Google doodles

[9A]

28 Jun 2012
Sergiu Celibidache's 100th Birthday


Sergiu Celibidache was a Romanian conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over five decades, including tenures as principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Sicilian Symphony Orchestra and several other European orchestras. Later in life, he taught at Mainz University in Germany and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Celibidache frequently refused to release his performances on commercial recordings during his lifetime, claiming that a listener could not have a "transcendental experience" outside the concert hall. Many of the recordings of his performances were released posthumously. He has nonetheless earned international acclaim for his interpretations of the classical repertoire and was known for a spirited performance style informed by his study and experiences in Zen Buddhism. He is regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century.

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6 Jul 2012
José María Velasco's 172nd Birthday





José María Tranquilino Francisco de Jesús Velasco Gómez Obregón, generally known as José María Velasco, was a 19th-century Mexican polymath, most famous as a painter who made Mexican geography a symbol of national identity through his paintings. He was both one of the most popular artists of the time and internationally renowned. He received many distinctions such as the gold medal of the Mexican National Expositions of Bellas Artes in 1874 and 1876; the gold medal of the Philadelphia International Exposition in 1876, on the centenary of U.S. independence; and the medal of the Paris Universal Exposition in 1889, on the centenary of the outbreak of the French Revolution. His painting El valle de México is considered Velasco's masterpiece, of which he created seven different renditions. Of all the nineteenth-century painters, Velasco was the "first to be elevated in the post-Revolutionary period as an exemplar of nationalism."

[9A]

12 Jan 2015
11th Anniversary of Kimani Maruge's First Day of School






José María Tranquilino Francisco de Jesús Velasco Gómez Obregón, generally known as José María Velasco, was a 19th-century Mexican polymath, most famous as a painter who made Mexican geography a symbol of national identity through his paintings. He was both one of the most popular artists of the time and internationally renowned. He received many distinctions such as the gold medal of the Mexican National Expositions of Bellas Artes in 1874 and 1876; the gold medal of the Philadelphia International Exposition in 1876, on the centenary of U.S. independence; and the medal of the Paris Universal Exposition in 1889, on the centenary of the outbreak of the French Revolution. His painting El valle de México is considered Velasco's masterpiece, of which he created seven different renditions. Of all the nineteenth-century painters, Velasco was the "first to be elevated in the post-Revolutionary period as an exemplar of nationalism."

[9A]

14 Jul 2012
Bastille Day 2012

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20 Jul 2012
Santos Dumont's 139th Birthday




Alberto Santos-Dumont was a Brazilian inventor and aviation pioneer, one of the very few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air aircraft.

The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, Santos-Dumont dedicated himself to aeronautical study and experimentation in Paris, where he spent most of his adult life. In his early career he designed, built, and flew hot air balloons and early dirigibles, culminating in his winning the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize on 19 October 1901 for a flight that rounded the Eiffel Tower. He then turned to heavier-than-air machines, and on 23 October 1906 his 14-bis made the first powered heavier-than-air flight in Europe to be certified by the Aéro-Club de France and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. It was also the first powered flight to be publicly witnessed by a crowd and takeoff unassisted by an external launch system. His conviction that aviation would usher in an era of worldwide peace and prosperity led him to freely publish his designs and forgo patenting his various innovations.

Santos-Dumont is a national hero in Brazil, where it is popularly held that he preceded the Wright brothers in demonstrating a practical airplane. Countless roads, plazas, schools, monuments, and airports there are dedicated to him, and his name is inscribed on the Tancredo Neves Pantheon of the Fatherland and Freedom. He was a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters from 1931 until his suicide in 1932.

[9A]

25 Jul 2012
Jaakonpäivä






The day of Jaakko , corresponding to 25 July [in Italy it is the day of St. James ], is at the center of a Finnish popular belief that justifies the lowering of the temperatures of the lakes which usually occurs in the third week of July.

Legend has it, in fact, that it is Jaakko who throws a cold stone into the water.

[9A]

20 Jan 2015
Ji Hyeonok’s 56th Birthday





In 1993, Ji Hyeon-ok led a team of female Korean mountain climbers to the summit of Mt. Everest. She was the first female mountaineer to succeed in climbing peaks above 8000m without supplemental oxygen and without a sherpa.

