Google Doodles

[Pyraxis]

Pixar's reference material, clearly. 

[Gopher Gary]

Today's Google Doodle is Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann's 122nd Birthday.



Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Baltimore-based guest artist Ashanti Fortson, celebrates the 122nd birthday of Jewish, German-born British neurologist Professor Sir Ludwig “Poppa” Guttmann, founder of the Paralympic movement.

Guttmann was born in Tost, Germany (now Toszek, Poland) on this day in 1899 and went on to receive his M.D. in 1924. He subsequently began research on spinal cord injuries and performed several neurosurgical procedures, rising to prominence as one of Germany’s top neurosurgeons by his early thirties. However, with the rise of the Nazi party and the passing of the Nuremberg Laws in 1933, Guttmann was prevented from practising medicine professionally. Following Kristallnacht in 1938 and the increasing persecution of Jews in Germany, Guttmann was forced to leave Germany with his family and was able to escape to England in 1939.

In England, Guttmann advanced his research in paraplegia. In 1944, he put his innovative approach into practice as the director of the National Spinal Injuries Center at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. In 1948, he organized a 16-person archery contest, one of the first official competitive sporting events for wheelchair users. Later called the “Stoke Mandeville Games” or the “Olympics for the Disabled,” the competition demonstrated the power of elite sport to break down barriers for disability and garnered the attention of global medical and sporting communities. 

In 1960, Guttmann facilitated the International Stoke Mandeville Games, following the 1960 Summer Olympics, the first of many Paralympic Games. His passion for patient care never faltered—he also founded the International Medical Society of Paraplegia (the International Spinal Cord Society) and the British Sports Association for the Disabled (Activity Alliance) in 1961. He received numerous accolades for his contributions, the highest among which was being knighted by Her Majesty the Queen in 1966.

Today, Paralympic athletes are rightfully recognized for their skills and achievements. The Paralympic Games continue to be a driving force for promoting the rights and independence of people with disabilities, with a lasting impact on equal treatment and opportunity.

Happy birthday, Prof. Sir Ludwig Guttmann!

[Gopher Gary]

Today's Google Doodle is Fourth of July 2021.



Congress is now in session—but a different one than you might think! Did you know? A “congress” refers to a group of bald eagles, the national bird of the United States. These parading pals have swooped into today’s Doodle to celebrate the Fourth of July, also known as Independence Day. On this day in 1776, the adoption of the Declaration of Independence proclaimed the sovereignty of the United States.

Although the population of bald eagles in the contiguous United States once teetered on the brink of extinction, they now thrive with an estimated population above 316,000 thanks to the passage of the National Emblem Act in 1940 and recent conservationist efforts. Talk about a soaring comeback!

Happy 4th of July, USA!

[odeon]

Happy 4th of July for all my friends across the pond!

[Gopher Gary]

Today's Google Doodle is Ángela Peralta's 175th Birthday.



Today's Doodle celebrates the 175th birthday of Mexican pianist, harpist, composer, and internationally-renowned operatic soprano Ángela Peralta, who is widely considered one of the most significant Mexican opera singers of her era.

On this day in 1845, Ángela Peralta Castera was born in Mexico City. Her reputation as a remarkable singer began to take hold with her solo performance of a cavatina from the Italian opera “Belisario” at just 8 years old. At 15, Peralta made her operatic debut at the Gran Teatro Nacional—one of 19th-century Mexico’s premier opera houses. This performance received such acclaim that it prompted Peralta to further refine her talent in Italy, the birthplace of opera.

In Milan, Peralta’s 1862 performance of the romantic opera “Lucia di Lammermoor” so impressed the audience that standing ovations brought her back to the stage 23 times! The scope of her international tours broadened to include some of Europe’s most prestigious opera houses as well as the U.S., garnering the title of “Mexican Nightingale'' for her mastery of the lyrical operatic style known as bel canto. Peralta returned to Mexico City in 1871, a homecoming announced by yet another grand performance at the Gran Teatro Nacional.

Soon after, Peralta utilized this successful momentum to found her own opera company. On their final tour in 1883, Peralta’s troupe traveled to the coastal Mexican city of Mazatlán. Here, her legacy is preserved in an opera house named in her honor: the Ángela Peralta Theater.

Happy birthday, Ángela Peralta. Here’s to all those performances that ended on a high note!

 

[Gopher Gary]

Yesterday's Google Doodle was Doodle Champion Island Games Begin!



Welcome to the Doodle Champion Island Games! Over the coming weeks, join calico (c)athlete Lucky as she explores Doodle Champion Island: a world filled with seven sport mini-games, legendary opponents, dozens of daring side quests, and a few new (and old ) friends. Her ultimate goal? Defeat each sport Champion to collect all seven sacred scrolls—and complete extra hidden challenges across Champion Island in the purrr-ocess.   

