Mary Shelley's 213th Birthday

Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/maryshelley2010-hp.jpg
Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan (Hindi: रक्षाबंधन, Urdu: رکشا بندھن, the bond of protection), or Rakhi (राखी, راکھی), is a festival primarily observed in North India, which celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. The festival is observed by Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims. The central ceremony involves the tying of a rakhi (sacred thread) by a sister on her brother's wrist. This symbolizes the sister's love and prayers for her brother's well-being, and the brother's lifelong vow to protect her. The festival falls on the full moon day (Shravan Poornima) of the Shravan month of the Hindu lunisolar calendar. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Source: https://static1.orkut.com/img/doodle/orkut_doodle_raksha_bandhan_a_v7.gif

Ukraine's Independence Day

Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/ukraine10-hp.gif
The Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Акт проголошення незалежності України, translit. Akt proholoshennya nezalezhnosti Ukrayini) was adopted by the Ukrainian parliament on August 24, 1991. The Act established Ukraine as an independent, democratic state.

The Act was adopted in the aftermath of the August 19th coup attempt when conservative Communist leaders of the Soviet Union tried to restore central Communist party control over the USSR. In response, the parliament of the Ukrainian SSR in a special Saturday session overwhelmingly approved the Act of Declaration. The Act passed with 321 votes in favor, 2 votes against, and 6 abstentions. The author of the text was Levko Lukyanenko.

The same day (August 24), the parliament called for a referendum on support for the Declaration of Independence. The proposal for calling the national referendum came jointly from majority leader Oleksandr Moroz and opposition leader Ihor Yukhnovsky.

In the independence referendum on December 1, 1991, the people of Ukraine expressed widespread support for the Act of Declaration of Independence, with more than 90% voting in favor, and 82% of the electorate participating. Shortly after, the independence of Ukraine was recognized worldwide.

Since 1992, August 24th is celebrated in Ukraine as Independence Day. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Australian Federal Elections

Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/australiaelection10-hp.gif

August Bournonville's 205th Birthday

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August Bournonville (21 August 1805 – 30 November 1879) was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. August was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nephew of Julie Alix de la Fay, née Bournonville, of the Royal Swedish Ballet. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Anniversary of Belka and Strelka Space Flight

Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/belkaandstrelka10-hp.gif
Belka (Белка, literally, "squirrel") and Strelka (Стрелка, "Arrow") spent a day in space aboard Korabl-Sputnik-2 (Sputnik 5) on August 19, 1960 before safely returning to Earth.

They were accompanied by a grey rabbit, 42 mice, 2 rats, flies and a number of plants and fungi. All passengers survived. They were the first Earth-born creatures to go into orbit and return alive.

Strelka went on to have six puppies with a male dog named Pushok who participated in many ground-based space experiments, but never made it into space One of the pups was named Pushinka (Пушинка, "Fluffy") and was presented to President John F. Kennedy's daughter Caroline by Nikita Khrushchev in 1961. A Cold War romance bloomed between Pushinka and a Kennedy dog named Charlie resulting in the birth of 4 pups that JFK referred to jokingly as pupniks. Two of their pups, Butterfly and Streaker were given away to children in the Midwest. The other two puppies, White Tips and Blackie, stayed at the Kennedy home on Squaw Island but were eventually given away to family friends. Pushinka's descendants are still living today. A photo of descendants of some of the Space Dogs is on display at the Zvezda Museum outside Moscow.

An animated Russian feature film called Belka and Strelka. Star Dogs was released in 2010.

Happy Mother’s Day

It's Mother's Day in India today, and the orkut team wants to celebrate it with all moms and the people who love them. Check out the special doodle we’ve created for this occasion:

orkut is celebrating the Tanabata Star Festival

The Tanabata Star Festival is an incredibly popular festival in Japan and this year it’s made its way to orkut as well. Although many celebrations now take place in July and early August, traditionally the festival has been celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar year (which is actually today, August 16th).

