For the last decade and change, Google has surprised us with their occasional homepage doodles celebrating various scientists, artists, entertainers, and, really, just a hodgepodge of important cultural history. Their most recent doodle celebrated the physiologist who discovered vitamin C, but the one before that was an awesome tribute to Freddie Mercury. It got us thinking about all the various pop culture-related Google Doodles they’ve created over the years. Page through our 30 favorites — some of which may be new to you, as they only went live in individual countries — after the jump and let us know if there are any we’ve missed.
To be sure, there are many, beginning with their first doodle in honor of the Burning Man Festival in 1998, so we’ve made an effort to avoid the most famous ones — John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, Charlie Chaplin, etc. We also shied away from too many recent doodles. Although they’ve certainly become more frequent and elaborate over the last two years or so, it’s more interesting to see the logos’ aesthetic evolve.
Mar 07, 2002: Piet Mondrian’s Birthday
Jun 16, 2003: MC Escher’s Birthday
Sep 23, 2004: Ray Charles’ Birthday
Jun 08, 2005: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Birthday
May 22, 2006: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Birthday
Jan 28, 2008: 50th Anniversary of the LEGO Brick
Jun 06, 2008: Diego Velázquez’s Birthday
May 15, 2008: Anniversary of the first film projection
Apr 07, 2008: Astro Boy
Sep 29, 2008: Miguel de Cervantes’ Birthday
Nov 21, 2008: René Magritte’s 110th Birthday
Oct 13, 2008: Paddington Bear’s 50th Birthday
Mar 20, 2009: First Day of Fall – Design by Eric Carle
Mar 02, 2009: Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!
Jan 28, 2009: Jackson Pollock’s Birthday
Jun 06, 2009: 25th Anniversary of Tetris
Sep 21, 2009: H.G. Wells’ Birthday
Aug 29, 2009: Michael Jackson’s Birthday
Jul 23, 2009: Comic-Con® 2009 – Design and pencil Jim Lee, ink by Scott Williams, and color by Alex Sinclair
Dec 08, 2009: E.C. Segar’s Birthday – Popeye
Nov 10, 2009: Sesame Street: Ensemble
Mar 23, 2010: Akira Kurosawa’s Birthday
Jan 23, 2010: 100th Anniversary of Django Reinhardt’s Birthday
Jun 21, 2010: Jean-Paul Sartre’s 105th Birthday
May 21, 2010: PAC-MAN’s 30th Anniversary Doodle
Dec 16, 2010: Jane Austen’s 235th Birthday
Nov 27, 2010: Bruce Lee’s 70th Birthday
Oct 21, 2010: Dizzy Gillespie’s Birthday
Jun 21, 2011: First Day of Summer. Doodle by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, 2011
Aug 06, 2011: Lucille Ball’s 100th Birthday