Are you feline Lucky 😼 ? Click on today’s Doodle, join one of the four color teams to contribute to the real-time global leaderboard, and let the games begin!
https://www.google.com/doodles/doodle-champion-island-games-begin

[Gopher Gary]

Today's Google Doodle is Doodle Champion Island Games (July 24)



Welcome to the Doodle Champion Island Games! Over the coming weeks, join calico (c)athlete Lucky as she explores Doodle Champion Island: a world filled with seven sport mini-games, legendary opponents, dozens of daring side quests, and a few new (and old ) friends. Her ultimate goal? Defeat each sport Champion to collect all seven sacred scrolls—and complete extra hidden challenges across Champion Island in the purrr-ocess.   

Are you feline Lucky 😼? Click on today’s Doodle, join one of the four color teams to contribute to the real-time global leaderboard, and let the games begin!
https://www.google.com/doodles/doodle-champion-island-games-july-24

[DirtDawg]

I guess Google is too stooooopid to know that this is actually National Cowboy Day.

Working so many rodeos over the years (as a musician), you remember important shit like Cowboy Day.
 

[DirtDawg]

Besides, I need a more encompassing distraction and I might bet that I am not alone here.


Thank you.
 

[Gopher Gary]

I guess Google is too stooooopid to know that this is actually National Cowboy Day.

Working so many rodeos over the years (as a musician), you remember important shit like Cowboy Day.
 

It has something to do with the Olympics. I doubt I'll post all of them, it looks like they will do it for a while and all of the different games each day will say the same thing. 

[Gopher Gary]

Today's Google Doodle is Celebrating the Turkana Human.



When fossil hunters spotted a tiny skull fragment in Kenya’s Lake Turkana Basin on this day in 1984, they didn’t yet know they had discovered part of the most intact early hominid skeleton ever found. Today’s Doodle recognizes the discovery of this ancient fossil, dubbed the “Turkana Human,” which revolutionized knowledge of human evolution.

This excavation dates back to 1967, when a paleoanthropologist flew over the Lake Turkana Basin and noticed fossiliferous rock. The next year, an expedition was launched into the volcanic valley, where the team uncovered remains of three coexisting Homo species, revealing the first evidence suggesting that early humans didn't have a single lineage, but multiple. This paradigm-shifting theory was reinforced by the discovery of the Turkana specimen, which Leakey’s team classified as Homo erectus, now considered the earliest ancestor of modern humans.

Widely believed to be around 10 in age, the Turkana hominid lived approximately 1.6 million years ago. The skeleton exhibits anatomical characteristics that are similar to those of Homo sapiens from the neck down and reveals a body designed for bipedalism. The preserved facial features are smaller than those of pre-erectus ancestors, which indicates the consumption of a higher-quality diet to sustain a large brain, though not quite the size of the modern human brain. The era’s fossil record indicates that Homo erectus utilized this growing brain by building fires, crafting tools, and traveling outside of Africa—a migration that marked a new chapter in the journey of ancient humans.

From harnessing fire to elucidating the chronology of human evolution, who knows what human exploration will find next?

[Gopher Gary]

Today's Google Doodle is Rudolf Weigl's 138th Birthday,



Today’s Doodle celebrates the 138th birthday of Polish inventor, doctor, and immunologist Rudolf Weigl. He produced the first effective vaccine against epidemic typhus—one of humanity’s oldest and most infectious diseases.

On this day in 1883, Rudolf Stefan Weigl was born in the Austro-Hungarian town of Przerów (modern-day Czech Republic). He went on to study biological sciences at Poland’s Lwów University and was appointed as a parasitologist in the Polish Army in 1914. As millions across Eastern Europe were plagued by typhus, Weigl became determined to stop its spread.

Body lice were known to carry the typhus-infecting bacteria Rickettsia prowazekii, so Weigl adapted the tiny insect into a laboratory specimen. His innovative research revealed how to use lice to propagate the deadly bacteria which he studied for decades with the hope of developing a vaccine. In 1936, Weigl’s vaccine successfully inoculated its first beneficiary. When Germany occupied Poland during the outbreak of the Second World War, Weigl was forced to open a vaccine production plant. He used the facility to hire friends and colleagues at risk of persecution under the new regime.

An estimated 5,000 people were saved due to Weigl’s work during this period--both due to his direct efforts to protect his neighbors and to the thousands of vaccine doses distributed nationwide. Today, Weigl is widely lauded as a remarkable scientist and hero. His work has been honored by not one but two Nobel Prize nominations!

