illustrator and cartoonist for Vanity Fair, Life, and various other publications. He also worked as an illustrator for advertising campaigns, most notably for FLIT and Standard Oil, and as a political cartoonist for the New York newspaper PM. He published his first children's book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street in 1937. During World War II, he took a brief hiatus from children's literature to illustrate political cartoons, and he also worked in the animation and film department of the United States Army where he wrote, produced or animated many productions including Design for Death, which later won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

[9A]

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 identify Aiga 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.

[9A]

March 19, 2021

Dona Militana's 96th Birthday









Today’s Doodle, illustrated by guest artist Bel Andrade Lima, celebrates the 96th birthday of Brazilian singer and storyteller Dona Militana, whose vast memory of medieval ballads provided a unique record of generational Iberian and Brazilian tales.

Militana Salustino do Nascimento, also known as Dona Militana, was born in São Gonçalo do Amarante, Rio Grande do Norte on this day in 1925. As a child, Militana worked the fields; planting crops and weaving baskets with her father, who sang as they toiled. Many of his songs told stories from a bygone era of medieval kings, queens, warriors, and lovers—stories Militana never forgot.

Militana’s traditional talent remained largely unknown for decades, until she was discovered by folklorist Deífilo Gurgel in the 1990s. It was then that she shared with the world her prodigious chronicle of songs and stories—some of which were over 700 years old.

In 2000, Militana recorded “Cantares,” a collection of 54 songs that were novel-like in scope, with lyrics and melodies that accurately reflected the times from which they originated. Upon the project’s release, audiences throughout Brazil learned of Dona Militana—the guardian of a Brazilian history nearly lost to time.

In recognition of her impact on Brazilian culture, Dona Militana was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit in 2005.

[9A]

Mar 24, 2008

Béla Bartók's 127th Birthday






Béla Viktor János Bartókwas a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hungary's greatest composers. Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of comparative musicology, which later became ethnomusicology.

[9A]

Jun 7, 2008

Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Birthday




Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdonald, was influential on European design movements such as Art Nouveau and Secessionism and praised by great modernists such as Josef Hoffmann. Mackintosh was born in Glasgow and died in London. He is among most important figures of Modern Style [British Art Nouveau style].

[9A]

Feb 17, 2014

Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson's 150th Birthday [born 1864]





Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales, where he spent much of his childhood. Paterson's more notable poems include "Clancy of the Overflow" [1889], "The Man from Snowy River" [1890] and "Waltzing Matilda" [1895], regarded widely as Australia's unofficial national anthem.

[9A]

Feb 19, 2014

Gabriele Münter's 137th Birthday





Gabriele Münter was a German expressionist painter who was at the forefront of the Munich avant-garde in the early 20th century. She studied and lived with the painter Wassily Kandinsky and was a founding member of the expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter.

In 2018, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art of Copenhagen, Denmark, ran an exhibition from May to August with about 130 works by Gabriele Münter, many of which were being shown for the first time, in the artist's first comprehensive retrospective in decades.

[9A]

Jan 22, 2020

Celebrating "Sawaddee"





Today’s Doodle celebrates sawaddee, the Thai way to greet friends and strangers alike. A custom adopted on this day in 1943, this salutation is presented with a wai: a prayer-like pose delivered in concert with a bow that accompanies the expression of sawaddee. The gesture altogether is meant to convey respect and warmth.

Originally coined by linguist Phraya Upakit Silapasan from the root word, “Svasti,” the Sanskrit word for “blessing” or “well-being,” sawaddee soon became an official part of the Thai vocabulary.

Known as the “Land of a Thousand Smiles,” Thailand is world-renowned for its friendly people and gracious hospitality. Today, sawaddee can be heard across the country—from the idyllic beaches of the south, to the temples of the mountainous north, and everywhere in between—epitomizing the welcoming spirit of Thailand.

[9A]

9 October 2022

Celebrating the Regatta de Zamboanga




Today’s Doodle celebrates Regatta de Zamboanga, an annual sailing competition from the southern part of the Philippines.

Every October, thousands of people gather along the kilometer-long stretch of R.T. Lim Boulevard in Zamboanga City to watch hundreds of vintas and their colorful sails race across the coastline. The event is the highlight of the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival honoring its patron saint, the La Virgen Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza.

The racers are mostly Bajau fishermen who come from coastal villages like Sinunuc, Maasin, Labuan, Mariki, and the island of Santa Cruz. Each boat carries two people paddling towards victory.

Also known as lepa-lepa or sakayan, the vintas are traditional outrigger boats with vibrant, rectangular sails. The intricate patterns on the canvas—designed by the racers themselves—symbolize the identities, customs and aspirations of the region’s diverse ethnic groups.

Although the regatta is a friendly competition in celebration of the fishermen’s maritime skills, everyone is motivated to be one of the winning teams to take home a prize.

So, get ready, set, row! And may the fastest vinta paddler win!

[9A]

9 October 2011

Mihajlo Pupin's 153th Birthday





Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin, also known as Michael Pupin, was a Serbian physicist, physical chemist and philanthropist based in the United States.

Pupin is best known for his numerous patents, including a means of greatly extending the range of long-distance telephone communication by placing loading coils [[of wire) at predetermined intervals along the transmitting wire [known as "pupinization"]. Pupin was a founding member of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics [NACA] on 3 March 1915, which later became NASA, and he participated in the founding of American Mathematical Society and American Physical Society.

