Almost everyone uses Google, and eventually notices that the Google logo at the top of the search page changes periodically. These alternate versions of the Google logo are called Google "Doodles".
In 1998 the founders themselves, Larry and Sergey, were going to attend the Burning Man Festival in Nevada. They playfuly added a stick figure behind the second letter "o" in the word Google to indicate that they were attending and would be out-of-the-office. This was the first Doodle. Here is the official logo and the first Doodle:
The official Google logo
The first Google "Doodle"
Note: the official Google logo itself has changed since the company was founded.
About a year later, in 2000, they asked their webmaster Dennis Hwang (who was an intern at the time!) to produce a Doodle for Bastille Day. The result was popular, so they made Dennis "chief doodler". Today, Google has a team of designers, will listen to your suggestions, and holds competitions. To date they have created over 300 for the U.S. and 700 world wide.
The entire archive of Google Doodles can be found here and descriptions here... but that's not fun. Se we'll share some in quiz format!
Here are some Doodles that recognized birthdays of famous artists. Try to guess -- answers at the bottom.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6 (my personal favorite!)
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13 (technically, this is an architect...)
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Answers below:
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#1 Paul Cezanne
#2 Andy Warhol
#3 Edvard Munch (The Scream)
#4 Vincent van Gogh (Starry Night)
#5 Jackson Pollock
#6 Piet Mondrian
#7 Leonardo da Vinci
#8 Pablo Picasso
#9 M. C. Escher
#10 Norman Rockwell
#11 Marc Chagall
#12 Michaelangelo (Statue of David)
#13 Frank Lloyd Wright (Guggenheim, Falling Water)