In addition to Everest, Ji scaled Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II and Annapurna — and was the first female Korean mountaineer to do so. After climbing Annapurna in 1999, she sadly passed away on her descent to the basecamp. Ji, who was also a fine-arts teacher, was remarkably brave and dared to go where few had ventured.

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15 Aug 2012
Julia Child's 100th Birthday






The scene in our living room in the early ‘60s will be familiar to many. I can picture my dad sitting in hischair, glued to the new black-and-white miracle of technology in our house, watching The French Chef...for the sheer fun of the show. Fast-forward nearly 15 years and I would find myself, as a young student at La Varenne cooking school in Paris, standing in front of Julia Child herself.

At that first meeting, for a moment, I had Julia’s undivided attention and her intent interest in my goals and plans as a cook. [Happily, that encounter would lead to opportunities to work as a member of Julia’s team, to travel with her around the U.S. and in France, and to a treasured friendship until her death in 2004. I would even become executive director of that esteemed cooking school – due, in large measure, to her influence and support.] Countless times throughout the years that’s the scene which would became familiar to me – Julia engaging and encouraging both professional chefs and home cooks. She would rarely leave a restaurant without a visit to the kitchen or exit a book signing without having communed with everyone in line; she was an active mentor to many of us. Julia was so approachable that people felt they knew her – no one hesitated to stride right up and start a conversation – and in fact, they did know her. After all, she’d been in our living rooms taking us by the hand in the kitchen for years. [Ever-embracing of new technologies, I believe Julia would be thrilled to know that she’s now literally in people’s hands, on digital devices.] But more than that, what people saw on camera was what they’d experience in person.

It was all pure Julia. Especially on the occasion of what would have been her 100th birthday, it’s clear that Julia Child is simply someone we love to love. For good reason – there are many qualities that endear her to us. She came into her own later in life and helped to redefine age. [One of her secrets to aging, I discovered, is that she never saw herself as old. After attending a Smith College reunion in her late 70s, she told me she’d never go to another. “Too many old people,” she said].


Julia loved hard and worked hard [more than anyone I have ever known] and accomplished great things that endure. [How many authors have a New York Times best seller nearly 50 years after publication?] She was opinionated, utterly authentic, and a self-professed ham. She managed to be both serious and a showman, making things look easy while never compromising her incredibly disciplined approach. She demystified and democratized French cooking [[the gold standard and height of sophistication when she took the stage) and appeared to have a ball doing it. Julia dedicated her support to the organizations and causes that mattered to her most, particularly those related to cooking and the pleasures of the table. In 1995, Julia created the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts [juliachildfoundation.org] for the purpose of continuing that support after she’d “slipped off the raft”, as she would often refer to dying.

The Foundation is proud to help further Julia’s life’s work. Julia believed in all of us. She felt that if she could show us how to cook well, we’d do just that. She wanted us to experience the pleasures – in both life and work – that she had, and to revel in good food. “The thing about food,” she said in a 1966 Time Magazine cover story, “is you’re a much happier person if you eat well and treasure your meals.” So to quote Julia once again – on the occasion of her 100th birthday – “Bon Appétit!”

[9A]

27 Aug 2012
Republic of Moldova Independence Day 2012

[9A]

29 January 2018
Teresa Teng’s 65th Birthday





Pop singer Teresa Teng was born on this day in 1953 in Taiwan. Her music and talent was a dominant and influential force in Asia throughout most of the 1970s and 1980s. Teng was able to move her audiences as much with the sweetness of her voice as with the power of melancholy emotion. One of the “Five Great Asian Divas”, she was known for driving her audience into rapture, and often tears, over a career that spanned three decades.

Teng’s widespread popularity was also driven by her ability to sing in several languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Indonesian, and English. Evoking for many precious memories of childhood and happier times, her legacy endures to this day.

Today’s Doodle pays tribute to one of Teng’s most well-known songs, "The Moon Represents My Heart." By providing an alternative to the mostly revolutionary songs then prevalent in mainland China, Teng’s emotional rendition of this old Mandarin favorite catapulted her to instant and long-lasting fame that lingers to this day.