[9A]

9 October 2015

605th Anniversary of Prague astronomical clock






Check out the Prague Astronomical Clock on Google Street View, from both the outside and the inside [and try taking the stairs!]

The hands of Prague’s astronomical clock have measured a staggering amount of history. It predates Shakespeare by over a century, and had been operational for two years by the time Joan of Arc was born. Despite over a half a millennium of wear and a brush with disaster in WWII, much of its original machinery remains intact, making it the oldest functioning clock of its kind in the world. Today’s Doodle honors a magnificent achievement in medieval engineering and a cultural landmark whose symbolism, design, and intermittent repairs are a remarkable catalogue of Europe’s past.

[9A]

12 Oct 2018

Celebrating Roberto Clemente



“I want to be remembered as a ballplayer who gave all he had to give.”


—Roberto Clemente



In the spirit of Hispanic Heritage Month in the US, today’s Doodle by guest artist Roxie Vizcarra, commemorates the life and career of Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican Hall of Fame baseball star, Latinx trailblazer, and passionate humanitarian.

Born the son of a sugar cane worker in Carolina, Puerto Rico on August 18, 1934, Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker grew up in Barrio San Antón. His athletic gifts were obvious from an early age, joining the Puerto Rican amateur league at age 16. His professional career began in 1952, when the then 18-year-old signed with the Santurce Cangrejeros [Crabbers], a winter league team in the LBBPR [Puerto Rico’s Baseball League].

Soon after graduating high school, Clemente signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers minor league affiliate in Montreal. His first at bat resulted in a game-winning home run on July 25, 1954. He made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates the following season.

A testament to his unique athletic ability, the right fielder accumulated numerous accolades during his pro career including 12 consecutive Gold Glove Awards, 4 National League batting titles, 3,000 career hits, the 1966 National League MVP Award, 2 World Series rings, and the 1971 World Series MVP Award. In fact, it was on this day in 1971 that Clemente’s performance led the Pittsburgh Pirates to victory against the Baltimore Orioles in Game 3 of the series, ultimately contributing to their Series title.

Aside from his talents on diamond, it was Clemente’s mission to help others that has solidified his legacy as one of the most humanitarian athletes to play the game. Whether it was delivering food and supplies to those in need, holding baseball clinics for kids, or making generous donations, he consistently sought to be an agent of positive impact and a role model for the youth of his community.

Unfortunately, it was during the pursuit of this mission that Clemente saw his final moments. When a massive earthquake struck Nicaragua on Dec 23, 1972, he decided to personally airlift relief supplies to the nation to ensure they reached those in need. The overloaded plane crashed shortly after takeoff and Clemente passed away at the age of 38.

A few months after his passing, on March 20, 1973, Clemente was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame, becoming the first Latin American and Caribbean player to be so honored. Major League Baseball has honored his legacy since then by presenting the Roberto Clemente Award each year to an outstanding player who shows a strong commitment to community work.

Other posthumous awards Clemente has received include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Roberto Clemente Walker Congressional Gold Medal, and the Presidential Citizens Medal. Sixty years after Clemente’s pro debut, Puerto Rico’s professional baseball league was even renamed the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente—a testimony to the enduring impact he made on his community and beyond.

[9A]

9 October 2017

Bagong Kussudiardja’s 89th Birthday




On this date in 1928, Bagong Kussudiardja, better known as ‘Bagong,’ was born in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A world-renowned choreographer, painter, sculptor, and poet who marched to the beat of his own drum, Bagong spent his formative years studying art, music, and Javanese court dance.

After Indonesia’s independence in 1945, Bagong yearned to expand on his classical training. He started by studying Japanese and Indian dance. From 1957-1958, he trained in the U.S. under Martha Graham, the legendary choreographer famous for her boundary-breaking techniques.

Back on home turf, Bagong incorporated those modern moves to further elevate traditional Indonesian dances. He established the Pusat Latihan Tari Bagong Kussudiardja [Center for Dance] in 1958, followed by the still-thriving Padepokan Seni Bagong Kussudiardja [Center for the Arts] in 1978. And he choreographed more than 200 dances in his creative, intricate style.

But choreography was just one part of the picture. Bagong was also revered for his batik oil paintings and watercolors. He worked in a myriad of styles, including impressionistic, abstract, and realistic.

Today’s Doodle illustrates Bagong in his element — paintbrush in hand, richly costumed dancers leaping for joy.

Happy birthday to this avant-garde Javanese artist.

[9A]

July 8, 2013

Roswell's 66th Anniversary





The doodle marking the 66th Anniversary of the Roswell Incident tells the story of an alien, who, despite having mastered interstellar space travel, appears less than adept at making a smooth landing on Earth. The team was inspired by classic point-and-click adventure games, and wanted to invite users to help an alien repair its spacecraft by exploring a 1940's New Mexican landscape, interacting with farm animals, and solving puzzles. When designing the game, we tried to think of things from an alien's point of view... chatting with a cow or chicken would be just as novel as meeting human beings for the first time; horseshoes and sacks of feed might be considered fascinating artifacts.

The Roswell incident centers on the recovery, in 1947, of mundane metallic and rubber debris from a military balloon that crashed near Roswell, New Mexico. Decades later, conspiracy theories began claiming that the debris was from a flying saucer and that the truth had been covered up by the United States government. On July 8, 1947, Roswell Army Air Field issued a press release stating that they had recovered a "flying disc". The Army quickly retracted the statement and said instead that the crashed object was a conventional weather balloon. In 1994, the United States Air Force published a report identifying the crashed object as a nuclear test surveillance balloon from Project Mogul.

