Google doodles

[9A]

23 Mar 2017
Hassan Fathy’s 117th birthday







Today's Doodle celebrates Hassan Fathy, an Egyptian architect known for pioneering new methods, respecting tradition, and valuing all walks of life. Fathy is known to be a poet, musician, and inventor, but he spent his life's work in architecture, after training in Cairo.

At the beginning of his career, Fathy focused on teaching architecture to others, but soon began to take on architectural projects of his own. He was convinced that Egypt could look to its past to create a valuable future. He researched ancient methods of building, and began working with traditional materials like mud and earth. He made use of traditional structures as well, relying on archways for strong support and malqaf, or windcatchers, which take in natural ventilation through open windows and direct air throughout a home.

Beyond preserving Egypt's architectural legacy, Fathy trusted in the power of community to look after itself. He trained community members to create their own materials from scratch and build their own structures, so that they would be able to sustain their homes long after Fathy was gone. In this way, he was invested in more than building homes - he was building communities. For his ambitious New Gourna project in Luxor, he built diverse homes with the understanding that different families would have different needs. He also built a theater, school, market, and mosque, since a community is based on more than houses. His work in Egypt and beyond inspired others all over the world to find innovative ways to respect their local traditions and resources.

Today’s Doodle honors Fathy’s legacy on what would have been his 117th birthday. In the Doodle, see if you can find the traditional adobe process, a woman planting shrubs, geese and cows, and Hassan Fathy himself shaking hands with a member of his community!

[9A]

19 Mar 2017
Minna Canth’s 173rd birthday


Minna Canth pioneered Finland's spirit of equality. Beginning with journalism, she edited and wrote for the newspaper Keski-Suomi, later going on to publish her own paper, Wapaita Aatteita, with A.B. Mäkelä. After her husband’s death, Canth raised their 7 children alone, managed her family shop selling cloth, and developed her own writing. In 1878, she published her first book, a collection of short stories called Novelleja ja kertomuksia.

Through her literary work, Canth addressed social issues, pushing the envelope for workers' rights and women's freedoms. Her most famous play is Työmiehen vaimo, about urban labor and life.She helped pave the way for Finnish women to become the first in Europe to win the right to vote in 1906. Shortly after, in 1907, Finland became the first country in the world to elect women to Parliament.

Minna was also one of the first writers to write in Finnish rather than Swedish. This meant that not only was Minna fighting for women, but for the visibility of Finland on the world stage.

Her memory is marked with a statue and museum in her hometown of Kuopio, as well as statues in the other towns she called home, Tampere and Jyväskylä. Finland also celebrates her legacy every year with the Day of Equality, an observance of the advancements she made for equal treatment for all in Finland. Today, we honor Minna Canth on what would be her 137th birthday.

[9A]

16 Mar 2017
Maria Carlota Costallat de Macedo Soares' 107th birthday



Maria Carlota Costallat de Macedo Soares, known as Lotta, was born on this date in Paris in 1910. A talented designer, Soares had a gift for creating structures and landscapes that reflect and reimagine their surroundings. Samambaia, the house Soares shared with poet Elizabeth Bishop in Petrópolis, Brazil, looked as if it had the wings of a butterfly and might take flight at any moment. The writer's studio Soares built for Bishop featured a breathtaking view of the mountains that often distracted the poet from her writing.

Soares's most famous project was Flamengo Park in Rio de Janeiro, depicted in today's Doodle. She conceived and built this magnificent city park that has been incorporated into marathons and cycling races, including several 2016 Olympic events. Flamengo Park continues to be a prime destination for tourists and locals alike, and is a shining example of Soares's vision and passion.

[9A]

28 Feb 2017
Carnaval 2017 [Brazil]



Brazil Carnaval is a week-long affair of parades, samba music, themed costumes, and dancing that celebrates a time of fun and indulgence before Lent begins. Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval is considered to be the largest, with up to 2 million people taking part!

Today’s animated Doodle - by Doodler and Brazil native Pedro Vergani - gives us a glimpse of Carnaval through the ages, depicting the traditional and colorful attire spanning from the 1910s to the 2000s.

[9A]

25 Feb 2017
Ida Lewis’ 175th Birthday





https://www.google.com/doodles/ida-lewis-175th-birthday

It wasn’t until perhaps my fourth or fifth visit to the littlest state of Rhode Island that I spotted the unassuming lighthouse nestled on a tiny island of its own in Newport’s harbor. Usually the title “lighthouse keeper” conjures images of men in beards wearing stiff blue coats, so I was absolutely delighted to learn that Rhode Island’s most famous lighthouse keeper was Idawalley Zorada Lewis.

