Google

[hobie16]

Nadežda Petrović’s 142nd Birthday



Happy Birthday Nadežda Petrović!

Today's doodle commemorates the 142nd birthday of Nadežda Petrović — a highly acclaimed Serbian impressionist painter. We're celebrating today, though her exact birthdate isn't completely nailed down. Many sources, including her family, agree that she was born October, 12th, 1874. But it's been estimated her birthday could be between September to November, in 1873 or 1876; her tombstone marks her birth on October 9th, 1874. Like her paintings, the details are a little fuzzy, but it's the bigger picture that makes the greatest impression.

Petrović was born in Serbia, and her paintings are featured in her home country's most prestigious museums, such as the The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection. She's also featured on the Serbian 200 dinar bill. However Petrović's isn't just one of the best known and important Serbian female painters, she was also a great humanitarian.

During the Balkan Wars she volunteered as a nurse, battling disease and suffering to save lives — even putting her own health at risk. Though she contracted both typhus and cholera, she earned a Medal for Bravery and the Order of the Red Cross, and volunteered a second time in World War I. For her immense dedication and incredible contributions to healing and the arts, we honor her today. Below, you can see how early versions of this doodle were shaped by her amazing work and life.

[hobie16]

Yps Magazine's 40th anniversary



Forty years ago today, Yps Magazine published its first comic. Or, perhaps more memorably, it was on this day forty years ago that some Germans opened Yps Magazine’s first “gimmick”. The comic itself was replete with tales of mystery, peril, and adventure, but many would agree that the most irresistible surprise was the toy that came with each new edition. They ranged from the simple (spinning tops) to the sophisticated (kits to build functioning radios), and often the slightly bizarre: one common and beloved gimmick was a package of Brine Shrimp eggs that young readers were encouraged to hatch and grow themselves. Today’s Doodle hearkens back to the simpler days of childhood, when the month’s most nagging uncertainty was the prize awaiting young readers beneath Yps Magazine’s plastic cover.

[hobie16]

Italo Calvino's 92nd Birthday



I was overjoyed to be able to celebrate one of my favorite authors, Italo Calvino. Ostensibly a science fiction writer, Calvino is more of a fabulist, using scientific notions as a jumping-off point for whimsical, delightfully far-fetched, extremely warm and compassionate little tales. The first work of Calvino's that I read was Invisible Cities, an imagined dialogue between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan that meditates on the different ways of conceptualizing cities.

For this doodle, however, I decided to illustrate the first story from my favorite Calvino collection, Cosmicomics. Cosmicomics is an audacious series of myths and legends that covers everything from the creation of the universe, to the evolution of land vertebrates, to the social lives of dinosaurs.

In this story, The Distance of the Moon, the protagonist tells of time when the moon orbited so close to the Earth that it was possible to row out into the middle of the ocean and climb onto the surface of the Moon with a ladder. Once on the moon, the protagonists and his friends would frolic and cartwheel while the Moon's gravity gently pulled jellyfish and crabs up out of the sea. It's a fantastic image, and hopefully one that's very evocative to readers of Calvino.

If you haven't yet, please consider investigating his work!

[hobie16]

57th Anniversary of Elderly Gentleman's Cabaret's TV premiere



Today's Doodle marks the 57th Anniversary of the first episode of the polish television show, Elderly Gentleman's Cabaret or Kabaret Starszych Panów.

The show premiered October 16th, 1958 and was titled "Afternoon Old Men", starring the two creators: poet Jeremi Przybora and composer Jerzy Wasowski. Elegantly dressed in now-iconic dinner jackets and top hats, the pair performed satirical musical acts that addressed major cultural changes of the 50's and 60's.

The show aired late at night, and though not many people owned TVs, it was a smashing success. Soon it was a nation-wide household name — friends and families congregated around TV sets in their neighbor's homes to watch two gentlemen cavort and sing.

The legendary cabaret-style show aired during primetime on Polish public television for 8 years, and featured cameos from top Polish actors and singers. The program brought humor, wit and artistic excellence to the small screen and garnered die-hard followers for decades to come.

[hobie16]

Hangul Proclamation Day

[hobie16]

Melina Mercouri’s 95th Birthday

[hobie16]

164yh Anniversary of Moby Dick's First Publishing

[hobie16]

Lygia Clark’s 95th Birthday



Happy Birthday Lygia Clark!

Today's doodle celebrates the 95th birthday of artist Lygia Clark, famed Brazilian painter, sculptor and teacher. Lygia Clark co-founded the Neo-Concrete movement, which sought to change art from a passive viewing experience to an engaging interaction. Her art pieces, specifically the bichos, were designed to be modified, re-positioned and folded into new configurations by participants. These "critters" were an early step in Clark's attempts to bridge the gap between artist and viewer.

Later in her career, Clark turned the evocative power of her art toward healing, and became a proponent and practitioner of art therapy. Her work focused on bodily awareness as well as unconscious sensory perception, the inner life, and emotions.

[hobie16]

R. K. Laxman's 94th Birthday



A humorist and illustrator with an uncommon talent, R.K. Laxman was one of India’s most celebrated cartoonists. His daily political cartoon, You Said It, ran on the front page of The Times of India for more than 50 years. Laxman was best known for his Common Man character, who he drew into his cartoons as a witness to the kinds of hypocrisies and societal inequalities Laxman wanted to silently expose.

[hobie16]

Karin Boye’s 115th Birthday



Karin Boye was a sensitive Swedish poet. An idealist at heart, she imagined the best of what humanity could offer, but was observant of the grey realities that hold us back. She lived in disastrous times, pre-World War II. But in the face of darkness, she wrote: Clouds, Hidden Lands, and Yes, of course it hurts.