[9A]

July 8, 2011

Jean de la Fontaine's 390th Birthday




Of all the fables adapted by Jean de la Fontaine, “The Tortoise and the Hare” appealed to me the most for the persistent relevance of its message. I drew stylistic inspiration from traditional storybook etchings, and also looked at some of my heroes of illustration -- Arthur Rackham and John Tenniel. Though the style is old-fashioned, the moral is still true! You go, little guy!

Posted by Sophia Foster-Dimino

[9A]

Jul 12, 2011

450th Anniversary of St. Basil's Cathedral





Built in 1561, St. Basil's Cathedral is an architectural treasure for both Russia and the world. As this is one of my personal favorite buildings of all time, it was difficult for me to not become completely caught up in every detail while drawing [even knowing how small it appears on the homepage]. Never the less, above is the high resolution version of this doodle!

posted by Jennifer Hom

[9A]

October 10, 2017

Clare Hollingworth’s 106th Birthday






Today’s Doodle offers a glimpse into the mind of one of the world’s most inspirational and pioneering journalists, Clare Hollingworth — a woman so keen for adventure, she kept her passport within an arm’s length at all times, just in case.

Just one week after joining The Telegraph, Clare showed the world why she was called “the doyenne of war correspondents.” Venturing alone across the Germany-Poland border, she was the first to scoop the start of World War II after a windy day blew apart hessian screens, revealing a mass of German troops preparing to invade.

Daring in her approach, Hollingworth often said she was happiest roaming the world, traveling light, and ready for danger. This spirit led her reporting across the world, from working with Jewish refugees in Poland, to covering the Greek and Algerian civil wars, to being the first person to interview Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran.

Though much of her early work was not officially attributed to her, Hollingworth’s experience and bold career path led her to win Woman Journalist of the Year, James Cameron Award for Journalism, and a lifetime achievement award from What The Papers Say.

In commemoration of the gust of wind that led to her first scoop in 1939, we’re blowing out the candles for what would be Clare’s 106th birthday.

Guest artist Doodle created by Eleni Kalorkoti.

[9A]

1 February 2017

Celebrating Edmonia Lewis




Edmonia Lewis wasn’t afraid to reshape convention. As the first woman of African American and Native American heritage to achieve international fame as a sculptor, Lewis is known for incorporating African American and Native American cultural themes into her Neoclassical style sculpture.

Born in New York in 1844 to a father of Afro-Haitian descent and a mother of Mississauga Ojibwe and African American descent, Lewis was adopted by her maternal aunts after her parents’ death when she was nine years old. At age 15, Lewis enrolled in Oberlin College, which is where she became passionate about art. Unfortunately however, her time at Oberlin was fraught with discrimination by many of her peers and the surrounding community. It was due to this that she was prevented from enrolling in her final term, and therefore was unable to receive her degree.

After her time at Oberlin, Lewis moved to Boston in 1864 to pursue a career as a sculptor. She was consistently denied apprenticeship until she met Edward A. Brackett, a sculptor whose clients included some of the most well-known abolitionists of the time. Lewis worked under Brackett until 1864, when she launched her first solo exhibition. Her work paid homage to the abolitionists and Civil War heroes of her day, including John Brown and Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Her work was very well received and with her success, she traveled to Rome, Italy.

In Rome, Lewis joined a circle of expat artists and established her own studio. During this time, Lewis began sculpting in marble, focusing on naturalism and themes relating to African American and Native American people. Her work commanded large sums of money, and she continued to receive international acclaim until her death in 1911.

Today’s Doodle art depicts Lewis sculpting one of her most famous works, The Death of Cleopatra, which is on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Her realistic portrayal of Cleopatra’s death received acclaim from critics, who called it “the most remarkable piece of sculpture in the American section" of the show. The vibrant colors of the Google letters also pay tribute to Lewis’s Native American roots - her Native American name was Wildfire.

Decades later, Lewis’s legacy continues to thrive through her art and the path she helped forge for women and artists of color. Today, we celebrate her and what she stands for – self-expression through art, even in the face of adversity.

Doodle by Sophie Diao

[9A]

1 February 2020

Lelia Gonzalez's 85th birthday



Today’s Doodle celebrates Brazilian anthropologist and activist Lélia Gonzalez, widely known as one of the most influential figures of the 20th-century black civil rights and feminist movements of Brazil.

Born in Belo Horizonte on this day in 1935, at a young age Gonzalez moved to Rio de Janeiro and entered a high school that forced her to deny her black-indigenous heritage to be accepted by teachers and white classmates. Experiences such as this inspired Gonzalez to preserve her Afro-Brazilian culture and become the first in her family to pursue higher education. She continued on to earn her PhD in Social Anthropology and started her acclaimed career as a cultural studies professor.

Gonzalez utilized her academic work to advocate against racial and gender discrimination and outside of universities, she was a dedicated activist. In 1978, she co-founded the Unified Black Movement which is considered to be among the most impactful black civil rights organizations in Brazil. Gonzalez began to travel around the world as a representative of the group and spread its message of social justice. She recognized the power of these movements to propagate change and co-founded Brazil’s first women’s rights group, the Nzinga Collective of Women, in 1983.