[9A]

3 Feb 2018
Payom Sinawat’s 109th Birthday




Today we celebrate renowned textile artist Payom Sinawat, who carried the traditional patterns of Isaan, a region in northeast Thailand, into the present day. Born in 1909 in Thailand’s Sisaket Province, Sinawat worked in Isaan arts and crafts for over 60 years. As she handcrafted silk for the Queen, Sinawat played a crucial role in popularizing traditional textile arts.

One of the Isaan cloths that she handcrafted in traditional looms, and which partly inspired today’s Doodle, is named khit. Khit weaving tends to use certain colors, like red, purple, and dark green, to layer contrasting geometric patterns over a light background.

With an emphasis on quality, Sinawat mixed old and new materials to modernize and conserve traditional textile art. In 1987, she received the title of Thailand National Artist for her excellent craftsmanship, a title annually bestowed upon notable Thai artists. Through sharing her craft with society, she ensured that northeastern Thai weaving techniques and their resulting beautiful silks are conserved for generations to come.

[9A]

6 Feb 2018
Waitangi Day [New Zealand National Day 2018]







Today, the beautiful country of New Zealand celebrates Waitangi Day, the country’s official National Day. Waitangi Day is named after a small city on the North Island of New Zealand where the Treaty of Waitangi, the country’s founding document, was first signed in 1840. Signing the treaty brought New Zealand’s indigenous Māori tribes and British representatives together into one new government. More than 40 Māori chiefs joined the British for the signing ceremony, and both cultures are still woven together in the fabric of the country today.

Celebrations at Waitangi begin at sunrise with a flag raising ceremony by the Royal New Zealand Navy and continue throughout the day with church services, historic reenactments of the signing, song, and dance. Elsewhere in New Zealand, local communities take the day to learn more about Māori culture and their history, or visit the beach to take in a typical sunny summer day. You’ll even find parties in London, which hosts the largest community of Kiwi expatriates outside of New Zealand. No matter where you may be in the world, if you have roots in New Zealand, we wish you a very happy Waitangi Day!

[9A]

8 Feb 2018
Paula Modersohn-Becker’s 142nd Birthday





Renowned German expressionist painter Paula Modersohn-Becker was born on this day in 1876. Her art bears witness to her courage, boldness, and ambition — a temperament that greatly influenced her short but prolific career.

Exposed to the intellectual world from the time she was a young child growing up in Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Modersohn-Becker began her artistic endeavors as a student in Bremen, and at the age of 18, moved to an artist’s colony in Worpswede. There she met her future husband, but hungry to learn more, she moved to Paris to study and urged him to join her.

In the years that followed, her personal life underwent many changes. But through all the turbulence, she continued to paint, producing more than 80 pictures in 1906 alone. Her writings explain this frenetic pace as a necessity to make up for the first two ‘lost’ decades of her life.

An early expressionist, she joined the likes of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse in introducing modernism to the world. Modersohn-Becker was known for her bold choices as an artist — be it her depictions of nude female figures [among the very first women artists to do so], or those of women breastfeeding their children. She tenaciously resisted the strict expectations held of women of her era, preferring exploration and painting over more traditional pastimes.

Today’s Doodle reflects her artistic style depicting domestic subjects, and is illustrated by Berlin-based duo Golden Cosmos.

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12 February 2013
Carnival 2013

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12 February 2010
Carnival 2010

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10 December 2019
Anatoly Tarasov’s 101st Birthday

"Even though there is a limit on how fast a hockey player can skate… there is no limit to creative endeavors and progress."
–Anatoly Tarasov

Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Marseille-based guest artist Nadya Mira, celebrates Russian coach Anatoly Tarasov, widely known as the “father of Russian hockey,” on his 101st birthday. Under his leadership, the Russian [then USSR] national team won every Ice Hockey World Championship for 9 consecutive years, won 11 European championships, and took home 3 Olympic gold medals. Tarasov’s visionary tactics and will to win put his opponents on ice.