Declared “America’s Bravest Woman” before her tenure was through, Ida had been hailed as Newport’s best swimmer and one of its strongest rowers ever since taking over for her ill father as as guardian of the harbor. She made her first save at twelve and didn’t stop until the age of sixty-three.

There are no definitive records of Ida’s rescues and she was too modest to recount them herself, though some were documented in local newspapers and at least one garnered national attention; in February of 1881 she ventured into the bitter winter winds to rescue two soldiers who had fallen through the ice while traveling on foot. This act of bravery caught the attention of President Grant who shortly thereafter awarded her the prestigious Gold Lifesaving Medal. Eleven years after her death, the Rhode Island legislature voted to rename her former home, Lime Rock Lighthouse, as Ida Lewis Lighthouse in her honor.

It's important to remember that being a lighthouse keeper required unwavering courage, sheer physical strength, constant diligence, and a willingness to put one's own life on the line. Ida was so dedicated that supposedly she would rush into inclement weather without shoes or coat so as not a waste a single second. Her life and legacy were not only an honor to research and illustrate, but truly a source of inspiration.

[9A]

15 Feb 2017
Serbia National Day 2017





Today Serbia celebrates its National Day, also known as Statehood Day and Sovereignty Day. The two-day holiday commemorates the 1804 uprising that grew into the Serbian Revolution, after centuries of Ottoman rule. February 15 was also the date the first Serbian constitution was adopted, in 1835.

Today's Doodle depicts Serbian dancers wearing opanci [traditional peasant shoes] and dancing the lively kolo. Serbians dance the kolo at weddings and other important occasions, often in large groups.

Dancers say the kolo is easy to learn but difficult to master. Show off your fancy footwork as you celebrate the day!

[9A]

3 April 2020
Lola Álvarez Bravo’s 117th Birthday





Today’s Doodle celebrates one of Mexico’s first professional female photographers, Lola Álvarez Bravo, on her 117th birthday. Known for her portraits of public figures, as well as street photography chronicling decades of Mexican life, she is considered one of the country’s pioneers of modernist photography.

Born Dolores Martinez de Anda in Jalisco, Mexico, on this day in 1903, the future photographer moved to Mexico City as a child. It was from her neighbor, Manuel Bravo, that she first learned the basics of photography, including developing photos in the darkroom. The pair married in 1925, and both went on to achieve enormous acclaim for their work.

Álvarez Bravo became a central figure in Mexico’s post-revolution cultural renaissance, and among her most internationally-renowned photographs were those taken in the mid-1940s of her friend, and one of the country’s most iconic artists, the painter Frida Kahlo. Through her photojournalistic lens, Álvarez Bravo captured scenes of everyday Mexican life, from local traditions to outdoor barbershops, portraying the depth and breadth of the country’s culture across a career spanning more than half a century.

In 1981, Álvarez Bravo’s home state of Jalisco awarded her a medal of distinction for her contribution to the arts, and four years later, a plaque was installed in her honor in Guadalajara’s historic Degollada Theater.

[9A]

1 Apr 2020
Dame Jean Macnamara's 121st birthday







Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Sydney-based guest artist Thomas Campi, celebrates Australian doctor and medical scientist Dame Jean Macnamara on her 121st birthday. Dr. Macnamara applied her tireless work ethic to better understand and treat various forms of paralysis including polio, and her work contributed to the development of a successful polio vaccine in 1955.

Annie Jean Macnamara was born in Beechworth, Victoria, Australia on this day in 1899, and as a teenager during World World I felt a strengthened resolve “to be of some use in the world.” Standing just 152cm tall, the forthright Dr. Macnamara proved to be a force to be reckoned with.

Dr. Macnamara graduated from medical school in 1925, the same year a polio epidemic struck the capital city of Melbourne. As a consultant and medical officer to the Poliomyelitis Committee of Victoria, she turned her focus to treating and researching the potentially fatal virus, a particular risk for children.

In collaboration with the future Nobel Prize winner Sir Macfarlane Burnet, she discovered in 1931 that there was more than one strain of the poliovirus, a pivotal step towards the development of an effective vaccine nearly 25 years later.

Dr. Macnamara continued to work with sufferers of the disease—especially children—for the rest of her life, developing new methods of treatment and rehabilitation.

For her invaluable commitment to children’s lives, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1935. During her lifetime, Dr. Macnamara's research also played a major role in the introduction of myxomatosis to control rabbit plagues, minimising environmental damage across Australia.

[9A]

21 Mar 2020
Leonid Utyosov’s 125th birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 125th birthday of Soviet musician, singer, and actor Leonid Utyosov who is credited with leading one of the Soviet Union’s early jazz bands.