Gonzalez’s passion to free the world of racism and sexism will be remembered by many generations to come. In honor of her landmark achievements, The United Nations of Brazil named a new building after Lélia Gonzalez in 2015.

[9A]

27 January 2014

Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's 200th Birthday







Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was a French architect and author who restored many prominent medieval landmarks in France, including those which had been damaged or abandoned during the French Revolution. His major restoration projects included Notre-Dame de Paris, the Basilica of Saint Denis, Mont Saint-Michel, Sainte-Chapelle, and the medieval walls of the city of Carcassonne, and he planned much of the physical construction of the Statue of Liberty [Liberty Enlightening the World]. His later writings on the relationship between form and function in architecture had a notable influence on a new generation of architects, including Victor Horta, Hector Guimard, Antoni Gaudí, Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright.

[9A]

26 November 2020

Frank Bailey's 95th birthday






Today’s Doodle, illustrated by West Yorkshire-based guest artist Nicole Miles, celebrates Guyanese-British firefighter and social worker Frank Bailey, who is widely considered the first Black firefighter of post-war London. Among his pioneering accomplishments in the name of diversity and inclusion, Bailey is also credited as one of the first Black social workers specializing in mental health in London’s Kensington and Chelsea borough.

Frank Arthur Bailey was born on this day in 1925 in British Guiana [now Guyana], South America. He attended local schools and then took a job on a German trade ship, which brought him to New York. There he found work in a hospital where he staged a walkout in protest of the institution’s separate dining rooms for different types of employees. The subsequent integration of the dining facilities proved just one of Bailey’s many successful challenges to an unequal status quo.

Bailey moved to London in 1953 and caught wind that Black people were not being hired by the city’s fire service. Not one to stand idly by in the face of injustice, Bailey applied to join the West Ham Fire Brigade and made history when he was accepted into service. A lifelong advocate for workers’ rights, Bailey became a union branch representative before the repeated denial of promotions pushed him to leave his post in 1965.

Bailey then transitioned into social work and became the first Black legal advisor for Black youths at Marylebone Magistrates Court.

Happy Birthday, Frank Bailey. Your actions continue to encourage others to never give up in the fight for equality for all.

[9A]

9 February 2022

Celebrating Toni Stone




In honor of U.S. Black History Month, today’s Doodle illustrated by San Francisco, CA-based guest artist Monique Wray celebrates athlete Marcenia “Toni” Stone, who overcame both gender and racial discrimination to become the first woman in history to play professional baseball as a regular in a men’s major baseball league. On this day in 2021, Stone was inducted into the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame.

Marcenia Lyle Stone was born in 1921 in Bluefield, West Virginia during an era of pronounced racial segregation in American sports. In 1931, Stone moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where she developed her remarkable athleticism in the city’s public playgrounds and baseball fields. By just 15, the all-male semi-pro Twin Cities Colored Giants broke gender convention by bringing Stone onto its roster. In 1946, Stone went to bat with the San Francisco Sea Lions, marking the start of her illustrious professional career.

Her exceptional batting average of .280 earned her a spot on the bench with the Negro League All-Star team while she continued to travel across the United States playing second base for the minor league New Orleans Creoles. In 1953, Stone filled the spot of future Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron as the second baseman for the Indianapolis Clowns, one of the League’s most prestigious teams. Undeterred by taunts during her debut season with the Clowns, Stone hit a single off of Satchel Paige, who is widely considered the greatest pitcher in Negro League history.

Stone played alongside legendary players such as Jackie Robinson throughout her career before retiring from professional baseball in 1954 as a legend. In 1990, March 6 was declared “Toni Stone Day” in her adopted hometown of St. Paul, where future generations of baseball players practice under the lights of Toni Stone Field. She has been honored by several exhibitions in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 1993, was inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Here’s to you, Toni Stone—thanks for showing the world what determination and unstoppable love for the game can achieve!

[9A]

7 Dec 2016

340th Anniversary of the Determination of the Speed of Light





While working in the Royal Observatory in Paris in 1667, Danish astronomer Ole Rømer discovered that the speed at which light travels could be measured. His theory built on earlier ideas by Galileo, and the observance of how the timings between Jupiter’s moon eclipses changed depending on its distance from the Earth. His theories gained support from other great scientific minds of the time, including Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley.

Rømer also made significant contributions to Copenhagen, where he spent his later years, having introduced oil lamp street lighting and proper sewers to the city. Another achievement includes the invention of the mercury thermometer in 1709, which was said to have inspired Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit to invent the temperature scale still in use today.

Today’s Doodle shows Rømer hard at work in his observatory 340 years ago.

[9A]

11 December 2010

Carlos Gardel's Birthday




Carlos Gardel [born Charles Romuald Gardès; 11 December 1890 – 24 June 1935] was a French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was one of the most influential interpreters of world popular music in the first half of the 20th century. Gardel is the most famous popular tango singer of all time and is recognized throughout the world. He was notable for his baritone voice and the dramatic phrasing of his lyrics. Together with lyricist and long-time collaborator Alfredo Le Pera, Gardel wrote several classic tangos.

Gardel died in an airplane crash at the height of his career, becoming an archetypal tragic hero mourned throughout Latin America. For many, Gardel embodies the soul of the tango style. He is commonly referred to as "Carlitos", "El Zorzal" ["The Song thrush"], "The King of Tango", "El Mago" [The Wizard], "El Morocho del Abasto" [The Brunette boy from Abasto], and ironically "El Mudo" [The Mute].

