Dalida’s 86th Birthday

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“Mon petit Bambino
Ta musique est plus jolie
Que tout le ciel de l’Italie”

(“My little Bambino
Your music is more beautiful
Than the whole sky of Italy”)

—Dalida “Bambino” (1956)

Today’s Doodle celebrates Dalida, a French singer and actress, whose aching voice and real-life heartaches earned her a cult following worldwide. Her breakthrough single“Bambino,” tells the tale of a heartbroken boy who plays beautiful music on his mandolin. The song became a hit in France, spending most of 1956 at the top of the charts. It also kicked off the artist’s 30-year singing career during which she would sell millions of records.

Born Yolanda Cristina Gigliotti on this day in 1933,  Dalida grew up in the suburbs of Cairo, Egypt. After being crowned Miss Egypt in 1954, she landed her first movie role, using the stage name “Delila,” in homage to Hedy Lamarr’s character in the Hollywood classic Samson & Delilah. She changed it slightly to “Dalida” after moving to Paris in late 1954 to pursue a career on screen. To support herself in the new city, Dalida began singing in cabarets where her talent was discovered. She soon signed her first record deal and went on to release more than 45 studio albums and hold countless concerts all over the world. Dalida’s multicultural background and her ability to sing in French, Arabic, Italian, and many other languages enabled her to connect with audiences across the globe. When performing in Egypt, she was known for asking audiences “mabsoteen?” (Arabic for “are you happy?”). Although her life was touched by tragedy in the end, Dalida’s soulful music continues to bring joy to her fans around the globe.

Today’s animated Doodle celebrates the international entertainer by featuring 14 of her most iconic looks and outfits throughout her career.

Here’s to the talented Dalida on what would have been her 86th birthday.

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Teachers' Day (Thailand) 2019

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Teachers' Day (Venezuela) 2019

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Celebrating Sake Dean Mahomed

A man of many talents, Sake Dean Mahomed was an entrepreneur who made a name for himself by building cultural connections between India and England. On this day in 1794, he became the first Indian author to publish a book in English and later, to open an Indian restaurant in England—ushering in what would become one of Great Britain’s most popular cuisines. Mahomed went on to find success as the “The Shampooing Surgeon of Brighton,” opening a spa in the British seaside town that attracted the rich and royal.

In 1810, after moving to London, Mahomed opened the Hindostanee Coffee House, Britain’s first Indian restaurant. The Epicure’s Almanack—an early London restaurant guide—hailed it as a place for nobility to enjoy hookah and Indian dishes of the highest perfection. Nonetheless, Mahomed was forced to close his luxurious restaurant in 1812 and sought to reinvent himself. 

Moving his family to the beachside town of Brighton, he opened a spa named Mahomed’s Baths offering luxurious herbal steam baths. His specialty was a combination of a steam bath and an Indian therapeutic massage—a treatment he named “shampooing” inspired by the Hindi word champissage meaning “a head massage.” He also published a book about the therapeutic benefits of the treatment with testimonials from his patients. In 1822, King George IV appointed Mahomed as his personal ‘shampooing surgeon’, which greatly improved his business. A portrait of Mahomed hangs in the Brighton Museum, commemorating this man who helped merge the cultures of his two homelands.

Happy Birthday, Sake Dean Mahomed!

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Children's Day (Thailand) 2019

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Celebrating Earl Scruggs

“Here’s old Earl Scruggs with his fancy five-string banjo,” the introduction for the bluegrass banjo master’s Grand Ole Opry show stated. Today's Doodle celebrates Earl Scruggs, the man who developed the “Scruggs style” (his own three-finger method of picking) on the anniversary of the opening of the Earl Scruggs Center in 2014. His innovation changed the sound of American roots music, but fancy was not a word Scruggs would use to describe his beloved banjo. “It’s just an old hand-me-down,” he said of the Gibson Granada he’d played since the 1940s.

Born in North Carolina on January 6, 1924, Scruggs grew up working on the family farm and playing the banjo. He was 21 years old when he joined Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys band, whose sound coined the term “bluegrass music.” In that band, Scruggs met guitarist Lester Flatt with whom he would launch the Foggy Mountain Boys in the late 1940s. Their televised Flatt & Scruggs Grand Ole Opry show premiered in 1955 and gained a new wave of popularity during the folk music revival, running through 1969.

After Flatt & Scruggs split up in 1969, Earl found new fans when he bridged generations and musical genres by forming the “Earl Scruggs Revue” with sons Gary and Randy. From 1969 to 1980, the Revue was a pioneering band in merging country and bluegrass sounds with elements from rock music. In his latter years, Earl’s musical journey continued with his “Family & Friends” band.

Earl’s wife Louise Scruggs became one of the first female managers in the music industry when she began managing Flatt & Scruggs. The duo’s music appeared in the theme song for The Beverly Hillbillies and their “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” was included on the soundtrack to the 1967 film Bonnie & Clyde.

Scruggs was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, and the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. He received several other awards and honors, including the prestigious National Medal of the Arts and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

All because, as Flatt used to put it: “He kind of likes to show off anyway, pickin’ the hot stuff.”.

Special thanks to the family of Earl Scruggs, particularly his son Gary, for his partnership on this Doodle. Below, he shares some thoughts on his father’s legacy:

Even though my father, Earl Scruggs, passed away before the Earl Scruggs Center opened, he was involved in its planning stages. It was important for him that the Earl Scruggs Center would serve as more than a museum displaying interesting artifacts and memorabilia, but as an educational facility as well. I very much admired the fact that my Dad was not only a world-class musician, but was also willing and eager to teach his musical skills to anyone asking his advice. His banjo instruction book, Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo, is a testimony to his willingness to share his musical “secrets” with the world.  And there’s no doubt, he would be very proud that the Earl Scruggs Center offers educational programs and learning experiences to people of all ages.

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Evelyn Dove’s 117th Birthday

Today’s Doodle celebrates the life and legacy of British star Evelyn Dove, a classically trained singer, pianist, and actress known for her powerful vocals and glamorous image. Dove became the first black singer on BBC Radio, opening doors for women of color in the entertainment industry.

Born in London on this day in 1902, Dove was the daughter of Francis Dove, a successful attorney and businessman from Sierra Leone and his English wife Augusta. Drawn to the performing arts, Evelyn studied voice, piano, and elocution at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with a silver medal in 1919. Despite her outstanding contralto voice, she found it difficult to break into the classical music scene as a woman of mixed race, so she performed at cabaret and jazz shows all over London. She also became a member of the Southern Syncopated Orchestra, an ensemble featuring West Indian and African musicians that were invited to perform at Buckingham Palace. 

Through the mid-1920s, Dove sang with Black jazz revues like the Chocolate Kiddies, gaining worldwide exposure.  She performed in around the globe from Russia to Harlem and Bombay, and even replaced Josephine Baker at the Casino de Paris. 

Starting in 1939, Dove recorded BBC radio’s Serenade in Sepia along with Trinidadian folk singer Edric Connor. The series went on for a decade, eventually becoming a popular TV show. She later starred in a 1958 West End production of Langston Hughes's Simply Heavenly. 

Happy Birthday, Evelyn Dove!

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