Lazar Iosifovich Weissbein was born on this day 1895 to a middle-class family in Odessa [now part of Ukraine]. By the end of his teen years, he had taken work as a circus acrobat, stand-up comedian, and theater actor, assuming the stage name Leonid Utyosov. After winning a singing competition, the multi-talented Utyosov formed a band and began touring Moscow, appearing regularly at the city’s famous Hermitage Theater.

While on tour in 1928, Utyosov experienced his first encounter with American jazz, and he was hooked. The next year, he debuted the Tea-Jazz Orchestra, which blended diverse styles, including American jazz, Jewish folk music, Argentinian tangos, and Russian lullabies, and achieved major popularity.
In a return to acting, Utyosov starred in the Hollywood-style hit film Vesyolye rebyata [Jolly Fellows, 1934] which introduced Soviet audiences to a variety of new music and earned him increased exposure across the country.

For his considerable contributions to music and film, Utyosov was designated the 1965 People’s Artist of the USSR, and in 2000, a statue was erected in his honor in his hometown of Odessa.

[9A]

21 June 2017
Machado de Assis’ 178th Birthday





In 1839, Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis was born to a simple family in Morro do Livramento, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was the grandson of freed slaves, in a country where slavery wouldn't be fully abolished until 49 years later. Machado faced the many challenges of being of mixed race in the 19th century, including limited access to formal education. But none of that stopped him from studying literature. While working as a typographer, he experimented with poems, romances, novels and plays.

Machado's work shaped the realism movement in Brazil. He became known for his wit and his eye-opening critiques of society. Today's Doodle features some scenes from his novels — Quincas Borba, Dom Casmurro, and The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas are considered masterpieces to this day. Machado was also a founder and the first president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

[9A]

17 Jun 2017
Susan La Flesche Picotte’s 152nd Birthday






Today’s Doodle honors the life and legacy of Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte [1865-1915], the first American Indian to earn a medical degree.

Picotte grew up in Nebraska on the Omaha reservation, where her father urged her to “be somebody in the world.” She left her village and made her way east, eventually attending the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania [[featured in today’s Doodle on the left), where she graduated at the top of her class. Despite receiving numerous prestigious job offers, Picotte chose to return to the reservation to provide the medical care that her tribe badly needed – tending to patients across 1,350 square miles on foot and horseback, in wind, snow, and rain.

Picotte was also a fierce public health advocate and social reformer. She promoted life-saving hygiene practices, such as the elimination of communal drinking cups and the installation of screen doors to keep out disease-carrying insects. Most notably, in 1913, she personally raised the funds to build a modern hospital in her hometown, which you can see pictured to the right of today’s Doodle.

Picotte’s remarkable career as a physician and health advocate just scratches the surface of her legacy. She was more than the reservation’s doctor – she was also an advisor, confidant, and symbol of hope for the Omaha.

[9A]

5 February 2013
64th anniversary of Alberto Larraguibel's record setting Puissance jump





Colonel Alberto Larraguibel Morales was a Chilean Army officer born in Angol, Chile. He remains as the record holder for highest jump, one of the longest-running unbroken sport records in history. [ 72 years as of 2021] He broke the equestrian high jump record at 2.47 metres [8.1 ft], riding Huaso, formerly called "Faithful", at the Official International Event in Viña del Mar, Chile on February 5, 1949.

[9A]

6 Feb 2013
Mary Leakey's 100th Birthday




Today we celebrate the life and work of anthropologist/archaeologist Mary Leakey. In this Doodle, I wanted to highlight Leakey's work in the most charming way possible. I began by focusing on her discovery of the fossilized Proconsul skull, but ultimately decided to depict a scene of her excavation of the Laetoli footprints. As a fun touch, I included her pet dalmatians, whom are often included in old photographs of Leakey.

[9A]

13 Feb 2013
Fyodor Shalyapin's 140th Birthday





Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass voice, he enjoyed an important international career at major opera houses and is often credited with establishing the tradition of naturalistic acting in his chosen art form.

[9A]

4 Feb 2013
Valentine's Day and George Ferris' 154th Birthday







Romance and amusement parks often go hand in hand. In many places a carnival, fair or circus is a popular destination for a thrilling and action-packed date. Coincidentally, George W.G. Ferris Jr., the creator of the Ferris Wheel was born on Valentine’s Day in 1859. This year seemed like a golden opportunity to combine our celebration of love with the birthday of the engineer whose mechanical invention has filled so many hearts with wonder.

[9A]

19 Feb 2013











An astronomer and mathematician, Nicolaus Copernicus is a shining star of the Renaissance. His major contribution to science is his heliocentric theory, which asserts that the sun is the center of our solar system. As the Earth was popularly assumed the center of the universe, his heliocentric theory rocked convention. Though the mechanics of this theory has mathematical underpinnings, its radical nature still gave Copernicus some pause. It was, therefore, not until his final year that he published his findings in De Revolutionibus orbium coelestium.

