Skip to main content

Google wishes Happy Mother's Day with a doodle


New Delhi: It's the second Sunday of May, and the Google doodle has a greeting card feel about it. It's Mother's Day and Google is wishing all the mothers with its characteristic doodle.
While Mother's Day is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, it is the second Sunday of May (May 8 in 2011) is most widely celebrated. Anna Marie Jarvis, had started a campaign in 1907 following her mother's death to make Mother's Day a recognised holiday in the US. In 1912 she obtained trademarks for the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day" and established the Mother's Day International Association. US President President Woodrow Wilson signed a law making the holiday official. But Jarvis was disappointed with the commercialisation of the event.
The ancient Greek and Romans also held festivities in honour of their mother goddesses. In Britain and Celtic Europe, goddess Brigid and later St. Brigid were honoured with a Mother's Day in spring.
Google has been celebrating Mother's Day with its doodles for a number of years now and the Mother's Day doodle always has a flower in it.
For a dozen years, Google has been occasionally swapping its everyday logo for a doodle. The Google doodles, an artistic take on the Google logo, have gained immense popularity over the past few years and the Google doodle team has put out commemorative doodles on numerous events of international or national importance, ranging from news events, civic milestones, birthdays, death anniversaries and important dates in history. Google estimates it has created more than 900 doodles since 1998, with 270 of them running in 2010. Some appear globally, and others are tailored for local markets.
Recently the Google doodles have become more interactive in nature and Google seems to be fast doing away with static images for their doodles. The recent doodle celebrating 160 years of the first World's Fair, on May 1, had put together different elements of the fair that were viewable more closely with a magnifying glass effect that appeared when a user hovered the cursor over the logo.
Ticklish pandas, frolicking penguins, a growling lion, a cascading waterfall, waterfall climbing fish, a fish devouring bear, birds, butterflies, a koala and a jumping frog got together on April 22 for an animated and interactive Google logo that celebrated the 41st Earth Day.
For Charlie Chaplin's birthday Google home page featured a YouTube video starring members of Google Doodle team enacting a Google-themed Chaplinesque scene. German chemist Robert Bunsen was honoured with an animated image of a laboratory on his 200th birthday.
The Google doodle had first gone interactive in May 2010 to celebrate the 30th birthday of the popular Pac-Man game. Then on October 8, 2010, Google celebrated John Lennon's birthday, a day in advance, with an innovative doodle that played a 32 second clip of Imagine, considered to be the singer-songwriter's most popular song.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In pics: The Bachchan Family Tree

The Bachchans:  Bachchans are busy celebrating the arrival of Aishwarya and Abhishek's daughter. Let's meet the Bachchan clan Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan's father was a famous Hindi poet. He is most popular for his book 'Madhushala'. He passed away in 2003. Harivansh Rai Bachchan got married to Shyama in 1926. Shyama died after ten years of marriage. Harivansh married Teji Bachchan (in the picture) in 1941. They had two sons, Amitabh and Ajitab. Born in 1969, Amitabh Bachchan is the most popular Bollywood celebrity today. Ajitabh Bachchan (second from left) is Amitabh's younger brother Amitabh Bachchan is married to actress Jaya Bachchan. They have two children, Abhishek Bachchan and Shweta Nanda. Jaya was born in a Hindu Bengali family to Taroon Kumar Bhaduri and Indira Bhaduri. Her father was a writer, journalist and stage artist. Abhishek's elder sister Shweta Bachchan Nanda is married to industrialist Nikhil Nanda. Nikhil and Shweta have t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hannah Glasse’s 310th Birthday

    If the thought of Yorkshire pudding and gooseberry fool makes your mouth water, you have Hannah Glasse to thank for making these two delectable dishes staples in English cuisine. Born on this day in 1708, Glasse was a pioneering English cook and author of the most popular cookbook of the 18th century. Published in 1747,   The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy   was unique; it was one of the first cookbooks written in a simple and conversational style, which meant that any English speaker and reader – regardless of their class – could learn how to cook. Glasse’s cookbook was popular not only because it was easy to read, but also because of its massive scope. It included a whopping 972 recipes, covering everything from puddings and soups, to what to serve at Lent, to preparing food for the sick. Today’s Doodle features Glasse whipping up a batch of classic Yorkshire puddings. Her recipe for Yorkshire pudding, among many others, is one of the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ustad Bismillah Khan’s 102nd Birthday

Today we celebrate the birthday of Ustad Bismillah Khan, shehnai maestro and one of India’s most beloved musicians. Born in Bhirung Raut Ki Gali, Bihar to a family of court musicians, it is said that his grandfather exclaimed “Bismillah!” upon seeing his grandson, and the name stuck. In subsequent years, as his mastery over the shenai grew, the public added the honorific, Ustad (master) to his name. Both India’s declaration of independence from the ramparts of the Red Fort in 1947 and the creation of the Indian republic three years later in 1950 were heralded by Ustad Bismillah Khan’s shehnai . To this day, Republic Day celebrations are broadcast to the opening notes of his music. Though he started playing in public at the age of 14, Ustad ji ’s performance at the All India Music Conference at Kolkata in 1937 became a defining moment in his career. Three decades later, when he performed at the Edinburgh Music Festival, the shehnai acquired a global audience...
Post a Comment
Read more