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Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the 77th birthday of Kitty O’Neil, once crowned the “the fastest woman in the world.” Kitty O’Neil was a legendary American stunt performer, daredevil, and rocket-powered vehicle driver who was deaf since childhood.

Kitty O’Neil was born on this day in 1946 to a Cherokee Native American mother and Irish father in Corpus Christi, Texas. When she was just a few months old, she contracted multiple diseases which led to an intense fever that ultimately left her deaf. She learned various communication modes and adapted for different audiences throughout her life, ultimately preferring speaking and lip reading mostly. Kitty O’Neil refused to see her deafness as a roadblock, often referring to it as an asset. She later found a love for diving, but a wrist injury and illness ended her chances of competing. However, she remained committed to fulfill her dream of becoming a professional athlete.

Kitty O’Neil began experimenting with high-speed sports like water skiing and motorcycle racing. A true action-lover, she also performed dangerous acts such as falling from daunting heights while set on fire and jumping from helicopters. In the late 70s, she made it onto the big screen as a stunt double for films and TV series including The Bionic Woman (1976), Wonder Woman (1977-1979), and The Blues Brothers (1980). She was the first woman to join Stunts Unlimited, an organization for Hollywood’s top stunt performers.

In 1976, Kitty O’Neil was crowned “the fastest woman alive” after zooming across the Alvord Desert at 512.76 miles per hour! She drove a rocket-powered car called the Motivator and surpassed the previous women’s land-speed record by almost 200 mph. Once she broke the women’s record by a landslide, it became evident that she could likely beat the men’s mark too. Unfortunately, her sponsors did not allow her to break the overall record as it threatened the status quo — they wanted to reserve the feat for a male driver. Legal action to fight this failed and O’Neil was never given the opportunity to break the overall record. However, this didn’t hold her back from going on to break records piloting jet-powered boats and rocket dragsters.

A biopic about Kitty O’Neil’s life, titled Silent Victory: The Kitty O’Neil Story, was released in 1979 and recaps the impressive Alvord Desert feat.

Thank you for inspiring us all to race towards our dreams, Kitty O’Neil!

Today’s Google Doodle celebrating India Republic Day. On this day in 1950, India declared itself a sovereign, democratic, and republic state with the adoption of the constitution.

India gained its freedom from the British Empire in 1947 and began drafting its constitution soon after. The India Constituent Assembly took two years to discuss, modify, and approve the governing document, and when adopted, India became the country with the longest constitution. The adoption of this document paved the way for democracy and empowered Indian citizens to elect their own representatives.

To celebrate the national holiday, there are various parades around the country, with the largest one taking place at Rajpath, a ceremonial boulevard in New Delhi. After a ceremonial wreath laying to honor fallen soldiers, regiments of India’s armed forces and tableaus representing cultural and historical heritage march through the street. To conclude the festivities, the Beating Retreat ceremony takes place on the evening of January 29th. The saffron, white, and green Indian flag is flown as the Indian National Anthem plays.

Today’s Doodle artwork is crafted from intricately hand-cut paper. Many elements of the Republic Day parade are represented in the artwork including the Rashtrapati Bhavan (where the president resides), the India Gate, the CRFP marching contingent, and motorcycle riders.

Happy Republic Day, India!

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates New Year’s Eve, a time to reminisce about 2022 and look forward to a fresh start in 2023. Whether you’re setting off fireworks or setting goals for next year, here’s to the great things to come in 2023!

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the life and innovative work of Dr. Maria Telkes, one of the first pioneers of solar energy. She believed the power of the sun could change human lives, and she was right! Dr. Telkes was the first to receive The Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award on this day in 1952.

Dr. Maria Telkes was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1900 and studied physical chemistry at the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest. She graduated with a B.A. in 1920 and received her PhD in 1924. The following year, she moved to the United States and accepted a position as a biophysicist. In 1937, she became a U.S. citizen.

Dr. Telkes continued her career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a member of the Solar Energy Committee. During World War II, she was called upon by the U.S. government to help develop a solar distiller that converted seawater into fresh water. This life-saving invention was used by soldiers stationed in the Pacific theater.

After the war, Dr. Telkes returned to MIT as an associate research professor. She and her MIT colleagues were tasked with creating habitable solar-heated homes. Unfortunately, she proposed and developed a design that failed, and was removed from the committee, but she persisted.

In 1948, after securing private funding from philanthropists, she created the Dover Sun House in partnership with architect Eleanor Raymond. The solar-heated home was a success and the women were featured in the media, popularizing the term ‘solar energy’ among the public.

Dr. Telkes’ inspiring career was filled with success and innovation. She was commissioned by the Ford Foundation and created a solar oven design that’s still used today. She also helped research solar energy at prestigious institutions such as NYU, Princeton University, and the University of Delaware. Dr. Maria Telkes earned more than 20 patents and worked as a consultant for many energy companies. It’s no wonder she’s remembered as The Sun Queen.

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the life of Marie Tharp, an American geologist and oceanographic cartographer who helped prove the theories of continental drift. She co-published the first world map of the ocean floors. On this day in 1998, the Library of Congress named Tharp one of the greatest cartographers of the 20th century.

Marie Tharp was an only child born on July 30, 1920, in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Tharp’s father, who worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, gave her an early introduction to mapmaking. She attended the University of Michigan for her master’s degree in petroleum geology—this was particularly impressive given so few women worked in science during this period. She moved to New York City in 1948 and became the first woman to work at the Lamont Geological Observatory where she met geologist Bruce Heezen.

Heezen gathered ocean-depth data in the Atlantic Ocean, which Tharp used to create maps of the mysterious ocean floor. New findings from echo sounders (sonars used to find water depth) helped her discover the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. She brought these findings to Heezen, who infamously dismissed this as “girl talk”.

However, when they compared these V-shaped rifts with earthquake epicenter maps, Heezen could not ignore the facts. Plate tectonics and continental drift were no longer just theories—the seafloor was undoubtedly spreading. In 1957, Tharp and Heezen co-published the first map of the ocean floor in the North Atlantic. Twenty years later, National Geographic published the first world map of the entire ocean floor penned by Tharp and Heezen, titled “The World Ocean Floor.”

Marie Tharp donated her entire map collection to the Library of Congress in 1995. On the 100th anniversary celebration of its Geography and Map Division, the Library of Congress named her one of the most important cartographers in the 20th century. In 2001, the same observatory where she started her career awarded her with its first annual Lamont-Doherty Heritage Award.

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Opening Day!

Let the 2022 FIFA World Cup games begin! The tournament takes place every four years and attracts football (or “soccer”) fans from all over the globe. This is the first-ever FIFA World Cup to take place in the Middle East.

Over the next month, players from the national teams of 32 countries will compete in a series of elimination games, culminating on December 18, when one national team will be crowned the 2022 FIFA World Cup Champion.