[9A]

23 Feb 2011

Oslo 2011 Holmenkollen



Holmenkollen is a mountain and a neighbourhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It goes up to 500 metres [1,600 ft] above sea level and is well-known for its international skiing competitions.

In addition to being a residential area, the area has been a ski recreation area since the late 19th century, with its famous ski jumping hill, the Holmenkollbakken, hosting competitions since 1892. To the north, the area borders to the woodlands area Marka.

[9A]

14 October 2020

Celebrating Claudia Jones



Today’s Doodle commemorates Trinidad-born activist, feminist, journalist, orator, and community organizer Claudia Jones. Among her groundbreaking accomplishments, Jones founded and served as the editor-in-chief for the West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News—Britain’s first, major Black newspaper. Through its global news coverage, the Gazette aimed to unify the Black community in the worldwide battle against discrimination. The publication also provided a platform for Jones to organize Britain’s first Caribbean carnival in 1959, which is widely credited as the precursor to today’s annual celebration of Caribbean culture known as the Notting Hill Carnival. On this day in 2008, Jones was honored with a Great British Stamp in the “Women of Distinction” series to commemorate her lifetime of pioneering activism.

Claudia Jones was born Claudia Vera Cumberbatch on February 21, 1915 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. At 8 years old, she moved with her family to New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. Passionate about writing, Jones contributed to and led a variety of communist publications as a young adult, and she spent much of her adulthood as an active member of the Communist Party USA.

Throughout her life, Jones tirelessly championed issues like civil rights, gender equality, and decolonization through journalism, community organization, and public speaking. She focused much of her work on the liberation of Black women everywhere from the discrimination they faced due to a combination of classism, racism, and sexism.

Jones’ political activity led to multiple imprisonments and ultimately her deportation to the U.K. in 1955, but she refused to be deterred. Beginning a new chapter of her life in Britain, she turned particular attention to the issues facing London’s West Indian immigrant community. In an effort to counteract racial tensions, she inaugurated an annual Caribbean carnival, whose spirit lives on today as a symbol of community and inclusion.

Thank you, Claudia Jones, for your lifelong commitment to a more equitable world.

[9A]

23 February 2017

Seven Earth-Size Exoplanets Discovered!



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

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

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

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

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

Happy solar-searching!

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

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

[9A]

17 October 2018

Chiquinha Gonzaga’s 171st Birthday



Born on this day in Rio de Janeiro in, 1847, Francisca Edwiges Neves Gonzaga [famously known as Chiquinha Gonzaga] showed an affinity for music from childhood. Playing the piano by age 11, she studied music with the maestro Elias Álvares Lobo. When she was 16, her parents insisted she enter an arranged marriage, which ended after her husband insisted she devote herself either to him or to music. At a time when independent women faced major social pressure, Gonzaga sacrificed everything to follow her musical ambitions. She would go on to become the first female conductor in South America and one of the most important figures in Brazilian music history.

For a woman to make a living as a professional musician in nineteenth-century Brazil was unheard of, but Gonzaga persisted, composing 77 operettas and more than 2,000 songs. “Atraente,” published in 1881, may be her best-loved composition, ushering in a sound that would come to be known as “choro.” With her peerless piano skills and gift for improvisation, Gonzaga pioneered this upbeat blend of jazz, waltz, polka, and Afro-Brazilian beats.

On January 17, 1885, Gonzaga made her debut as a conductor with her piece, “Palhares Ribeiro, A Corte na Roça.” Despite the popularity of her music, Gonzaga faced resistance as a woman in a male-dominated business. Often performing with a group headed by her close friend, the flutist Joaquim Antônio da Silva Callado Jr., and including her son João Gualberto on clarinet, Gonzaga managed to thrive in the face of adversity, inspiring others to follow in her footsteps.

During the late 1880s Gonzaga threw her support behind the abolitionist movement, selling her sheet music to raise funds, she paid for the freedom of the enslaved musician Zé Flauta. Her 1899 Carnival march “O abre alas!” [Open Wings] was an homage to freedom. In 1917 she co-founded the artists’ rights society SBAT to ensure that songwriters received a fair share of income from their compositions.

Gonzaga’s legacy lives on as one of Brazil’s most celebrated musical legends. She broke down barriers and directly impacted the development of music in her homeland. Fittingly, Gonzaga’s birthday is now the official National Day of Brazilian Popular Music [Dia da Música Popular Brasileira].


Feliz aniversário Chiquinha Gonzaga!

[9A]

28 October 2014

Jonas Salk's 100th Birthday






Polio is nearly a thing of the past, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Jonas Salk. In 1952, Dr. Salk discovered and developed the first successful vaccine for polio. Combined with Albert Sabin’s oral vaccination, the virus is no longer the threat to the world that it used to be.

For the art, doodler Mike Dutton wanted to focus on those that benefited from this scientific milestone. Adults and children alike are susceptible to the disease, but children were especially at risk due to how the disease was transmitted.

“In earlier concept sketches, I wanted to show polio as something being conquered,” says Dutton.

“But it was also a little weird to show this monstrous, evil thing in an illustration, even if I was showing happy, able-bodied children literally overcoming the disease by jumping over it.”