We wanted to celebrate Copernicus and his contributions to the world with a subtly animated doodle. Though revolutionary at the time, the heliocentric model is beautiful in its simplicity. The resulting doodle is zen-like and unassuming. Its actions need not scream for attention, much like the slow publication of De Revolutionibus orbium coelestium. The orbits of the solar system are steady and true.

[9A]

21 Feb 2013
Park Su-Geun's Birthday





Park Su-geun was a Korean painter.
Hailing from Yanggu County, Gangwon Province, South Korea Park attended Yanggu Public Elementary School when he was younger, and then taught himself painting as was a teenager. In 1932, he made his debut in painting circles with his work titled 'Spring Is Gone' when it was selected for the 11th annual Seonjeon painting contest. Park ended up being selected a total of eight times in the contest until 1944. In 1953, he participated in the 2nd annual National Art Exhibition and won 1st place. Soon after, he became a full-time painter and won numerous prizes on ten occasions. In 1959, he got a recommendation from the National Art Exhibition and served on the screening committee during the early 1960s.

[9A]

22 Feb 2013
Edward Gorey's 88th Birthday






Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer and artist noted for his illustrated books. His characteristic pen-and-ink drawings often depict vaguely unsettling narrative scenes in Victorian and Edwardian settings.

[9A]

22 Feb 2013
Victor Brecheret's 119th Birthday





Victor Brecheret, born Vittorio Breheret, was an Italian-Brazilian sculptor. He lived most of his life in São Paulo, except for his studies in Paris in his early twenties. Brecheret's work combines techniques of European modernist sculpture with references to his native country through the physical characteristics of his human forms and visual motifs drawn from Brazilian folk art. Many of his subjects are figures from the Bible or classical mythology.

[9A]

28 Jan 2017
Lunar New Year 2017 [South Korea]




With fresh fruit, colorful kites, and pouches full of gifts, today’s Doodle welcomes the Year of the Rooster.

A time of celebration with family and friends, Lunar New Year falls on the first new moon between January 21 and February 20 each year. While this means the date is always changing, the traditions surrounding the holiday have long been the same. In Korea, families usually start preparing a week in advance by making food, purchasing gifts, and planning their travels home.

Once New Year’s Day arrives, Koreans kick off the festivities by honoring their ancestors. This is followed by a meal where tteokguk, a traditional soup filled with rice cakes, beef, eggs, and other ingredients is served. Family members then exchange presents and participate in a variety of folk games, including jegichagi, where you try to keep a small object afloat using only your foot, and tuho, where you aim arrows into a narrow-necked wooden jar.

As loved ones come together for good food and friendly competition, here’s to a happy and healthy new year!

[9A]

24 Feb 2013
Lantern Festival 2013





The Lantern Festival or the Spring Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar. Usually falling in February or early March on the Gregorian calendar, it marks the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, it had become a festival with great significance. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns

[9A]

24 Feb 2013
Estonia Independence Day 2013








Independence Day is a national holiday in Estonia marking the anniversary of the Estonian Declaration of Independence in 1918. It is commonly celebrated with concerts, parades and parties. It is the national day of Estonia.Estonia as a unified political entity first emerged after the Russian February Revolution of 1917. With the collapse of the Russian Empire in World War I, Russia's provisional government granted national autonomy to a unified Estonia in April. The Governorate of Estonia in the north [corresponding to the historic Danish Estonia] was united with the northern part of the Governorate of Livonia. Elections for a provisional parliament, Maapäev, were organized. On 5 November 1917, two days before the October Revolution in Saint Petersburg, Estonian Bolshevik leader Jaan Anvelt violently usurped power from the legally constituted Maapäev in a coup d'état, forcing the Maapäev underground.

After the collapse of the peace talks between Soviet Russia and the German Empire in February 1918, mainland Estonia was occupied by the Germans, with Bolshevik forces retreating to Russia. Between the Russian Red Army's retreat and the arrival of advancing German troops, the Salvation Committee of the Estonian National Council Maapäev issued the Estonian Declaration of Independence

[9A]

1 Mar 2013
Ryunosuke Akutagawa's 121st Birthday





Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, art name Chōkōdō Shujin was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story", and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him. He committed suicide at the age of 35 through an overdose of barbital.

[9A]

1 Mar 2013
St David's Day 2013




Saint David's Day or the Feast of Saint David, is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March, the date of Saint David's death in 589 AD. The feast has been regularly celebrated since the canonisation of David in the 12th century, by Pope Callixtus II, though it is not a public holiday in the UK.