A proficient bandy player, Tarasov was given the task to implement a Soviet hockey program from the ground up after World War II. The Moscow native developed a unique coaching style, focusing both on the individual player’s mastery while demanding a team-first attitude, as well as integrating modified elements from other sports like bandy, soccer, and even ballet to produce champions.

Rival nations often attempted to mimic Tarasov’s approach. A coach from the U.S. asked Tarasov to reveal his secrets and was met with: “There is no secret in hockey. There is imagination, hard work, discipline, and dedication to achieving whatever the goal is.”

His ingenious methods influenced the game worldwide and left a mark on hockey that is still felt globally to this day. In 1974, Tarasov became the first European coach to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, as well as the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1997.

[9A]

10 Dec 2019
Celebrating Bertha von Suttner

“After the verb ‘to love,’ ‘to help’ is the most beautiful verb in the world.”
—Bertha von Suttner “Ground Arms! The Story of a Life” [1892]

Today’s Doodle honors the Austrian author Baroness Bertha von Suttner, who became the first female Nobel Peace Prize winner on this day in 1905. A staunch advocate for disarmament and international cooperation, Von Suttner argued that peace is the pinnacle of human progress.

Born Countess Bertha Kinsky in Prague in 1843, she studied music and languages in her young years. At age 30, she moved to Vienna to work as a governess in the von Suttner family home, where she met her future husband, Baron Arthur Gundaccar von Suttner. As the family did not approve of the couple, she left for Paris to work as Alfred Nobel’s secretary, and though it was only a brief stay, she remained in contact with the philanthropist for many years.

Secretly getting married in 1876, the Baron and Baroness von Suttner read evolutionist literature together, prompting the Baroness to start writing novels, short stories, and essays focused on social grievances and pacifism. In her 1889 book Die Waffen nieder! [Lay Down Your Arms!], which is considered her most famous work, she depicts the harsh realities of war from a woman’s perspective.

Undaunted by the opposition that discredited pacifism as a woman’s issue, Baroness von Suttner continued to push for peace by founding the Austrian Peace Society and attending the 1891 Peace Congress. Her work put her at the forefront of the peace movement, and Nobel later credited her dedication as part of the reason he created the Nobel Peace Prize, which was first awarded in 1901.
Today, the Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute in The Hague continues the work she started so many years ago.

[9A]

11 Dec 2019
Noel Rosa’s 109th Birthday








Today’s Doodle celebrates the 109th birthday of the beloved Brazilian singer and songwriter Noel Rosa. Known as the “Poeta da Vila” [Poet from Vila], his observational and comedic style earned him a special place in the history of samba, the popular music of the Brazilian people.


Born in the Vila Isabel neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro on this day in 1910, Rosa grew up in a musical family. He started playing the mandolin at age 13 and soon learned the guitar as well.


A gifted student, he entered medical school in 1931. However, when he had to choose between medicine and music, Rosa’s choice became clear. Rosa devoted his energy to writing music and created his own style of samba by mixing witty lyrics with unpredictable twists and turns of melody and bridging the gap between rural Afro-Brazilian traditions and the sound of urban nightlife.


He had his breakthrough with "Com que roupa?," which became one of the biggest hits in 1931 in Brazil and the first of many memorable songs. With his songwriting partner Vadico, he also wrote a series of popular compositions such as "Feitiço da Vila" ["Witchcraft of the Villa"] and "Feitio de Oração" ["In the Form of a Prayer"].


Composing around 260 songs over a period of eight years, Rosa established a body of work that has remained popular to this day. His legacy lives on in the hearts of cariocas [residents of Rio de Janeiro] and samba lovers around the world.

[9A]

24 August 2017
Ukraine Independence Day 2017






Today’s Doodle honors Ukraine’s independence day with a colorful celebration of its people. It’s drawn in shades of blue and yellow, Ukraine's national colors, meant to evoke the country's golden wheat fields and blue skies.

Home to nearly 130 different nationalities, Ukraine’s diverse population is represented in each unique letter. Guest artist Sergiy Maidukov says the image is meant to invoke happiness and show different people from across the country working together toward “freedom, peace and respect for each other.” He considers Ukraine’s diversity “a reason to be proud, to meet each other, learn about each other, sing and laugh together, and celebrate.”

