Doodle 4 Google: May 2011

Matteo Lopez - the doodle 4 google 2011 winner

…Become a doctor with my own TV show.
…Invent rocket shoes that let you fly.
…Open a zoo for the world’s endangered animals.

Welcome to Doodle 4 Google, a competition where we invite K-12 students to use their artistic talents to think big and redesign Google’s homepage logo for millions to see. At Google, we believe that dreaming about future possibilities leads to tomorrow’s leaders and inventors, so this year we invited U.S. kids to exercise their creative imaginations around the theme, "What I’d like to do someday…"

Whether students wanted to find a cure for cancer or take a trip to the moon, it all started with art supplies and some 8.5" x 11" paper. One lucky student artist, Matteo Lopez, has taken home a $15,000 college scholarship and $25,000 technology grant for his school. In addition, his artwork will appear on the Google.com homepage for millions to see.

Matteo Lopez

Te0chnology giant Google has announced the winner of the United States 2011 'Doodle 4 Google' competition. Seven-year-old Matteo Lopez of South San Francisco is the 2011 winner with his imaginative doodle, entitled "Space Life."

The theme of 2011 Doodle 4 Google contest was "What I'd like to do someday," and Matteo, who attends Monte Verde Elementary School, answered by painting his dream to "... become an astronaut and explore space life." Matteo’s doodle of the Google logo artfully depicts a trip to space, walking on the moon, and even making friends with aliens.

He was selected from the 40 finalists, who were picked out from more than 107,000 submissions. THW winner Matteo will receive a $15,000 college scholarship, a netbook computer and a $25,000 technology grant for his school. Moreover, Matteo's winning doodle is featured on United States Google search engine home page on Friday, May 20.

Google also selected three finalists: fourth grader Joseph Eugene Miller, who also selected a space theme; seventh grader Justas Varpucanskis, who depicted an underwater universe; and high school junior Hannah Newsom, who would like to be an illustrator. All three will receive a $5,000 college scholarship.

Doodle 4 Google is a competition where Google invite K-12 students to use their artistic talents to think big and redesign Google’s homepage logo for millions to see.

Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavonic Literature Day

In Bulgaria it is celebrated on 24 May and is known as the "Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavonic Literature Day" (Bulgarian: Ден на българската просвета и култура и на славянската писменост), a national holiday celebrating Bulgarian culture and literature as well as the alphabet. It is also known as "Alphabet, Culture, and Education Day" (Bulgarian: Ден на азбуката, културата и просвещението). SS Cyril and Methodius are patrons of the National Library of Bulgaria. A monument of them is present in front of the library. SS Cyril and Methodius are the most celebrated saints in the Bulgarian Orthodox church, and icons of two brothers can be found in every church.

Annie M.G. Schmidt's 100th Birthday

Anna Maria Geertruida "Annie" Schmidt (May 20, 1911 – May 21, 1995) was a prolific Dutch writer, especially cherished for her children's books—"the most versatile and most talented children's book author in the Netherlands." She is called the mother of the Dutch theatrical song and the queen of Dutch children's literature, praised for her "delicious Dutch idiom," and considered one of the greatest Dutch writers. An ultimate honour was extended to her posthumously, in 2007, when a group of Dutch historians compiled the "Canon of Dutch History" and included Schmidt, alongside national icons such as Vincent van Gogh and Anne Frank. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Emile Berliner's 160th Birthday

Emile Berliner (May 20, 1851 – August 3, 1929) was a German-born American inventor. He is best known for developing the disc record gramophone (phonograph in American English). He founded The Berliner Gramophone Company in 1895, The Gramophone Company in London, England, in 1897, Deutsche Grammophon in Hanover, Germany, in 1898 and Berliner Gram-o-phone Company of Canada in Montreal in 1899 (chartered in 1904). [Read more on Wikipedia]

Emile Berliner with disc record gramophone

2011 U.S. Doodle 4 Google winner

“Space Life” by seven-year-old Matteo Lopez of South San Francisco, Calif.

Nellie Melba's 150th Birthday

Dame Nellie Melba GBE (19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931), born Helen Porter Mitchell, was an Australian opera soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century due to the purity of her lyrical voice and the brilliance of her technique. Melba was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She and May Whitty were the first stage performers to be granted damehoods of the Order of the British Empire. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Portrait of Dame Nellie Melba GBE by Henry Walter Barnett

New Orkut logo

Paraguay's Independence Day

120th birthday of Mikhail Bulgakov

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (Russian: Михаи́л Афана́сьевич Булга́ков, May 15 [O.S. May 3] 1891, Kiev – March 10, 1940, Moscow) was a Soviet Russian writer and playwright active in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, which The Times of London has called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Martha Graham 117's Birthday

Animation by Ryan Woodward

Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American dancer choreographer regarded as one of the foremost pioneers of modern dance, whose influence on dance can be compared to the influence Stravinsky had on music, Picasso had on the visual arts, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture. Graham was a galvanizing performer, a choreographer of astounding moves. She invented a new language of movement, and used it to reveal the passion, the rage and the ecstasy common to human experience. She danced and choreographed for over seventy years, and during that time was the first dancer ever to perform at The White House, the first dancer ever to travel abroad as a cultural ambassador, and the first dancer ever to receive the highest civilian award of the USA: the Medal of Freedom. In her lifetime she received honors ranging from the key to the City of Paris to Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown. She said, "I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. It's permitting life to use you in a very intense way. Sometimes it is not pleasant. Sometimes it is fearful. But nevertheless it is inevitable." [Read more on Wikipedia]

Martha Graham, shown here with Bertram Ross

Israel Independence Day

Zhang Daqian's 112th Birthday

Chang Dai-chien (May 10, 1899 – April 2, 1983) was one of the best-known and most prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century. Originally known as a guohua (traditionalist) painter, by the 1960s he was also renowned as a modern impressionist and expressionist painter. Chang is regarded as one of the most gifted master forgers of the twentieth century. [Read more on Wikipedia]

76th Birthday of Roger Hargreaves

Charles Roger Hargreaves (9 May 1935 – 11 September 1992) was an English author and illustrator of children's books, notably the Mr. Men and Little Miss series, intended for very young readers. The books' simple and silly stories, with bright-coloured, boldly drawn illustrations, have been part of popular culture for over 25 years, with sales over 85 million worldwide in 20 languages. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Doodle 4 Google