Traditional festivities include wearing daffodils and leeks, recognised symbols of Wales and Saint David respectively, eating traditional Welsh food including cawl and Welsh rarebit, and women wearing traditional Welsh dress. An increasing number of cities and towns across Wales including Cardiff, Swansea and Aberystwyth also put on parades throughout the da

[9A]

1 Mar 2013
Ramón Gómez Cornet's 115th Birthday





Ramón Gómez Cornet was an Argentine painter. He was one of the forerunners of the modern Argentine painting.

[9A]

3 Mar 2013
Bulgaria Liberation Day 2013

[9A]

4 Mar 2013
Miriam Makeba's 81st Birthday







South African singer and civil rights activist Miriam Makeba was born in 1932 in Johannesburg. Unfortunately, her early life was marred by tragedy and hardship; when she was just 18 days old, her mother was sent to prison and Makeba went with her. Makeba later lived with her grandmother in Pretoria and joined her church and school choirs. In the 1950s, she moved to Sophiatown, where music filled the streets — big band, African jazz, and anything else that moved people to sing. Thanks to her musical talent, by the end of the decade, she had made a name for herself throughout the country.

Makeba performed with a few different bands and embarked on an acting career. In 1959, she appeared in a documentary that angered the South African authorities; as a result, her passport was revoked. The advent of apartheid led her to leave South Africa. She found success in the United States however, winning a Grammy Award in 1965 and joining Paul Simon on his Graceland tour in the 1980s. She used her newfound fame to draw attention to the suffering and oppression of South Africa under apartheid.

Makeba continued making music and fought for humanitarian causes throughout the rest of her life. Upon her passing, Nelson Mandela said, "Her haunting melodies gave voice to the pain of exile and dislocation which she felt for 31 long years. At the same time, her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us."

[9A]

16 September 2019
Mexico Independence Day 2019




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

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

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

[9A]

19 Sept 2019
Tin Tan’s 104th Birthday






The exact origins of the Mexican-American term “Pachuco” are hard to pin down, but one of the most famous Pachucos in history would have to be Tin Tan. Today’s animated Doodle celebrates the actor, singer, and comedian who got his start in the nightclubs of Ciudad Juarez, just south of the Rio Grande, and went on to redefine a misunderstood youth culture.

Born in Mexico City on this day in 1915, Germán Genaro Cipriano Gómez Valdés de Castillo, also known as Tin Tan, helped to popularize the Mexican-American Pachuco. Known for their streetwise swagger and “zoot suits,” Tin Tan’s Pachuco characters were a variation on the “tramp” often portrayed by Mexican film actor Cantinflas. Often accompanied by Marcelo Chávez on guitar, Tin Tan appeared alongside the actress Famie Kaufman, also known as Vitola, though legend has it that he kissed more leading ladies than any actor in history.

His performance in films like the musical comedy Calabacitas Tiernas helped popularize the dialect known as caló, a mixture of Spanish and English spoken along the border. Besides appearing in more than 100 films, Tin Tan also recorded 11 records and voiced beloved Disney characters like Baloo in The Jungle Book and Cat O'Malley in The Aristocats.

Though he reportedly turned down The Beatles’ invitation to appear on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Tin Tan was honored by the Asociación de Actores de México. His legacy lives on in a statue on Génova Street in Mexico City’s Zona Rosa, standing as a symbol of pride in Mexico’s cultural heritage.

[9A]

19 September 2013
Robert Storm Petersen's 131st Birthday





Ramón Gómez Cornet was an Argentine painter. He was one of the forerunners of the modern Argentine painting. During his life he made around 1500 works, including oils, watercolors, pastels, drawings and prints. 50 of them are in national, provincial and foreign museums.

[9A]

20 Sept 2013
Olga Ferri's 85th Birthday [Argentina]







Olga Ferri was an Argentine choreographer and ballet dancer. She joined the Ballet of the Teatro Colón at eighteen and was prima ballerina from 1949.

[9A]

21 Sept 2013
Arbor Day 2013 Brazil










The Arbor Day [Dia da Árvore] is celebrated on September 21. It is not a national holiday. However, schools nationwide celebrate this day with environment-related activities, namely tree planting.

[9A]

28 January 2016
Hidetsugu Yagi’s 130th Birthday





Today we celebrate Hidetsugu Yagi's 130th birthday, and thank him for keeping our television and radio signal coming in loud and clear. Because of the Yagi antenna, radios and televisions can receive stronger signals from a specific direction, which helps avoid interference from surrounding signals.

Hidetsugu Yagi was a Japanese electrical engineer. He and his colleague Shintaro Uda developed and spread the technology for this antenna together, which is why the full name is the Yagi-Uda antenna.
Their invention was patented in 1926 and is used today on millions of houses throughout the world for radio and television reception. If you look outside, you can probably see one or two of these right in your neighborhood—maybe even on your own roof!