Ukrainians may don hutsul shirts, or folk costumes, to attend the parade in Kiev today, or to watch fireworks over the city at night. Other celebrations include art fairs celebrating local craftsmen, historical reenactments, fireworks and live music all over the country.

[9A]

MAY 1 2021


Get vaccinated. Save lives.

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23 June 2017
Father's Day 2017 [Poland]

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23 June 2016
Dercy Gonçalves’ 109th birthday





Never one to shy away from the spotlight, Dercy Gonçalves was one of Brazil’s most vivacious actresses. Known for her biting comedy, she was a giant of the Brazilian entertainment industry, though she stood 4 feet 11 inches tall. Dercy performed as an actor for 86 years until her death at age 101, securing her the world record for the longest career as an actor. Doodler Sophie Diao captured her larger-than life spirit on what would be her 109th birthday,

[9A]

20 Jun 2016
Summer Solstice & Strawberry Moon






Today is the first day of summer! Doodler Nate Swinehart created a family of anthropomorphized rocks to commemorate the change of season. This year, the summer equinox has a companion: the strawberry moon. The pairing hasn’t happened since “The Summer of Love” in 1967, and won’t happen again until 2062. Happy summer!

[9A]

14 May 2018
Celebrating Strawberry Season







Today’s Doodle celebrates Germany’s sweetest time of year: Erdbeersaison, or strawberry season!

Beginning anywhere from early to mid-May, the season is one of the first signs of summer. It’s also the only time Germans can feast on fresh local strawberries all year. Luckily, the fruit is ripe with possibilities: it’s added to jams, cakes, fruit salads, and milkshakes and can be found across the country in farmers’ markets, fruit stands, and even Berlin’s underground station.

Strawberries aren’t the only food that produces a frenzy around this time of year. Seasonal eating is a way of life in Germany, with Spargelzeit, or asparagus season, topping the shopping list of beloved fruits and veggies.

In today’s Doodle, guest artist Barbara Dziadosz depicts some of the many ways locals savor this season’s fruit, from strawberry picking to picnicking.

[9A]

14 May 2010
Singapore Art Festival 2010






Singapore International Festival of Arts [SIFA] is an annual arts festival held in Singapore. It is organised by Arts Festival Limited for the National Arts Council. The festival is usually held in mid-year for a stretch of one month and incorporates theatre arts, dance, music and visual arts, etc. Besides local participants, many of the events are by international artists.

It began as Singapore Arts Festival, organised by the National Arts Council, in 1977, and was a biennial event until 1999. Since 2012 it has been called Singapore International Festival of Arts, run by Arts Festival Limited, and commissioned by the National Arts Council.

[9A]

14 May 2010
Paraguay Independence Day 2010

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15 May 2010
Teachers' Day 2010 - Multiple Countries on Various Dates

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17 May 2010
Martin Kukucin's 150th Birthday




Martin Kukučín was a Slovak prose writer, dramatist and publicist. He was the most notable representative of Slovak literary realism, and is considered one of the founders of modern Slovak prose.

[9A]

25 May 2010
Jordan National Day 2010





Independence Day - The most important event in the history of Jordan is its independence from the British government.

The independence of Jordan came as a result of the “London treaty” signed by Emir Abdullah and the British Government. The treaty was signed on 22 May 1946 and was ratified by the Jordanian parliament later on.

Following world war, I, the Hashemite Army of the Great Arab Revolt, took over and secured present-day Jordan. The revolt was launched by the Hashemites and led by Sharif Hussein of Mecca against the Ottoman Empire. The revolt was supported by the Allies of World War I including Britain and France.

Emir Abdullāh and the British negotiation about independence, the treaty was signed on March 22, 1946, it took two years for Jordan to be fully independent, in March 1948, Jordan signed it Britain another treaty in which all restrictions on sovereignty were removed for Jordan to be fully independent.
Jordan became a full member of the United Nations and the Arab League in December 1955. Following independence, Jordan established its parliament in 1952 consisting of two houses, the senate and the house of representatives.

