Google Doodles

This July 3, 2013 doodle celebrated the 130th birthday of Franz Kafka with a homepage doodle that paid homage to one of his more well-known works, The Metamorphosis.

This June 25, 2013 doodle celebrated the 161st birthday of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí.

This June 10, 2013 doodle celebrated the 85th birthday of children's author Maurice Sendak, and let users relive some of his classic tales.

Google turned its homepage into a living petri dish on May 31, 2013 in honor of the 161st birthday of Julius Richard Petri, the German microbiologist who developed the technology.

Google's May 8, 2013 homepage doodle paid homage to graphic designer Saul Bass, who is known for creating iconic film titles for movies from top directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick.

Google celebrated the 96th birthday of jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald on April 25, 2013 with a homepage doodle that paid tribute to the "The First Lady of Song."

Google celebrated the 61st birthday of author Douglas Adams on March 11, 2013 with a homepage doodle that paid homage to well-known works like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. For more, check out 7 Fun Facts About 'Hitchhiker's' Douglas Adams.

Google celebrated the 88th birthday of artist and writer Edward Gorey with a homepage doodle that paid homage to some of his more notable creations.

Google celebrated the 540th birthday of mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus with a live-action homepage doodle on Feb. 19, 2013.

Google's homepage doodle played double duty on Feb. 14, 2013 - honoring the 154th birthday of ferris wheel inventor George Ferris as well as Valentine's Day.

Google honored the 94th birthday of legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson on Jan. 31, 2013.

Google provided users with a new way to waste time on Jan. 16, 2013, thanks to an interactive homepage doodle in honor of entrepreneur Frank Zamboni.

Google celebrated the 200th anniversary of Grimm's Fairy Tales on Dec. 20, 2012 with an interactive homepage doodle that told the story of Little Red Riding Hood.

Google celebrated the 197th birthday of Ada Lovelace - considered to be the world's first computer programmer - with a homepage doodle that honored her contributions to computer science. For more, check out How Ada Lovelace Shaped Computing.

Google celebrated the 172nd birthday of sculptor Auguste Rodin on Nov. 12, 2012 with a homepage doodle that featured one of his most famous works, The Thinker.

Google celebrated the 165th birthday of author Bram Stoker on Nov. 8, 2012 with a homepage doodle that paid homage to his literary contributions.

Google's Oct. 29, 2012 homepage doodle celebrated the 70th birthday of painter and TV star Bob Ross, who starred in the PBS show The Joy of Painting for more than a decade, and is known to millions as the soft spoken, always upbeat artist who encouraged us all to create "happy little trees."

On Oct. 18, 2012, Google paid homage to Herman Melville's classic Moby-Dick with a homepage doodle featuring the famous whale.

Google's extensive Oct. 15, 2012 homepage doodle paid tribute to cartoonist Winsor McCay with an animated creation that took users through one of his most famous works, Little Nemo.

Google recognized the Danish physicist and pioneer of quantum physics with a homepage doodle to commemorate the 127th anniversary of his birth.

In Sept. 2012,Google celebrated the 46th birthday of the original TV series. Google dressed up the letters in its logo as Star Trek cast members, and with the click of a mouse, searchers could beam Kirk to an adventure beyond the confines of the starship USS Enterprise.

In Aug. 2012, Google paid homage to world-renowned chef Julia Child with a homepage doodle celebrating her 100th birthday.

In July 2012, Google announced that it would help celebrate the 2012 London Olympic Games with 16 days of homepage doodles that paid homage to the athletes who will be competing for the gold. One of those allowed searchers to participate in the hurdles.

In July 2012, Google paid tribute to pioneering female pilot Amelia Earhart with a doodle honoring her 115th birthday.

In July 2012, the search giant commemorated Austrian artist Gustav Klimt's 150th birthday with a doodle that incorporated the symbolist painter's most famous work, "The Kiss."

In June 2012, Alan Turing was honored with a Google doodle on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the pioneering British computer scientist.

Google's June 2012 animated homepage doodle paid tribute to the 79th anniversary of the first drive-in movie theater..

Google's May 2012 doodle paid tribute to Peter Carl Fabergé, who served as jeweler and goldsmith to the great Russian Imperial Court.

