The 30 Best Pop Culture Google Doodles

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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