The holiday is usually marked with official ceremonies attended by members of the House of Hashim, as well as civil and military officials. Award presentations, political speeches and diplomatic visits are commonplace on the holiday. In the Jordanian Armed Forces, Presentation of Colours ceremonies and national/unit military parades are common during the day, as well as a 21-gun salute in the capital. On the civilian level, festive events and activities including a fireworks display and special religious services

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25 May 2010
Argentina's Bicentennial Independence

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27 May 2010
Doodle 4 Google 2010 - US by Makenzie Melton






Your millions of online votes helped us pick the winners of this year's Doodle 4 Google competition. Today, we're pleased to announce the results.

Congratulations to Makenzie Melton, a third grader at El Dorado Springs R-2 Schools in El Dorado Springs, Missouri. Her winning design, entitled "Rainforest Habitat,” expressed her concern that "the rainforest is in danger and it is not fair to the plants and animals.” Makenzie’s design triumphed over more than 33,000 student submissions from all over the country. Makenzie’s colored-pencil creation beautifully embodied this year’s theme.

Makenzie received a $15,000 college scholarship, a netbook computer and a $25,000 technology grant for a new computer lab at her school. Her doodle will also be featured on the Google.com homepage tomorrow, May 27, for millions of people to enjoy all across the country.

[9A]

28 May 2010
Milutin Milankovich's Birthday




Milutin Milanković [ 28 May 1879 – 12 December 1958] was a Serbian mathematician, astronomer, climatologist, geophysicist, civil engineer and popularizer of science.

[9A]

29 May 2010
John Harsányi's Birthday





John Charles Harsanyi [May 29, 1920 – August 9, 2000] was a Hungarian-American Nobel Prize laureate economist.

He is best known for his contributions to the study of game theory and its application to economics, specifically for his developing the highly innovative analysis of games of incomplete information, so-called Bayesian games. He also made important contributions to the use of game theory and economic reasoning in political and moral philosophy [specifically utilitarian ethics] as well as contributing to the study of equilibrium selection. For his work, he was a co-recipient along with John Nash and Reinhard Selten of the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. According to György Marx, he was one of The Martians.

[9A]

29 May 2010
Isaac Albeniz's 150th Birthday




Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-Romantic era who also had a significant influence on his contemporaries and younger composers. He is best known for his piano works based on Spanish folk music idioms.

Transcriptions of many of his pieces, such as Asturias [[Leyenda), Granada, Sevilla, Cadiz, Córdoba, Cataluña, Mallorca, and Tango in D, are important pieces for classical guitar, though he never composed for the guitar. The personal papers of Albéniz are preserved, among other institutions, in the Biblioteca de Catalunya.

[9A]

27 September 2020
Google’s 22nd birthday






The partnership between Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin traces its roots to the sunny campus of Stanford University. As graduate students, the pair set out to improve the way people interacted with the wealth of information on the World Wide Web. In 1998, Google was born, and the rest is history.

The now world-famous moniker is a play on a mathematical term that arose out of an unassuming stroll around the year 1920. While walking in the woods of New Jersey, American mathematician Edward Kasner asked his young nephew Milton Sirotta to help him choose a name for a mind-boggling number: a 1 followed by 100 zeros. Milton’s reply? A googol! The term gained widespread visibility twenty years later with its inclusion in a 1940 book Kasner co-authored called “Mathematics and the Imagination.”

In 2006, the word “Google” was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary as a verb.

[9A]

28 Sept 2020
Celebrating Cải Lương







Today’s Doodle celebrates cải lương, a style of modern South Vietnamese folk opera, on the observance of Vietnam Stage Day, an annual celebration of the rich history of theater in the country. A blend of traditional and contemporary influences, cải lương combines opera with spoken drama to create a vibrant expression of Vietnamese culture and identity.

Loosely translated to “reformed theater,” the form evolved from the traditional Vietnamese opera called hát bội in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam at the turn of the 20th century. Accompanied by an orchestra containing traditional Vietnamese instruments like the đàn tranh [“six-string zither”], cải lương brings to life a wide range of stories, from ancient legends of monarchs and warriors to explorations of modern Vietnamese social themes. While the subject material may vary, one common element is the signature melancholic song structure called vọng cổ, which translates to “nostalgia for the past.”