[9A]

30 Jan 2016
Amrita Sher-Gil’s 103rd Birthday







Vivid color, graceful forms, and bold strokes mark the truly remarkable life and work of Indian painter, Amrita Sher-Gil. Today's Doodle honors the "Indian Frida Kahlo," who left no holds barred in her work, or in her life. Her paintings speak volumes of her passionate lifestyle and relentless desire to express herself through her canvasses.

Sher-Gil studied and practiced in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where she got her start as an artist and life consummate bohemian. Over time, her work became a clear salute to the feminine form, and Sher-Gil into an uncompromising talent.

[9A]

1 Feb 2016
Celebrating Frederick Douglass




[Note: This is a repeat of an earlier post with additional biographical information and links to more interesting literature. 9A]

There is scarcely a finer example of the power of education than Frederick Douglass. To celebrate the 198th birthday of one of American history’s most important thinkers, we invited guest artist Richie Pope to illustrate today’s homepage. For historical perspective, we turned to the Gilder Lehman Institute’s curator and director, Sandra Trenholm, who offered this biographical sketch:

Born Frederick Bailey in Maryland in February 1818, Frederick Douglass was the son of an enslaved woman and an unknown white father. His early life was spent on a plantation. However, when Douglass was eight years old, he was sent to Baltimore to work for the family of Hugh and Sophia Auld. In the Auld household, he learned a very valuable and life-changing lesson: education was the key to his freedom.

Sophia Auld had not owned slaves before and treated Douglass with great kindness, taught him the alphabet, and awakened his love of learning. In his autobiographies, Douglass later wrote, “The frequent hearing of my mistress reading the Bible aloud… awakened my curiosity in respect to this mystery of reading, and roused in me the desire to learn.” When Hugh Auld learned of his wife’s activities, he warned that “if you teach him how to read, he’ll want to know how to write, and this accomplished, he’ll be running away with himself.” It was a statement that burned itself into Douglass’s mind. “From that moment, I understood the direct pathway from slavery to freedom.”

Although Sophia now refused to teach him, Douglass would not be thwarted in his quest for an education. His duties in the Auld household frequently had him running errands in the city. Away from the scrutiny of his masters, he obtained a copy of Noah Webster’s spelling book and made friends with a group of white boys who gave him spelling lessons. At the age of thirteen, he made a little extra money shining boots and bought a copy of the Columbian Orator for fifty cents [just over fourteen dollars now]. This collection of political speeches, poems, and essays introduced Douglass to the ideals of the American Revolution.

At the age of fifteen, Douglass’s legal owner died and he was forced to return to plantation life. He spent the next five years assigned to several harsh masters, and endured severe hunger and beatings. After two unsuccessful attempts, he escaped from slavery in 1838 at the age of twenty and changed his name to Frederick Douglass.

Despite being at great risk of capture as a runaway slave, Douglass spoke about his experiences frequently at anti-slavery meetings. A truly gifted, eloquent, and articulate speaker, Douglass quickly became a leading figure in the abolitionist movement. He published his first autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave, in 1845. His fame attracted slave catchers which prompted him to leave the United States. In 1847, a group of British supporters raised money to purchase his freedom, and Douglass was able to return to the United States a free man.

Upon his return, Douglass continued to advocate the abolition of slavery. He also championed equal rights for all Americans, regardless of race or gender. He published two additional autobiographies, founded five newspapers, and served as the US Consul General to Haiti.

At a time when many argued that slaves did not possess the intellectual capacity to be educated, Douglass stood as stark evidence of enslaved people’s potential. Yet despite all he accomplished in his life, Douglass was haunted by the uncertainty of something most people take for granted--the date of his birth. On March 24, 1894, Douglass wrote to Hugh Auld’s son, Benjamin, hoping to find out how old he was:
The principal thing I desired in making the inquiries I have of you was to get some idea of my exact age. I have always been troubled by the thought of having no birth day. My Mistress Lucretia Auld, said that I was eight or nearly eight when I went to Baltimore in the summer of 1825, and this corresponds with what you have heard your kind mother say on the subject. so I now judge that I am now about 77-years old.

Frederick Douglass died a year later, on February 20, 1895, not knowing the date of his birth. It was not until after his death that historians discovered Aaron Anthony’s plantation ledger recording Douglass’s birth year as 1818. The exact date is still unknown.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a New York–based national nonprofit devoted to the teaching and learning of American history. On February 4, 2016, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University, the Institute will award the 17th annual Frederick Douglass Book Prize.

To help us commemorate Frederick Douglass’s legacy, the Gilder Lehman Institute curated an exhibit of photographs and ephemera that you can explore here. Through our partnership with Open Road Integrated Media, Google Play Books is offering a free download of Douglass’s seminal autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave, which is available starting today, February 1, 2016.

