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Songkran 2017



Celebrated in Thailand every April 13-15, Songkran is the New Year’s holiday famous around the world for it’s 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!

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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.

Shubho Noboborsho! (Happy New Year!)

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56th Anniversary of Xingu Indigenous Park



Officially dedicated in 1961, Xingu Indigenous Park celebrates its 56th anniversary today. The park is located in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso and spans 6,528,530 acres of savannah and forest. Xingu’s primary goal was to protect the social diversity of Brazil’s indigenous people, and was created after a long campaign by activist brothers, Orlando and Leonardo Villas-Bôas. Some of the tribes that call Xingu home are the Kamayurá, Kaiabi, Yudjá, Aweti, Mehinako, Wauja, Yawalapiti, Ikpeng, Kalapalo, Kuikuro, Matipu, Nahukwá, Suyá, and Trumai. In all, several thousand indigenous people live within the park’s boundaries.

Today’s Doodle puts Xingu indigenous culture on full display. Hugged tightly by the all-important Xingu River, the design incorporates Xingu cultural elements like fishing baskets, cassava root, buildings, and headdress.

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Esther Afua Ocloo’s 98th Birthday



As both an entrepreneur and an advocate for microlending, “Auntie Ocloo” worked tirelessly to help others like her succeed. Esther Afua Ocloo had only six shillings to her name — less than a dollar — when she made and then sold her first jar of marmalade as a teenager in the 1930s.

Esther was determined to expand her livelihood of making marmalade and orange juice, but she needed a loan to increase production, and credit was hard to come by for women with little economic resources. It took persistence and a supply contract to secure the money to start her company, Nkulenu Industries.

After traveling to England to learn the latest techniques in food processing, Esther returned home and shared those skills with other Ghanaian women. Perhaps more importantly, she taught them everything she knew about starting and running a business, which put more money in their pockets. She made such an impact that in 1975 she was invited to the first U.N. World Conference on Women.

Esther and other advisors knew that lending money to women could have a ripple effect, improving the prosperity and health of the women as well as their communities. But because they lacked collateral, low-income women were often ignored by banks. So in 1979, Esther helped found and became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Women’s World Banking, which provides millions of low-income women with the small loans needed to reach their financial goals.

On what would have been her 98th birthday, today’s Doodle shows Esther empowering the women of Ghana with the tools to improve their lives and communities.

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Kaimook Chuto’s 79th Birthday

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Earth Day 2017



Happy Earth Day 2017!

Today, we honor the rich, vast Earth that’s sustained generations before us and continues to nurture life and inspire wonder. At an estimated 4.543 billion years of age, the Earth is still the only known object in the Universe known to harbor life. It’s also the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest of the four terrestrial planets. That’s quite an awe-inspiring roster of qualities, if you ask us.

Today’s Doodle follows the story of a fox who dreams about an Earth that’s been polluted and adversely affected by climate change. The fox wakes with a startle, and urgently starts making small lifestyle changes to care for the Earth. Along the way, the fox enlists friends – including Momo the cat, and Google Weather’s favorite frog – to join its quest to protect and nurture the environment.

To combat things like coral bleaching and pollution, the three eco-rangers are inspired to take action such as eating less meat, carpooling, and unplugging unused electronic devices. That’s some heroic work for tiny animals!

Celebrating Earth Day on Google Search

But the Earth Day celebration doesn’t end there! By clicking beyond the Doodle to Google Search, you’ll find easy Earth Day tips to help you do your part in saving our planet, including supporting critical conservation efforts such as wildlife conservation with World Wildlife Fund, coral reef conservation with The Ocean Agency, and rainforest conservation with The Jane Goodall Institute.

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St. George's Day 2017



Legend has it that he rode to the town of Silene in Libya on a white horse, saved a princess from her untimely end, and slayed a dragon in one fell swoop. Today, that Roman soldier is remembered on St. George’s Day.

In 1415, St. George’s Day was pronounced a national feast day and holiday in England. In modern times, he’s commemorated with parades and dancing and the waving of flags. His insignia, a red cross against a stark white background, became England’s flag, and is omnipresent at English football, cricket and rugby matches.

Our Doodle captures the magic of St. George as he courageously crusades against the mighty dragon, surrounded by boughs of beautiful roses. The illustration is by guest artist Marina Muun, whose colorful, fanciful work has been featured The New Yorker, Smithsonian Magazine, Wrap Magazine and V&A, among many others.

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Rajkumar’s 88th Birthday



Today’s Doodle honors Rajkumar, widely considered one of India’s finest and most prolific actors. Beginning in 1953, the method actor’s career spanned 200 films and a wide swath of movie genres and roles, establishing Rajkumar as a dynamic and enduring presence in Kannada cinema.

Early drafts of today’s Doodle featured different interpretations of the beloved star’s work. The first illustrates Rajkumar singing and holding the white bird from Kasturi Nivasa, a quintessential Kannada drama and a cornerstone of Rajkumar’s cinematic legacy. Another Doodle draft showcases an array of iconic characters Rajkumar played over a half century of acting. Ultimately the Doodle team decided to feature Rajkumar’s larger-than-life personality beaming at a crowd of moviegoers from the silver screen where his legacy lives on for generations of Indian audiences.

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Celebrating Maria Zambrano



Maria Zambrano was a prolific Spanish writer, thinker, and philosopher associated with the Generation of ‘36—a literary movement composed of artists, poets, and playwrights who documented the experiences of creative people during the tumultuous times of the Spanish Civil War. On this date in 1988, Zambrano was the first woman to receive the Miguel de Cervantes Prize for her work in the genres of philosophy and essay. This prize honors the lifetime achievements of outstanding Spanish writers who have had profound historical impact.

It’s nearly impossible to distill Zambrano’s layered ideologies into just a few words. She centered her thinking on the topics of the person, the word, love, time, creativity, and compassion as it relates to the human condition. She explored the political, the ethical, the vital, the spiritual, the mystical, the phenomenological, the anthropological, the historical, the rational, and the poetic. Zambrano is perhaps most famous for her combination of these areas as a means to understand a new reality: a notion she coined “poetic reason.” This theory applies human emotion and creativity to traditional rational and logical modes of thought, in order to give a new voice of truth to the human experience.

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Cassini Spacecraft Dives Between Saturn and its Rings!



Saturn, get ready for your close-up! Today the Cassini spacecraft starts a series of swoops between Saturn and its rings. These cosmic acrobatics are part of Cassini's dramatic "Grand Finale," a set of orbits offering Earthlings an unprecedented look at the second largest planet in our solar system.

By plunging into this fascinating frontier, Cassini will help scientists learn more about the origins, mass, and age of Saturn's rings, as well as the mysteries of the gas giant's interior. And of course there will be breathtaking additions to Cassini's already stunning photo gallery. Cassini recently revealed some secrets of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus -- including conditions friendly to life! Who knows what marvels this hardy explorer will uncover in the final chapter of its mission?

Cassini is a joint endeavor of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian space agency (ASI). The spacecraft began its 2.2 billion–mile journey 20 years ago and has been hanging out with Saturn since 2004. Later this year, Cassini will say goodbye and become part of Saturn when it crashes through the planet’s atmosphere. But first, it has some spectacular sightseeing to do!

NASA's Grand Finale toolkit lets you dive into the gap right along with Cassini. Enjoy the show!