One of the most iconic cải lương productions is “Tiếng Trống Mê Linh,” which translates roughly to “The Drum Sound of Mê Linh.” The historical play tells the true story of Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị, two sisters who helped lead the fight for Vietnamese independence from the Chinese Han Dynasty in the 1st century. A classic of the artform, “Tiếng Trống Mê Linh” has been staged by many of Vietnam’s top cải lương performers since it first debuted in 1977.

Over a century after its birth, cải lương is still enjoyed today as one of the uniquely Vietnamese artforms and a vital link to the country’s history.

[9A]

29 Sept 2020
Celebrating Zohra Segal




Today’s Doodle, illustrated by guest artist Parvati Pillai ,celebrates iconic Indian actress and dancer Zohra Segal, one of the country’s first female actors to truly achieve recognition on the international stage. Among Segal’s notable early work was a role in the film “Neecha Nagar“ [“Lowly City”], which was released on this day in 1946 at the Cannes Film Festival. Widely considered Indian cinema’s first international critical success, “Neecha Nagar” won the festival's highest honor: the Palme d’Or prize.
Sahibzadi Zohra Begum Mumtaz-ullah Khan was born on April 27, 1912 in Saharanpur, British India.

She attended a prestigious ballet school in Dresden, Germany in her early 20s and later toured internationally with the Indian dance pioneer Uday Shankar. After she returned to India, she transitioned to acting, joining the Indian People’s Theatre Association in 1945.

Segal moved to London, England in 1962 and built an international profile over the following decades with roles in British television classics like “Doctor Who“ and the 1984 miniseries “The Jewel in the Crown.” In the mid-1990s, she returned to India, where she continued acting on the stage and in Bollywood films. In 2002, the year of her 90th birthday, Segal appeared in her memorable role in the film ”Bend it Like Beckham,” and continued to act well into her 90s.

Over the years, India has recognized Segal’s prolific contributions with some of the nation’s highest awards: the Padma Shri [1998], the Kalidas Samman [2001], and the Padma Vibhushan [2010].

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29 Sept 2020
Children's Day 2020 [29 September]

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30 September 2018
Helia Bravo Hollis’ 117th Birthday









“I have done everything with love, passion, and courage,” said Helia Bravo Hollis in an interview with UNAM, the Mexican University where she studied and later headed the Biology department. “I have never worked for a salary. Everything has been for the research.”

Known to her students as La Maestra Bravo, Bravo Hollis made enormous contributions to the study of cacti in Mexico and worked tirelessly to found UNAM’s Botanical Gardens, where she served as director during the 1960s. Her passion for learning about nature was contagious to her students and earned her a great deal of respect among colleagues.

Born on this day in 1901, in the Mixcoac section of Mexico City, she first became interested in nature during Sunday walks with her parents. Her interest in the natural world led her to study Biological Sciences and obtain a Master’s degree from the UNAM, with a thesis on varieties of cactus found in Tehuacán, Puebla. An ambitious researcher, Bravo Hollis published her first book by 1937—the landmark study Las Cactaceas de México—which established her as a leading expert in the field.

During a 60 year career, she published nearly 170 articles, two books, as well as some 60 taxa descriptions and another 59 taxonomic revisions. A co-founder of the Mexican Cactus Society, Bravo Hollis discovered numerous species herself. The Ariocarpus bravoanus and Opuntia bravoana cacti are named after her. Her legacy lives on through the Helia Bravo Hollis Botanical Garden in Puebla, which is home to many endangered cactus species and has become a popular destination for students, scientists, and tourists alike.

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30 September 2008
Rumi's Birthday




Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, was a 13th-century Persianpoet, Hanafi faqih, Islamic scholar, Maturidi theologian, and Sufi mystic originally from Greater Khorasan in Greater Iran.Rumi's influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Tajiks, Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, other Central Asian Muslims, and the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries.His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the "most popular poet" and the "best selling poet" in the United States.

Rumi's works are written mostly in Persian, but occasionally he also used Turkish, Arabic, and Greek in his verse. His Masnavi, composed in Konya, is considered one of the greatest poems of the Persian language. His works are widely read today in their original language across Greater Iran and the Persian-speaking world. Translations of his works are very popular, most notably in Turkey, Azerbaijan, the United States, and South Asia. His poetry has influenced not only Persian literature, but also the literary traditions of the Ottoman Turkish, Chagatai, Urdu, Bengali and Pashto languages.