[9A]

4 Feb 2016
Yam Kim Fai’s 103rd Birthday




Chinese theatergoers have beheld the spectacle of Cantonese Opera since before the end of the Song Dynasty nearly 800 years ago. Thousands of performers have appeared on stages all across Southern China in that time, and the star of today’s homepage, Yam Kim-fai, is perhaps one of modern history’s most beloved. Known for her ability to sing in a low register and play both male and female roles, audience s thronged venues like Hong Kong’s Central Theater throughout the mid-twentieth century to watch Yam perform. Affectionately nicknamed the “opera fans’ lover”, she would eventually star in dozens of movies as well.

[9A]

4 Feb 2016
Weiberfastnacht 2016



A holiday celebrated mostly in the Rhineland on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday. Originally a special day for women’s carnival, but now celebrated by both sexes as the beginning of the six-day peak of the carnival season. Remnants of the original purpose are that women are allowed to cut off men's ties and to kiss [[on the cheek) whomever they want.

[9A]

20 May 2018
Celebrating Abraham Ortelius





Long before we were able to map the world and put it online, Abraham Ortelius made a lasting impact by collecting the latest information from scientists, geographers, and cartographers and transforming it into what the world now knows as the modern day atlas.

The atlas, titled Theatrum Orbis Terrarum [Theatre of the World], was first published on this day in 1570 and is significant for a couple reasons. Within these pages, we see the first evidence of someone imagining continental drift - the theory that continents were joined together before drifting apart to their present day positions. Flipping through the pages, you may also notice a sea monster or two in the water - these mythical creatures were a subject of fascination in Ortelius’ generation, and often appeared alongside the ever changing landscapes of the atlas maps.

As every atlas is an aggregation of many maps, Ortelius was also one of the first cartographers to consistently add sources and names to the creators of the original maps, as evidenced by the first map pictured in today’s animated Doodle. Adding his fellow scientists’ names to the atlas wasn’t just a professional courtesy - Ortelius was known for corresponding with prominent scientists and humanists from all over Europe, a practice that yielded much insight into the great thinkers of his time.

[9A]

27 Feb 2014
Dominican Republic Independence Day 2014






In 1844, Dominican independence was proclaimed and the republic, which was often known as Santo Domingo until the early 20th century, maintained its independence except for a short Spanish occupation from 1861 to 1865 and occupation by the United States from 1916 to 1924.

[9A]

5 Mar 2014
Giambattista Tiepolo's 318th Birthday [born 1696]



Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, also known as Giambattista [or Gianbattista] Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. He was prolific, and worked not only in Italy, but also in Germany and Spain.

[9A]

9 Mar 2014
Taras Shevchenko's 200th Birthday [born 1814]





Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko , also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar, was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, as well as folklorist and ethnographer. His literary heritage is regarded to be the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and, to a large extent, the modern Ukrainian language, though the language of his poems was different from the modern Ukrainian language. Shevchenko is also known for many masterpieces as a painter and an illustrator.

[9A]

18 Mar 2014
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's 170th Birthday [born 1844]





Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakovwas 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]

20 Mar 2014
Tunisia Independence Day






The process of Tunisian Independence occurred from 1952 to 1956 between France and a separatist movement led by Habib Bourguiba. Bourguiba became the first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia after negotiations with France successfully brought an end to the colonial protectorate leading to independence.

[9A]

6 Apr 2014
Cricket T20 World Cup 2014 Final







The 2014 ICC World Twenty20 Final was played between India and Sri Lanka at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on 6 April 2014. This was the 5th ICC World Twenty20. Sri Lanka won the match by six wickets, its first World Twenty20 victory, after being runners-up twice at 2009 and 2012. Sri Lanka became the 5th team to win this title after India, Pakistan, England , West Indies. This was the third time where both the finalists were Asian teams. In the stadium, the match was watched by 25,000 spectator

[9A]

7 Apr 2014
Victoria Ocampo's 124th Birthday [born 1890]




Victoria Ocampo CBE was an Argentine writer and intellectual, described by Jorge Luis Borges as La mujer más argentina ["The quintessential Argentine woman"]. Best known as an advocate for others and as publisher of the literary magazine Sur, she was also a writer and critic in her own right and one of the most prominent South American women of her time. Her sister Silvina Ocampo, also a writer, was married to Adolfo Bioy Casares.

[9A]

8 Apr 2014
Dionisios Solomos's 216th Birthday





Dionysios Solomos was a Greek poet from Zakynthos. He is best known for writing the Hymn to Liberty, of which the first two stanzas, set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros, became the Greek and Cypriot national anthem in 1865 and 1966 respectively. He was the central figure of the Heptanese School of poetry, and is considered the national poet of Greece—not only because he wrote the national anthem, but also because he contributed to the preservation of earlier poetic tradition and highlighted its usefulness to modern literature. Other notable poems include Ὁ Κρητικός [The Cretan], Ἐλεύθεροι Πολιορκημένοι [The Free Besieged]. A characteristic of his work is that no poem except the Hymn to Liberty was completed, and almost nothing was published during his lifetime.