Digging a little deeper, he learned that when the news of a vaccine was announced, people around the world spontaneously celebrated. Shopkeepers closed up shop for the day, factories observed a moment of silence, teachers and parents wept. “It was a pretty scary thing at the time. To go from something affecting hundreds of thousands of people around the world per year to just under a thousand cases today – it was a pretty big deal. That was my visual cue to show a town scene with both kids and adults celebrating, running around, enjoying themselves.”

Dr. Jonas Salk himself was a humble man and never patented the vaccine, forgoing an immeasurable fortune. When asked who owned the patent, Salk said it was the people that owned it, adding,”Could you patent the sun?”

Happy 100th, Dr. Jonas Salk!

[9A]

17 February 2016

Rene Laennec’s 235th Birthday



Late in 1816, while examining a patient suffering complications of the heart, René Laennec’s memory of a stroll taken months prior came rushing back. Walking the courtyard of the Louvre that day, he observed two children playing with a long stick--one scraped it with a pin while the other listened giddily to the amplified sound on the other end.

Recalling this, Laennec rolled up a piece of paper and pressed it to his patient’s chest. The beating of her heart was suddenly audible and clear, and the stethoscope--an innovation that would fundamentally change the detection and diagnosis of lung and heart problems--was born.

After several prototypes, he settled on an instrument that resembled a long, wooden tube. Using his invention, Laennec continued his research on sound in diagnostic medicine and made several important contributions to the field. To celebrate what would have been his 235th birthday, artists Helene Leroux and Olivia When depicted Laennec’s very first stethoscope beside the one we know today.

Happy birthday, Dr. Laennec.

[9A]

17 February 2011

Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena's Birthday









Guillermo González Camaren [17 February 1917 – 18 April 1965] was a Mexican electrical engineer who was the inventor of a color-wheel type of color television.

[9A]

22 Oct 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.

Along with Popova she designed textiles at Tsindel, the state textile factory, using overlapping geometric shapes to create complex patterns in what many considered a lesser art form, later becoming a professor of textile design. Although wartime shortages prevented many of these groundbreaking designs from being realized, Stepanova’s vision and legacy lives on.

C Днём рождения, Varvara Stepanova!

[9A]

9 April 2021

Clive Sullivan's 78th birthday





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

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

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

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

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

[9A]

9 April 2012

Elias Lönnrot's 210th Birthday





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

[9A]

17 September 2021

Michiyo Tsujimura's 133rd birthday



Have you ever wondered why green tea tastes so bitter when steeped for too long? Thanks to Japanese educator and biochemist Michiyo Tsujimura, and her groundbreaking research into the nutritional benefits of green tea, science has the answers. Today’s Doodle celebrates Michiyo Tsujimura on her 133rd birthday.

Michiyo Tsujimura was born on this day in 1888 in Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. She spent her early career teaching science. In 1920, she chased her dream of becoming a scientific researcher at Hokkaido Imperial University where she began to analyze the nutritional properties of Japanese silkworms.

A few years later, Tsujimura transferred to Tokyo Imperial University and began researching the biochemistry of green tea alongside Dr. Umetaro Suzuki, famed for his discovery of vitamin B1. Their joint research revealed that green tea contained significant amounts of vitamin C—the first of many yet unknown molecular compounds in green tea that awaited under the microscope. In 1929, she isolated catechin—a bitter ingredient of tea. Then, the next year she isolated tannin, an even more bitter compound. These findings formed the foundation for her doctoral thesis, “On the Chemical Components of Green Tea” when she graduated as Japan’s first woman doctor of agriculture in 1932.

Outside of her research, Dr. Tsujimura also made history as an educator when she became the first Dean of the Faculty of Home Economics at Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School in 1950. Today, a stone memorial in honor of Dr.Tsujimura’s achievements can be found in her birthplace of Okegawa City.

Happy Birthday, Michiyo Tsujimura!

[9A]

25 October 2019

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti’s 119th Birthday





“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.

[9A]

18 March 2018

Isidro Baldenegro López’s 52nd Birthday







Isidro Baldenegro López was a farmer and community leader of Mexico's indigenous Tarahumara people in Sierra Madre and an environmental activist who fought against unregulated logging in his region.

The forest is lush and dense. The mountains are jagged and snow-topped, depending on the time of year. The canyons are vast and deep. Sierra Tarahumara, also known as the Sierra Madre Occidental, is the land to which Isidro Baldenegro López dedicated his life.

Baldenegro, born in 1966 in the village of Coloradas de la Virgen in those same mountains, watched his father take a stand against illegal logging activities in their home region — a courageous position that cost his father his life. Young Isidro decided to carry on with defending what he believed to be the sacred hills for his community. He organized peaceful sit-ins and non-violent resistance in the face of illegal logging and organized crime. In 2003, he was arrested and jailed on false charges of arms and drug possession. Released after 15 months, Baldenegro went on to win the Goldman Prize in 2005 for his environmental activism.

Today’s Doodle, on what would have been his 52nd birthday, celebrates Baldenegro’s fearless commitment to protecting the people and environment of his homeland through peaceful resistance.

[9A]

18 March 2014

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's 170th Birthday [born 1844]







Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov [Lyubensk, Saint Petersburg Governorate] was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five. He was a master of orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazade—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade is an example of his frequent use of fairy-tale and folk subjects.

[9A]

10 October 2017

Fridtjof Nansen’s 156th Birthday



Today we celebrate legendary adventurer Fridtjof Nansen, who explored the world’s unknown terrain and broke new ground as an international humanitarian.

