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| Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/maryshelley2010-hp.jpg |
Mary Shelley's 213th Birthday
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]
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| Source: https://static1.orkut.com/img/doodle/orkut_doodle_raksha_bandhan_a_v7.gif |
Ukraine's Independence Day
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| Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/ukraine10-hp.gif |
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]
August Bournonville's 205th Birthday
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| Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/bournonville10-hp.gif |
Anniversary of Belka and Strelka Space Flight
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| Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/belkaandstrelka10-hp.gif |
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:
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:
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| Source: https://static1.orkut.com/img/doodle/orkut_doodle_tanabata_star_festival_v2.gif |
Gozan no Okuribi, iconic festivals of Kyoto
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| Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/kyotofestival2010-hp.jpg |
Doodle 4 Google Winner: Her Majesty the Queen's Birthday - Mother's Day
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| Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/d4g_th-hp.gif |
71st Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz
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| Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/oz10-hp.gif |
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]
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| Theatrical release poster |
Ecuador's Independence Day
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| Source: http://www.google.com/logos/2010/ecuador_ind10-hp.gif |
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.
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