[9A]

11 Apr 2014
Percy Julian's 115th Birthday





If you are intrigued by today's doodle on the U.S. Google homepage, celebrating organic chemist, Dr. Percy Julian, I can provide no better recommendation than to watch the PBS documentary, Forgotten Genius, illustrating both his personal life and life's work.

It's no scientific revelation that it's the experiences from our everyday lives that inform our work, and in Dr. Julian's case, he used these experiences, overcoming tremendous challenges and racial barriers [and even a couple happy accidents] to become one of the most renowned and highly respected chemists in history.

His most well known triumph was the synthesis of the alkaloid, physostigmine, found in the african calabar bean, which led to a more readily available treatment of ailments such as glaucoma and Alzheimer's Disease. He also pioneered many uses from the soybean and soybean oil, developing a better process for obtaining cortisoneto treat arthritis or to aid the body in the receiving of organ transplants.

[9A]

9 July 2018
Carlota Jaramillo’s 114th Birthday




Today’s Doodle celebrates the 114th birthday of Ecuadorian singer and guitarist María Isabel Carlota Jaramillo, whose powerful renditions of traditional tango and pasillo standards keep the spirit of Ecuador’s people alive.

Born in 1904 in Calacalí, a rural parish north of Quito, Jaramillo was taught to play guitar by her uncle. Although her mother encouraged her to focus on her studies, Carolta entered an amateur singing contest with her sister Inés. There, the girls' talent attracted the attention of Rafael Ramos Albuja, who invited them to join his musical theater company.

Jaramillo embarked on a solo career in 1935, specializing in songs full of beauty and heartbreak. She broadcasted hypnotic performances on Radio Quito three times a week, and released numerous popular recordings starting with “Honda Pena” in 1938. While her musical accomplishments may not have translated into an opulent lifestyle, she continues to be heralded in Ecuador as “La Reina de la Canción Nacional,” or Queen of the nation’s music to this day.

[9A]

12 Jul 2018
Celebrating Sarah 'Fanny' Durack





Today’s Doodle celebrates Sarah “Fanny” Durack, a titan in her sport who fought tirelessly for the right to represent her country on the world stage. In 1912 Fanny became the first Australian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming, going on to break every world record in women’s swimming from the 100-meter to the 1-mile.

Born in Sydney on October 27, 1889, Durack learned to swim with her two sisters at tidal pools near Coogee Beach. Winning her first championship at age 13, she went on to dominate the sport in Australia.

The 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm were the first to include women in swimming. Dismissing concerns about female athletes competing in front of male spectators, Durack and “Mina” Wylie petitioned the New South Wales Ladies Swimming Association to allow them to participate. Having set two world records that same year, Durack and her close runner-up Mina won the right to compete—but the Amateur Swimming Union would not pay the expenses for their trip to Sweden. They appeared at fundraisers to earn the money, letting no obstacle stop them from making a mark on the global stage.

A century later, Fanny Durack’s name lives on thanks to her commitment to the pursuit of excellence—and to gender equality in sports.

[9A]

3 August 2019
Madiha Kamel’s 73rd Birthday






Today’s Doodle celebrates the birthday of Egyptian actress Madiha Kamel, born in Alexandria on this day in 1946. Appearing in a diverse range of roles over a career spanning nearly three decades, she became one of Egyptian cinema’s most memorable personalities.

Participating in theater since elementary school, Kamel moved to Cairo in the early 1960s, where she took an interest in fashion and modeling. She caught the eye of a well-known director, who offered her a role in his next film. However, her parents resisted, preferring that she get married and pursue her education.

While studying at Ain Shams University, she took part in theater and radio sketches. Her earliest on-screen roles came in the mid-1960s in films such as A Girl Like No Other and 30 Days in Prison, in which she appeared opposite the great actor and producer Farid Shawqi. Known for her beguiling charm and enchanting dance moves, Kamel soon became a star.

As her profile began to rise, she kept up a rigorous schedule being featured in both Egyptian and Lebanese productions. In the 1970s, she appeared in films like The Choice, Love and Pride with Mahmoud Yassin and Najla Fathi, and the spy thriller Climbing to the Bottom. She also had a recurring role on Egyptian television playing Salwa Nassar in the popular show El Bashayer.

In 1992, Kamel retired so she could spend time with her ailing mother and her daughter Mirhan. Her legacy lives on as a trailblazer especially for women in Egyptian cultural life, inspiring other young aspiring actresses to chase their dreams.