Born in Oslo, Norway in 1861, Nansen was gripped by a sense of adventure from a young age. He learned to cross-country ski as many as 50 miles in one day with minimal supplies — and sometimes with just his dog! His love of the outdoors led him to study zoology at the Royal Frederick University. In 1888, he became the first person to lead an expedition across the snow-capped interior of Greenland. One icy adventure was not enough: just a few years later, Nansen attempted to become the first person to reach the North Pole. Although the expedition was unsuccessful, he did go farther north in latitude than any other explorer at that time.

As World War I took hold in 1914, Nansen was forced to halt his explorations and focus on research at home. However, by 1920, his interests shifted from understanding the landscape of the world to influencing the international political climate. Nansen worked to free hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war and repatriate refugees. He created the Nansen Passport, a travel document that allowed stateless refugees to emigrate and resettle. Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for helping those without a voice find a home.

Fridtjof Nansen began his career by shattering the boundaries of human exploration, and he brought the same courage and tenacity to his fight to support refugees.

Happy 156th Birthday, Fridtjof!

[9A]

April 23, 2015

Ngaio Marsh’s 122nd Birthday





Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh was a New Zealand crime writer and theatre director. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966.

Marsh is known as one of the "Queens of Crime", along with Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Margery Allingham. She is known primarily for her character Inspector Roderick Alleyn, a gentleman detective who works for the Metropolitan Police [London].

The Ngaio Marsh Award is awarded annually for the best New Zealand mystery, crime and thriller fiction writing.

[9A]

April 23, 2017

National Sovereignty and Children's Day 2017







Turkey’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day connects two important pieces of history; it’s when the Grand National Assembly of Turkey convened for the first time in 1920; and when the Turkish Republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, dedicated the fledgling Republic to the children who would inherit it.

Happy National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, Turkey!

Illustrated by guest artist, Ipek Konak

[9A]

April 24, 2012

Gideon Sundback's 132nd Birthday










Few have heard of Swedish-American inventor Gideon Sundback, though most people use one of his inventions every day. I certainly hadn't heard of him before I began work on this doodle celebrating his work on the zipper, which he filed a patent for in 1914.

Such an iconic piece of fabric fastening needs little introduction, so I collaborated with doodle engineer Kris Hom to develop an interactive zipper on the homepage which zips opens to reveal search results for "Gideon Sundback."

Happy zipping!

Posted by Sophia Foster-Dimino, Doodler

[9A]

April 24, 2015

Doodle 4 Google 2015 — Russia Winner

[9A]

May 11, 2017

80th Anniversary of Los Glaciares National Park








Argentina’s stunning Los Glaciares National Park was established on May 11, 1937. Although the park is only 80 years old, its biggest attractions have been shaping the landscape for millennia.

The park’s northern boundary is a cluster of soaring, sharp-toothed peaks, including the forbidding Mt. Fitz Roy. Dominating the southern stretch is the awe-inspiring Perito Moreno Glacier, a towering wall of ice grinding a path through the Patagonian Andes. Its terminus, where the glacier flows into Argentina’s largest freshwater lake, is 5 km wide at an average height of 74 m above the lake’s surface.

As the powdery blue glacier advances, the ice often gives way with a resounding crack, plunging into the chilly lake and calving enormous icebergs. This dramatic icefall makes it one of the park’s most popular tourist attractions. Visitors can also hike across the rippled surface of the glacier.

Los Glaciares National Park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981, as an area of outstanding natural beauty and an important example of the geological processes of glaciation.

[9A]

May 11, 2021

Go Tik Swan's 90th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates Indonesian artist Go Tik Swan, a contemporary master of the ancient art form of designing fabric with hot wax known as batik.
Go Tik Swan was born on this day in 1931 in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia. He came of age frequenting his grandfather’s batik workshops, where he absorbed Javanese cultural knowledge from local craftspeople. Fascinated by his ancestry, Swan further explored his heritage by studying Javanese literature and dance at the University of Indonesia.

It was during one of his college dance performances that Indonesia’s president caught wind of Swan’s family background in batik manufacturing and commissioned him to create a new batik style; one that he believed could transcend division and unite the Indonesian people. In the 1950s, Swan fulfilled the president’s request by combining regional batik techniques to introduce “Batik Indonesia.”

Swan held such high reverence for his craft that he considered each piece of batik to carry philosophical meaning, even developing a motif in the 70s entitled Kembang Bangah [“Rotten Flowers''] as a love letter to his national identity. An expert in Javanese culture, he was also a master of kris [an ancient Javanese ceremonial dagger tradition] and a skilled player of gamelan [a popular orchestral form of traditional Indonesian music]. He gave back so much to his heritage, the Surakarta government honored him with the noble title of Panembahan Hardjonegoro.

Happy birthday, Go Tik Swan!

[9A]

23 July 2011

Amália Rodrigues' 91st Birthday





Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues, better known as Amália Rodrigues or popularly as Amália, was a Portuguese fadista [fado singer] and actress.

Known as the 'Rainha do Fado' ["Queen of Fado"], Rodrigues was instrumental in popularising fado worldwide and travelled internationally throughout her career. Amália remains the best-selling Portuguese artist in history.

Rodrigues was once considered by Variety as one of the voices of the century. She remains one of the most international of Portuguese artists and singers, and in Portugal, a national icon. She put Fado in the world map as a musical genre, and her works continue to inspire other performers and singers today, many of whom sing her repertoire.

