Google

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240th Anniversary of the Bolshoi Theater's Foundation

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Ángela Ruiz Robles’s 121st Birthday

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kr0U_p ... qp__nPZGE0

Ángela Ruiz Robles, born 121 years ago today, was a writer, teacher, inventor, and pioneer of the e-book. Inspired by technological advancement in things like television and cars, she aimed to bring innovation to education as well. Her ingenious "mechanical encyclopedia," with information on scrolling coils that could be switched out for new ones, made it possible for students to study at home without carrying around heavy books. The invention also included a light source, so that students without access to electricity could read unimpaired. After she patented her invention, Robles continued to work on the fabrication of the encyclopedia, with the intention of making it more affordable for students everywhere.

Doodler Kevin Laughlin's design spells "Google" with the looping coils of the Enciclopedia Mecánica. The seafoam green of the encyclopedia's case (a characteristic feature) was a key detail that was added just before finishing.

Happy birthday, Ángela Ruiz Robles! Thanks for getting education and technology off on a roll.

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Doodle 4 Google 2016 — Ireland Winner



Congratulations to Mia Buckley, of Summercove, Cork. She is the winner of the 2016 Doodle 4 Google competition for Ireland.

In light of the centenary of the events of 1916, we asked the children of Ireland to tell us what Ireland Is... to them. In her submission Mia wrote, "Ireland is a land so green with grazing cattle to be seen. Steeped in rich history with music and sports so fine. I love this Irish home of mine."

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Start of the 100th tour of Flanders



Today marks the 100th tour of Flanders, or De Ronde van Vlaanderen, an annual springtime road cycling race held in Belgium since 1913. The 2016 race covers 255 km (158 mi) with 18 categorized climbs and 7 flat cobblestoned sections — a notoriously bumpy ride for cyclists.

This year’s race starts in Bruges, and Doodler Alyssa Winans has included a famous Belfry in the Market Square starting area. Then, riders will head south to Torhout, where De Ronde's founder, Karel Van Wijnendaele was born.

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Cazuza’s 58th birthday



Like so many great rock musicians, Agenor Miranda Araújo Neto, better known as Cazuza, began his career rattling the walls of neighborhood garages. A native of Rio de Janeiro, he fell in with the fledgling rock group Barão Vermelho when a friend urged him to audition for their open lead vocalist position. After landing a song on the soundtrack for a local film, the group played at the first ever Rock in Rio music festival, and their popularity soared.

After four years with band, Cazuza embarked on an enormously successful solo career. His music and profound lyrics were a testament to his travels in the UK and his brushes with Beat poetry in San Francisco. In 1988, Cazuza’s health declined, and in 1989 he announced that he had been living with AIDS. He continued to compose and perform despite the illness. Through his openness, charm, and advocacy, Cazuza helped ease the stigmas surrounding the LGBT and HIV-positive communities in Brazil. When he died in July of 1990, thousands lined the streets of Rio for his funeral procession.

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120th Anniversary of First Modern Olympic Games




oday is the 120th anniversary of the first modern Olympic games, which started in Athens, Greece in 1896. Officially called the Games of the I Olympiad, the events took place inside the Panathenaic Stadium. The 1896 games included 9 different sports and 43 events. Most noteworthy was the marathon — it had the greatest number of international athletes ever. Equally noteworthy was its winner, Spyridon "Spyro" Louis, the only Greek champion in the athletics division, and a national hero for the host country. His monumental victory on that historic day continues to inspire Greek pride.

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Pandit Ravi Shankar’s 96th birthday



Today we celebrate Pandit Ravi Shankar, who was born 96 years ago today. Shankar evangelized the use of Indian instruments in Western music, introducing the atmospheric hum of the sitar to audiences worldwide. He performed frequently with the violinist Yehudi Menuhin, and composed a concerto with sitar for the London Symphony Orchestra. Shankar also taught George Harrison of the Beatles how to play the sitar, and widely influenced popular music in the 1960s and 70s.

Shankar's music popularized the fundamentals of Indian music, including raga, a melodic form. Raga, as Shankar explained, has "its own peculiar ascending and descending movement consisting of either a full seven-note octave, or a series of six or five notes in a rising or falling structure." The distinctive character of Shankar's compositions attracted the attention of composer Philip Glass, with whom Shankar wrote the 1990 album Passages.

The centerpiece of today's Doodle is a sitar. It has two bridges, one for the "drone" strings and the other for the melody strings. Laughlin's design shows the style of sitar Shankar played, which includes a second gourd-shape resonator at the top of the instrument's neck.

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Samaun Samadikun’s 85th birthday



In today's doodle by Sophie Diao, we pay tribute to Samaun Samadikun, one of Indonesia’s brightest scientific minds. Born in 1931, he earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, was a professor at Indonesia’s Bandung Institute of Technology and was the founder of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences. His contributions to microelectronics research, space programs, and university engineering still resonate today. A very Happy Birthday to Dr. Samadikun on what would have been his 85th birthday.