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

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15 Sept 2008
Mexico Independence Day 2008

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15 Sept 2008
Japan's Respect for the Aged Day 2008

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5 Sept 2008
Teachers' Day 2008

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21 September 2020
Respect for the Aged Day 2020







Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Tokyo-based guest artist Tatsuro Kiuchi, commemorates Respect for the Aged Day, an annual Japanese holiday dedicated to the country’s elderly community.

Japan is one of only two nations with a public holiday that honors older citizens, and it has much to celebrate. The archipelago is home to the world’s largest percentage of people aged 65 and above–over 28% according to recent statistics.

Of that group, more than 70,000 people are over 100 years old, including the world’s oldest living person who turned 117 this year.

[9A]

21 September 2015
Arbor Day 2015 [Brazil]





Today we celebrate Arbor Day by taking time to appreciate and help preserve the environment around us. Trees provide shelter, food, clean air, and many other benefits for wildlife and humans alike.

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8 Apr 2017
Mary Pickford’s 125th birthday





Lights, camera, action! Today’s doodle honors the “Queen of the Movies,” Mary Pickford. An actress, a film director, and a producer, Mary Pickford proved that actors weren’t relegated to careers in front of the camera. She co-founded the film studio United Artists and was one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Before she became one of the most powerful women who has ever worked in Hollywood, she was “the girl with the curls,” and one of the most beloved stars of the silent film era. She appeared in as many as 50 films per year, and eventually negotiated wages that were equal to half of each of her films’ profits. She went on to demand full creative and financial control of her films, a feat still unheard of to this day.

She used her stardom to bring awareness to causes close to her heart. She sold Liberty Bonds during World War I, created the Motion Picture Relief Fund, and revolutionized the film industry by giving independent film producers a way to distribute their films outside the studio system. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress, for her role in Coquette [1929], and an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 1976.

[9A]

13 Apr 2017
Songkran 2017





Celebrated in Thailand every April 13-15, Songkran is the New Year’s holiday famous around the world for its water festival. For many visitors to the Southeastern Asian country, it’s primarily just an excuse for an epic water battle in the streets of a tropical paradise. For Thai people, though, the holiday is also a time to do good deeds and spend time with family.

The name of the holiday is derived from a Sanskrit term that describes the movement of the sun through the sky as the seasons change. Traditionally, Thai people celebrate Songkran by visiting temples to pour water over statues of Buddha, or by visiting elder relatives to pour water over their hands. These acts are known to be symbols of purification — a spring cleaning of sorts. And in a place where daily temperatures reach highs of 88°F in the month of April, it’s easy to see how the tradition might’ve evolved into the all-out splash-fest it is today.

The water festival is now so well established, some cities shut down busy streets during celebration days, allowing participants to safely soak anything and anyone that crosses their paths. So if you’re strolling around Thailand in mid-April and a total stranger douses you with water, consider it a compliment!

[9A]

14 Apr 2017
First Day of Bengali Calendar Pohela Boishakh






Today's doodle marks Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bengali Calendar. While Pohela Boishakh is a lively festival today, its origins are less fanciful. The Bengali calendar year was developed over 400 years ago by the Emperor Akbar as a way to collect taxes on a specific date every year. When the new year begins, accountants can close their books on the previous year and start fresh.

On this day in Bangladesh, the country comes alive with colorful celebrations and parades. Cities and towns gather together to sing traditional songs like "Esho, he Boishakh". They eat Bengali food such as Panta bhaat [a dish of rice soaked in water], and Illish Maas [fried hilsa fish]. The main attraction in the capital city of Dhaka is the large Mangal Shobhajatra procession. The streets fill up with a parade of huge masks and creatures, each with its own symbolism, but many meant to drive away evil spirits or inspire courage and peace. The masks are often vibrant and imaginative representations of animals native to Bangladesh, like the owl and tiger you see in today's doodle.

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7 Aug 2017
Indonesia Independence Day 2017






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

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