From studying a tiny louse to saving thousands of human lives, the impacts your tireless work had on the world are felt to this day—Happy Birthday, Rudolf Weigl!

 

[Gopher Gary]

Today's Google Doodle is Labor Day 2021.



Today’s Doodle celebrates Labor Day, a federal holiday in honor of the indispensable role of the U.S. workforce. In September 1882, the first unofficial celebrations of Labor Day took place as thousands paraded in New York City’s Union Square. Today, the holiday is observed on the first Monday in September--both to honor this historic march and provide a three-day weekend for millions of workers.

Whether a construction worker, firefighter or medical personnel—today’s Doodle honors the professions of those on the frontline working hard day in and day out for our society.

Here’s to the perseverance of America’s workforce. Happy Labor Day!

 

[Gopher Gary]

Today's Google Doodle is Celebrating Dr. Ildaura Murillo-Rohde



In celebration of U.S. Hispanic Heritage Month, today’s Doodle—illustrated by Riverside, California-based guest artist Loris Lora—honors Panamanian-American nurse and educator Dr. Ildaura Murillo-Rohde. As a foundational figure in the creation of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN), Dr. Murillo-Rohde dedicated her life to enhancing the quality of healthcare for underrepresented communities while equipping other Hispanic nurses with the skills to do the same.

Ildaura Murillo was born on September 6, 1920, in Panama into a family of health professionals. In 1945, she immigrated to San Antonio, Texas, where she found that relatively few of the city’s nurses represented the linguistic and ethnic backgrounds of their largely Hispanic patients. Knowing that language barriers and cultural mannerisms often stood in the way of providing patients with the highest quality of care, Murillo-Rohde set out on a lifelong mission to cultivate a nursing workforce that could best serve America’s growing Hispanic community.

After earning her doctorate from New York University in 1971, Dr. Murillo-Rohde took various positions that allowed her to clearly identify the underrepresentation of marginalized groups in the medical community as a national issue. To combat this problem, she helped found the Spanish Speaking/Spanish Surnamed Nurses’ Caucus in 1975—now known as the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN)—and served as its first president. 

Alongside continued work with the NAHN, Dr. Murillo-Rohde promoted cultural awareness as a psychiatric nurse, faculty member, professor, and dean. The American Academy of Nursing honored her numerous achievements with its prestigious fellowship—one of the highest nursing honors in the nation.

Today, the NAHN provides support for Hispanic nurses through various programs, including the Dr. Ildaura Murillo-Rohde Scholarship. It also honors members who have exhibited outstanding achievements in nursing education, research, and practice with the Dr. Ildaura Murillo-Rohde Award for Education Excellence by a Hispanic Registered Nurse.

Thank you for uplifting the next generation of Hispanic healthcare professionals, Dr. Ildaura Murillo-Rohde!

 

[Gopher Gary]

Today's Google Doodle is Christopher Reeve's 69th Birthday.



Today’s Doodle celebrates American actor, director, author, and humanitarian Christopher Reeve, who is best known for his spinal cord research advocacy work alongside his leading role in four “Superman” feature films.

Christopher D’Olier Reeve was born on this day in 1952 in New York City. He graduated from The Juilliard School and made his stage debut in the 1976 Broadway comedy “A Matter of Gravity.” After only two years of acting in soap operas and plays, Reeve auditioned to play the Man of Steel himself in the 1978 “Superman” film, landing the role ahead of 200 other aspiring actors.   

His performance as the iconic superhero in the four-part film franchise launched him to international fame, but he refused to be typecast in action roles. To this end, he brought a diverse range of characters to life both in cinema and on stage throughout his career. Outside of acting, he was an enthusiastic equestrian and athlete. In 1995, Reeve was paralyzed from the neck down due to a riding accident; these injuries led him to become an outspoken champion for those with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities across Hollywood, the nation, and the world.

Reeve used his platform to bring increased awareness to topics related to disabilities and dedicated his life to driving positive change for the community. This included sponsoring bills to raise lifetime insurance “caps'' to better support people with disabilities and helping pass the 1999 Work Incentives Improvement Act, which secured ongoing insurance payments to people with disabilities even after they return to work. He focused on efforts to directly improve the quality of life for people with disabilities by distributing millions in individual grants through his foundation and serving on the boards of various disability organizations with this aim. Reeve also advocated for support and government funding of responsible stem cell research to further the knowledge and treatment of numerous health conditions, including spinal cord injuries. Calling on Hollywood to draw attention to other important social causes, Reeve led by example with his 1997 directorial debut “In the Gloaming,” a five-time Emmy nominated drama centered around a man diagnosed with HIV.

Today, his legacy is carried on by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which he founded in 1998.

Happy birthday, Christopher Reeve—who remains a hero to many both on and off the screen!