Rodrigues remains one of Portugal's most famous artists and singers. She was born into a humble family and became one of Portugal's biggest celebrities, internationally recognised artist and singer. Her career spanned 55 years and she recorded songs in several languages [especially Portuguese, French, English, Spanish and Italian]. Versions of her own songs, for instance "Coimbra" ["April in Portugal"] achieved success in France, Italy, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Romania, Japan and The Netherlands, among other countries.

[9A]

5 Apr 2019

Hedwig Kohn’s 132nd Birthday




Taking us inside Hedwig Kohn’s lab, today’s Doodle by Hamburg-based guest artist Carolin Löbbert celebrates the life and science of the pioneering physicist. After earning her doctorate in 1913, Kohn went on to become one of only three women certified to teach physics at a German university before World War II.

As a Jewish woman living in Nazi Germany, Kohn was barred from her teaching position in 1933. She spent the next several years fulfilling research contracts in industrial physics before fleeing to the US in 1940. There, she returned to her passion, teaching at the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina and Wellesley College in Massachusetts until 1952. After retiring from the classroom, Kohn took on a research associate position at Duke. In the sub-basement of the school’s physics building, where her lab was located, she directed Ph.D students in their research while continuing her own work in flame spectroscopy—something she had started in 1912.

Over the years, Kohn’s work resulted in more than 20 publications, one patent, and hundreds of textbook pages that were used to introduce students to the field of radiometry [a set of techniques meant to measure electromagnetic radiation, including visible light] well into the 1960s.

Happy 132nd birthday, Hedwig Kohn!

[9A]

15 January 2019

Celebrating Sake Dean Mahomed





A man of many talents, Sake Dean Mahomed was an entrepreneur who made a name for himself by building cultural connections between India and England. On this day in 1794, he became the first Indian author to publish a book in English and later, to open an Indian restaurant in England—ushering in what would become one of Great Britain’s most popular cuisines. Mahomed went on to find success as the “The Shampooing Surgeon of Brighton,” opening a spa in the British seaside town that attracted the rich and royal.

In 1810, after moving to London, Mahomed opened the Hindostanee Coffee House, Britain’s first Indian restaurant. The Epicure’s Almanack—an early London restaurant guide—hailed it as a place for nobility to enjoy hookah and Indian dishes of the highest perfection. Nonetheless, Mahomed was forced to close his luxurious restaurant in 1812 and sought to reinvent himself.

Moving his family to the beachside town of Brighton, he opened a spa named Mahomed’s Baths offering luxurious herbal steam baths. His specialty was a combination of a steam bath and an Indian therapeutic massage—a treatment he named “shampooing” inspired by the Hindi word champissage meaning “a head massage.” He also published a book about the therapeutic benefits of the treatment with testimonials from his patients. In 1822, King George IV appointed Mahomed as his personal ‘shampooing surgeon’, which greatly improved his business. A portrait of Mahomed hangs in the Brighton Museum, commemorating this man who helped merge the cultures of his two homelands.

Happy Birthday, Sake Dean Mahomed!

[9A]

28 June 2019

185th Anniversary of the Publication of Pan Tadeusz Poem






On this day in 1834, the Polish Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz published his masterpiece, Pan Tadeusz, often considered one of the last great epic poems in European literature. Written in Paris, the 12-part saga captures the spirit of Poland at a time when much of its territory was partitioned between Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

Set during the years 1811 and 1812 in a Lithuanian village, the narrative focuses on a feud between two prominent families, complicated by the love between Tadeusz and a daughter of the rival family named Zosia. A revolt against the local Russian garrison brings the families together, inspired by a shared passion to restore Poland to its former glory: “When talk was to raise Poland again from this rubble.”

Required reading in Polish schools, Pan Tadeusz has been translated into many languages and adapted into TV and film versions, most recently in 1999 by Polish director Andrzej Wajda. Mickiewicz writes with great feeling, expressing his love and longing for all aspects of Polish life from the landscape [“These fields, painted with various grain, gilded with wheat, silvered with rye”], to the food [“mere words cannot tell of its wondrous taste, colour and marvellous smell”], to even the wildlife [“No frogs croak as divinely as Polish ones do”].

[9A]

June 22, 2017

Oskar Fischinger’s 117th Birthday




In the world of design, Fischinger is a towering figure, especially in the areas of motion graphics and animation. He is best known for his ability to combine impeccably synchronized abstract visuals with musical accompaniment, each frame carefully drawn or photographed by hand. A master of motion and color, Fischinger spent months — sometimes years — planning and handcrafting his animations.

Although mostly known for his films, Fischinger was also a prolific painter, creating numerous works that capture the dramatic movement and feeling of his films within a single frame. Unsatisfied with traditional media, he also invented a contraption, the Lumigraph, for generating fantastic chromatic displays with hand movements — a sort of optical painting in motion and a precursor to the interactive media and multi-touch games of today.

Special thanks to Angie Fischinger, Oskar's youngest child, who played an integral role in making this project possible. Below, she shares some thoughts about her father's work and life:

My parents were German immigrants. They were forced to leave Germany in 1936 when it became clear that my father could not pursue his work as a filmmaker there [avant-garde was considered degenerate by Hitler and his administration]. But many people who had already seen his films recognized his greatness. He received an offer to work at MGM and stayed in Hollywood after the war.