In May 2012, Google crafted another interactive homepage doodle, this one honoring the 78th birthday of Robert Moog, considered by many to be a pioneer in the electronic music space. For more, see How the Moog Synth Changed Music.

Wisconsin second-grader Dylan Hoffman won Google's 2012 "Doodle 4 Google" national contest, earning a $30,000 college scholarship.

In May 2012, Google's homepage doodle paid homage to Howard Carter, a British archaeologist best known for uncovering the tomb of King Tutankhamen in Egypt.

In May 2012, Google celebrated the 54th birthday of artist and AIDS activist Keith Haring with a homepage doodle in his honor.

In April 2012, Google's homepage doodle paid homage to Gideon Sundback, who is most well-known for his work on the zipper.

In April 2012, Google's homepage doodle paid homage to Eadweard J. Muybridge, an English photographer who successfully used multiple cameras to make it appear as though images were moving.

In March 2012, Google paid homage to German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with a doodle that celebrates his 126th birthday.

In March 2012, Google celebrated the 125th anniversary of the birthday of Juan Gris; "John Grey," being the translated pseudonym of the Cubist artist José Victoriano Carmelo Carlos González Pérez.

Google celebrated the first official day of spring with a homepage doodle designed by Finnish fashion house Marimekko.

Google's homepage doodle paid homage to the man many consider to be the father of origami, Akira Yoshizawa.

Google celebrated Leap Day with a homepage doodle in honor of Gioachino Rossini, an Italian composer born in 1792.

Google took a break from authors and snowflakes and artists for a homepage doodle that celebrated the 155th birthday of German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz.

Google celebrated the 200th birthday of author Charles Dickens with a homepage doodle.

Google's homepage doodle celebrated the 125th birthday of the largest ever recorded snowflake.

Google on Monday posted a homepage doodle that paid tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. and his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

Google's homepage doodle celebrated the 374th birthday of Nicholas Steno, who is widely regarded as the father of modern geology.

Google celebrated the 100th birthday of Addams Family creator Charles Addams with a doodle featuring the famously spooky family.

Google continued the holiday cheer with a homepage doodle that highlighted the symbols of the season.

Google's doodle paid tribute to Intel co-founder Robert Noyce, who is credited with co-inventing the integrated circuit—the technology behind the chips powering the gadgets that are now part of our everyday lives. For more, see Robert Noyce and the Inventors of Personal Computing.

Google's doodle honored the 125th birthday of Mexican artist Diego Rivera, who was known for his elaborate and politically charged murals, as well as his turbulent relationship with artist wife Frida Kahlo.

Google celebrated the 176th birthday of author Mark Twain with a homepage doodle that depicted a well-known scene from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, one of Twain's more popular books.

For Thanksgiving, Google helped you relive your artsy elementary school days with a customizable "hand turkey" homepage doodle. For more, see this slideshow of the combinations that appeared.

Google's Nov. 18, 2011 homepage doodle honored the 224th birthday of Louis Daguerre, whose daguerreotypes were the beginnings of photography.

A Nov. 7, 2011 Google doodle celebrated the 144th birthday of scientist Marie Curie who, along with her husband Pierre, is credited with the discovery of radium and polonium.

Google celebrated Halloween with a time-lapse video "doodle" featuring Googlers who carved six giant pumpkins to spell out the search giant's name.

This Oct. 21, 2011 doodle honored the 100th birthday of Mary Blair, an artist who worked on many Disney classics, including Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan.

On Oct. 12, 2011, Google celebrated the 90th birthday of Gumby creator Art Clokey with an interactive stop motion homepage doodle featuring well-known characters from the Gumby series. See this slideshow for more details on what emerged.

Google became a teenager on Sept. 27, 2011 and the company celebrated with a doodle that featured the company's logo surrounded by presents and a cake.

This Sept. 23, 2011 doodle celebrated the 75th birthday of Muppets creator Jim Henson with an interactive homepage doodle that turned the average Web user into a puppeteer.

This Sept. 16, 2011 doodle celebrated the 118th birthday of Albert von Szent-Györgyi de Nagyrápolt, a Nobel Prize-winning pharmacologist who is credited with discovering vitamin C.