During the festival, you can see colorful fabrics in the streets and large bamboo poles decorated with paper ornaments symbolizing the stars. Orkut team made their own ornament just for orkut and wanted to share it with you:

Source: https://static1.orkut.com/img/doodle/orkut_doodle_tanabata_star_festival_v2.gif

Chinese Valentine's Day

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Gozan no Okuribi, iconic festivals of Kyoto

Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/kyotofestival2010-hp.jpg
Gozan no Okuribi (五山送り火), more commonly known as Daimonji (大文字), is one of the iconic festivals of Kyoto, Japan. It is the culmination of the O-Bon festival on August 16th, in which five giant bonfires are lit on mountains surrounding the city. It signifies the moment when the spirits of deceased family members, who are said to visit this world during O-Bon, are believed to be returning to the spirit world—thus the name Okuribi (送り火) (roughly, "send-off fire"). [Read more on Wikipedia]

Doodle 4 Google Winner: Her Majesty the Queen's Birthday - Mother's Day

Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/d4g_th-hp.gif
Somdet Phra Nang Chao Sirikit Phra Borommarachininat (Thai: สมเด็จพระนางเจ้าสิริกิติ์ พระบรมราชินีนาถ; Literally: "Her Majesty Queen Regent Sirikit"; born Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara on August 12, 1932), is the queen consort of Bhumibol Adulyadej, King (Rama IX) of Thailand. She is the second Queen Regent of Thailand (the first Queen Regent was Queen Saovabha Bongsri of Siam, later Queen Sri Patcharindra, the queen mother). As the consort of the king who currently is the world's longest reigning head of state, she is also the world's longest serving consort of a monarch. [Read more on Wikipedia]

71st Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz

Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/oz10-hp.gif
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film directed primarily by Victor Fleming from a script mostly by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, with uncredited contributions by others. Made and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, who died twenty years before the film was released. It features Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr and Frank Morgan, with Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charles Grapewin, Clara Blandick and the Singer Midgets as the Munchkins. Notable for its use of special effects, Technicolor, fantasy storytelling and unusual characters, The Wizard of Oz has become, over the years, one of the best-known of all films and a true classic. However, although it received largely positive reviews and won three Academy Awards, it was only a modest hit at the time of its original release, making a profit of only about a million dollars.

In the story, Dorothy Gale, a 12-year-old Kansas farmgirl, is knocked unconscious during a tornado. She, her dog Toto, and the farmhouse are apparently swept up in the storm and dropped into the magical Land of Oz, where she sets out on the yellow brick road to the Emerald City to ask the Wizard of Oz to return her to Kansas. During her journey, she meets a Scarecrow, a Tin Man and a Cowardly Lion, who join her, hoping to receive what they lack themselves (a brain, a heart, and courage, respectively). They are pursued by the Wicked Witch of the West, who wants her dead sister's magic ruby slippers, now worn by Dorothy. At the end of the film, Dorothy finds herself back in her own bed at the farmhouse in Kansas, where her aunt tries to convince her that she dreamt her adventures in Oz.

The film was MGM's most expensive production up to that time. Initially, The Wizard of Oz made only a small profit due to its enormous budget, despite largely favorable critical reviews, but it made up for that in subsequent re-releases. "Over the Rainbow" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the film itself received several Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Telecasts of the film began in 1956, and because of them the film has found a larger audience—its television screenings were once an annual tradition and have re-introduced the film to the public, making The Wizard of Oz one of the most famous films ever made. The Library of Congress named The Wizard of Oz as the most-watched film in history. It is often ranked among the top ten best movies of all-time in various critics' and popular polls, and it has provided many memorable quotes of both modern American and world popular culture. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Theatrical release poster

Ecuador's Independence Day

Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/ecuador_ind10-hp.gif
Disease decimated the indigenous population during the first decades of Spanish rule — a time when the natives also were forced into the encomienda labor system for Spanish landlords. In 1563, Quito became the seat of a real audiencia (administrative district) of Spain and part of the Vice-Royalty of Lima, and later the Vice-Royalty of Nueva Granada.

After nearly 300 years of Spanish colonization, Quito was still a small city of only 10,000 inhabitants. It was there, on August 10, 1809 (the national holiday), that the first call for independence from Spain was made in Latin America ("Primer Grito de la Independencia"), under the leadership of the city's criollos like Juan Pío Montúfar, Quiroga, Salinas, and Bishop Cuero y Caicedo. Quito's nickname, "Luz de América" ("Light of America"), comes from the fact that it was the first successful attempt to produce an independent and local government, although for no more than two months, that had an important repercussion and inspiration for the emancipation of the rest of Spanish America. Quito is also known as "La Cara de Dios" ("The Face of God") for the beauty of its religious colonial art and architecture cloistered in the amazing equatorial Andes landscape.