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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.

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St. Patrick's Day 2017



To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, today’s Doodle takes us to the mystical Skellig Michael, a remote island just off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland. The breathtaking destination is a World Heritage Site and home to many species of seabirds — like puffins, gannets, and razorbills — that perch atop the island’s summit. If you’re brave enough to scale the 600 steps to the top of the rocky precipice, you’ll see a magnificent view of the mainland and the Atlantic Ocean from 714 feet above sea level. The Skelligs are part of the Kerry Gaeltacht, where locals speak Irish, and you may hear “céad míle fáilte,” or “a hundred thousand welcomes,” if you visit.

Bonus draft! Just for fun :)



Skellig Michael appeared on the big screen in 2015, and since then, more and more people have been coming to take in the stunning scenery. Just for fun, Doodler Matt Cruickshank explored the island’s cinematic claim to fame. He says, “I thoroughly enjoyed populating this magical island with shamrock people, even one from a shamrock galaxy far, far away.”

How Google’s St. Patrick’s Day Doodle is built on a Star Wars Easter egg

Those qualities made Skellig Michael a desirable location for Star Wars filmmakers, who sought just the sort of destination where a gray-bearded Luke Skywalker might live alone in monastic exile. Rather than green screen, the directors wanted emerald reality. And so, at the end of J.J. Abrams’s “The Force Awakens,” Rey (Daisy Ridley), lightsaber in hand, finally finds Luke (Mark Hamill) on Skellig Michael — where Team Star Wars also shot scenes for Rian Johnson’s “The Last Jedi,” due out in December.

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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.

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First Day of Spring 2017 (Northern Hemisphere)



Today is the spring equinox — when the day and night are equal in length. The word equinox comes from the Latin for equal and night. Almost everywhere in the world today, nighttime and daytime are each 12 hours.

We use the equinox to mark the change of seasons, as the balance of light shifts to make for longer days or nights. It usually means that it's time to hunker down for colder seasons, or time to rise and shine for warmer ones, as in the case of our furry friend the mouse! You may also notice that on the equinox, the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west, whereas at other times in the year, it appears off-center if you're facing those directions. Today, we mark the equinox with a Doodle to celebrate the changing seasons.

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First Day of Fall 2017 (Southern Hemisphere)



Today is the autumn equinox — when the day and night are equal in length. The word equinox comes from the Latin for equal and night. Almost everywhere in the world today, nighttime and daytime are each 12 hours.

We use the equinox to mark the change of seasons, as the balance of light shifts to make for longer days or nights. It usually means that it's time to time to rise and shine for warmer seasons, or hunker down for colder ones, as in the case of our furry friend the mouse! You may also notice that on the equinox, the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west, whereas at other times in the year, it appears off-center if you're facing those directions. Today, we mark the equinox with a Doodle to celebrate the changing seasons.

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Nowruz 2017



For more than 3,000 years, people of Persian ancestry have been celebrating Nowruz, the return of spring and the start of a new year. A combination of the Persian words “now” for new and “ruz” for day, it is often celebrated at the exact moment of the vernal (spring) equinox, when the days start getting longer, and the celebrations can continue for up to two weeks.

Nowruz is a time of joyous renewal. Visits with friends and family, a clean house and new clothes, and special spring foods are traditional ways to celebrate the holiday. Perhaps the most enduring image of Nowruz is gathering together with friends and family around a bonfire. People also like to decorate with springtime flowers, like the hyacinths and tulips in today’s Doodle.

Happy Nowruz!

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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!

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Saridjah Niung’s 109th Birthday



Sukabumi-born Saridjah Niung, better known as Mrs. Soed, was a well-loved musician, teacher, radio announcer, playwright and batik artist in Indonesia. Her music delighted the ears of young children, and to this day, they can be heard singing along to the tune of her most popular songs: ”Hi Pedicab,” “Strong Kids,” and “Butterflies.”

Along with music for kindergarten-aged kids, she was also revered for her patriotic hymns. She wrote masterpieces during the Dutch colonial years about the Japanese occupation and Indonesia’s independence. Mrs. Soed also wrote the Indonesian national anthem “Fatherland,” and “Berkibarlah Benderaku.”

Today, we celebrate Saridjah Niung Soedibjo Star’s artistic contributions on what would have been her 109th birthday.

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Saridjah Niung’s 109th Birthday



Sukabumi-born Saridjah Niung, better known as Mrs. Soed, was a well-loved musician, teacher, radio announcer, playwright and batik artist in Indonesia. Her music delighted the ears of young children, and to this day, they can be heard singing along to the tune of her most popular songs: ”Hi Pedicab,” “Strong Kids,” and “Butterflies.”

Along with music for kindergarten-aged kids, she was also revered for her patriotic hymns. She wrote masterpieces during the Dutch colonial years about the Japanese occupation and Indonesia’s independence. Mrs. Soed also wrote the Indonesian national anthem “Fatherland,” and “Berkibarlah Benderaku.”

Today, we celebrate Saridjah Niung Soedibjo Star’s artistic contributions on what would have been her 109th birthday.

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Sergei Diaghilev’s 145th Birthday



Born in 1872 to a wealthy Russian family, art critic, visionary, and all-around provocateur Sergei Diaghilev made his mark on the performing arts with his influential Ballets Russes, a trailblazing dance company that united talents from the disciplines of art, fashion, dance, choreography, and music, and vaulted them to dizzying creative heights.

From 1909-1929, the Ballet Russes performed on stages around the globe, mesmerizing, even scandalizing, audiences with its unprecedented costumes, stage sets, compositions, and choreography. In Schéhérazade, which premiered at the Théâtre national de l’Opéra, Paris, in 1910, dancers traded tutus for artist Léon Bakst’s risqué harem pants while Vaslav Nijinsky performed in gold body paint and bejeweled costumes. Firebird, based on Russian fairy tales, marked Diaghilev’s first commissioned score from Igor Stravinsky, kicking off a collaboration that would include the primal work, The Rite of Spring and Pulcinella (with costumes and sets by Pablo Picasso).

Anna Pavlova, Henri Matisse, Jean Cocteau—all figured into Diaghilev’s sensational productions.

Today, on Sergei Diaghilev’s 145th birthday, we salute his boundless imagination with a Doodle that depicts the impresario flanked by his vividly costumed Ballets Russes dancers against an onion-domed Russian backdrop. Diaghilev wowed the world, both then and now.