Google celebrated the 65th birthday of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury with a cartoon video doodle set to the band's 1978 hit, "Don't Stop Me Now." The video is available on YouTube.

This Aug. 24, 2011 doodle celebrated the 112th birthday of Argentine poet, essayist, and short story writer Jorge Luis Borges with a homepage doodle that captured the author's surreal approach to literary works.

Google on July 17 celebrated what would have been the 410th birthday of mathematician Pierre de Fermat with a homepage doodle that transformed the company's logo into a complex math problem.

Google on July 6 celebrated what would have been actress Lucille Ball's 100th birthday with a homepage doodle that incorporated footage from her iconic I Love Lucy TV show.

This July 22 doodle celebrated what would have been the 112th birthday of the inventor of the mobile, American sculptor Alexander Calder.

This July 20 doodle celebrated what would have been the 189th birthday of scientist Gregor Mendel.

This July 12 doodle celebrated the 450th anniversary of Moscow's St. Basil's Cathedral.

Google celebrated the Fourth of July with a homepage doodle that paid tribute to notable monuments and pasttimes across the United States.

In honor of the summer solstice, the longest day of year, Google's homepage featured two doodles from celebrated Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.

This June 15 doodle allowed Web users to follow along with the lunar eclipse.

This June doodle, in honor of what would have been musician Les Paul's 96th birthday, proved so popular that Google ran it for two days in the United States. Those strings were playable, however, and in the U.S., users could record a 30-second snippet. Here at PCMag, we recorded The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun."

This June 5 doodle honors what would have been the 92nd birthday of childrens' book author Richard Scarry.

This May 11 doodle celebrated what would have been the 117th birthday of dancer and choreographer Martha Graham. The animated doodle featured dancers peforming some of Graham's most famous dances; more more, see the full slideshow.

Sixteen different doodles celebrated what would have been the 76th birthday of children's book author Roger Hargreaves. For more, see a complete slideshow of all the Hargreaves doodles.

This April 26 doodle celebrated the 226th birthday of bird enthusiast John James Audubon.

This April 22 doodle celebrated Earth Day, which got its start in 1970.

Google celebrated Charlie Chaplin's 122nd birthday with a live-action video doodle.

This April 14 doodle was in honor of Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut who became the first human in space in 1961.

This April 3 doodle honored the 119th birthday of the first documented ice cream sundae.

This March 31 doodle celebrated the 200th birthday of Robert Bunsen, co-creator of the Bunsen burner.

This March 24 doodle celebrated what would've been illusionist Harry Houdini's 137th birthday.

This March 8 doodle celebrated the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.

On March 6, comics artist Scott McCloud assisted in the creation of this doodle, which paid tribute to comic book icon Will Eisner.

This Valentine's Day doodle came from pop artist Robert Indiana.

This February 11 doodle celebrated Thomas Edison's 164th birthday.

This February 8 interactive doodle honored author Jules Verne's 183rd birthday.

This January 17 doodle paid tribute to the 25th Martin Luther King Day.

This January 20 doodle celebrated the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address.

For Thanksgiving, Google posted a homepage doodle that clicked through to recipes from TV host Ina Garten.

In December, Google added 17 holiday-themed doodles, which remained on the site for 2.5 days.

This November 13 doodle celebrated Robert Louis Stevenson's 160th birthday.

Google celebrated Halloween last year with five separate Scooby Doo-themed doodles; here is one.

This October 21 doodle celebrated what would have been jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie's 93rd birthday.

This January 19 doodle celebrated artist Paul Cezanne's 172nd bday

In May 2010, Makenzie Melton, a Missouri third grader, won Google's annual Doodle 4 Google competition with this drawing.

This September 30 doodle honored the 50th anniversary of the show's first airing.

This December 1 doodle honored the 55th anniversary of the day Rose Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Ala. bus.

For what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday, the Google homepage got a video doodle that sketched out the Googe logo, with Lennon's iconic image as the O's.

On September 7, the homepage featured a doodle with a variety of fast-moving, colored balls. Hovering a mouse over the Google logo made the balls run all over the screen before settling back down.