Google Doodles From January 2011

New Year's Day is a global holiday celebrated annually on January 1st.  It marks the beginning of each new year according to the Gregorian calendar.

New Year's Day is celebrated in a host of different ways, but common themes throughout the world are fireworks, sporting events, family meals, concerts, church services and hangovers.

Večerníček is a children's television program shown in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The show has aired daily for over 40 years.  Each episode is 7 minutes long and shown at 6:45 PM.  Each story takes about 5 minutes of the programming and unfolds over several days.  A Večerníček series is usually 10-20 episodes.

Shows that are broken up into 5 minute snippets are often from Slovakia or the Czech Republic, but often programs from outside the region are shown as well, such as Pingu and Shaun the Sheep.

Khalil Gibran (1883-1931) was a Lebanese-American artist, writer and poet.  He immigrated to the US from Lebanon with the parents at the age of 12.  

A great deal of Gibran's writing dealt with spirituality with an emphasis on Christianity.  His most well-known work, The Prophet, is more philosophical in nature and discusses life and the human condition.  He was influenced by several of the major religions.

Early in his writing career Gibran wrote in Arabic, then after 1918 he wrote almost exclusively in English.  He is well-known for using formal language in his poetry.

Gibran died in 1931 due to tuberculosis and cirrhosis of the liver.  He is buried in Lebanon.

Coming of Age Day is an annual event in Japan which takes place each second Monday in January.

It is a special holiday for those who have turned 20 years of age over the past year (within April 2 of the previous year and April 1 of the current year).  It is meant to encourage them and remind them that they are now adults.

There are ceremonies held at local government offices after which families throw parties.

The holiday became official in 1948, but dates all the way back to 714 AD.

During the ceremonies women typically wear a kimono and men often wear Western formal clothing.

The Laba Rice Festival is celebrated each year during the 8th day of the 12th month of the lunar calendar.

It started out as a way for people to pray for good luck for their family and a bountiful harvest, as well as an opportunity to offer sacrifices of game to their ancestors.  Now it's about eating porridge.

Laba Rice Porridge is made up bean curd, rice, dried fruits, nuts, meat and beans all cooked together with a bit of sugar.

Buddhist tradition equates porridge with good fortune.  As Buddhism became more and more a part of Chinese society, Laba Rice Porridge also became known as Buddha Porridge.

Vasanta Panchami is an Indian festival which takes place on fifth day (Panchami) of the Hindu month Magh (January–February), which is the first day of spring.

Throughout India many kite festivals take place on that day.  Kite fighting, which was developed in India and Pakistan is the sport of attempting to break the glass string of your opponents kite.  At one time fighting kites were made of tissue paper across two bamboo sticks.  In modern days many kites are made of paper or mylar.  Different types of contests are held, such as largest kite, most beautiful kite and last kite standing during kite fighting.

Dr Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968) was a very prominent American civil rights activist.  His influence continues on today.

Dr King fought long and hard towards his goal of every person being treated equally and not judged by the color of their skin.  His tireless efforts have brought about many important and necessary changes in the United States.

Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day is an American holiday celebrated which is celebrated on the third Monday of each January (his actual birthday was January 15).  Two non-American cities that observe Martin Luther King Jr Day are Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Hiroshima, Japan.

Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) was a French Post-impressionist painter.

Cézanne's work was a bridge between Impressionism and Cubism.  Artists as prominent as Matisse and Picasso praise him as being "the father of us all".  He believed that color and form could never really be seperated and believed that that was what was missing in Impressionism.

Cézanne's work was never really appreciated until the very end of his life.  Like many artists he was ahead of his time.  

Cézanne had four distinct periods in his work: the Dark Period, the Impressionist Period, his Mature Period and his Final Period.

The Jewish holiday of the New Year of the Trees, also know as Tu Bishvat and Rosh Hashana, is one of the four new year holidays according to the Talmud (the first day of Nisan, Elul, Tishrei and Shevat).  The New Year of the Trees typically happens on the 15th day of Shevat.

Tu Bishvat has attracted different conservation efforts in the past and has become a day for planting trees.  In modern times, each year over a million Isrealis take part the Jewish National Fund's Tu Bishvat tree-planting activities.

Takayanagi Kenjiro (1899-1990) of Japan was a pioneer in the development of the television.

His work pre-dated more famous pioneers in television technology but he isn't very well-known outside of Japan.

Kenjiro was the first person to use a cathode ray tube in a television set, thereby making him the first person to create a fully electronic television.

He was also very influential in developing the color television and the VCR.

John F Kennedy gave his inaugural address on January 20, 1961 when he succeeded Dwight D Eisenhower as President of the United States.

From it came one of his most notable quotations "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country".

Kennedy's inaugural address took just under 14 minutes to deliver and is considered to be one of the best in history.

Actually, grandmothers and grandfathers have seperate days of celebration in Poland.

Grandmother's Day (Dzień Babci) is celebrated on January 21 and Grandfather's Day (Dzień Dziadka) is celebrated the following day.

Robert Burns (1759-1796) was a Scottish poet.  On or around his birthday each year, January 25, devotees participate in what is known as a Burns Supper.  Technically though, they may be held throughout the year.

These dinners can be formal or informal.  Informal dinners are likely to include haggis and readings of Burns poetry, while formal Burns Suppers follow the following format:

• Start of the evening mixer
• Host's welcoming speech
• Entrance of the haggis
• Supper
• Toast to the lassies
• Reply to the toast to the lassies
• Other toasts and speeches
• Works by Burns
• Closing

These dinners tend to take place in Scotland and Northern Ireland but also take place wherever several fans congregate.  

Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (1927-1994), also known as Tom, was a Brazilian musician.

He was the composer of The Girl From Ipanema, one of the most recorded songs of all time, and numerous jazz standards.

Some consider Jobim to be one of the most influencial songwriters of the 20th century and is one of the creators of the bossa nova.

January 26 is officially Australia's national day.  The date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788.

There is some controversy in Australia with aboriginal people not being too fond of the holiday.  Some even wish to change the name to Invasion Day.

Aussies celebrate Australia Day with barbeques, fireworks, family time, parties, being on or in the water, sporting events, new citizen ceremonies, festivals and much more.