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As Rhode Island's most famous lighthouse keeper, Lewis saved a number of lives from drowning, including the two soldiers that inspired the doodle. Today’s Google doodle marks the 175th birthday of Ida Lewis, a lighthouse keeper once hailed as “America’s Bravest Woman” for the numerous lives she saved from drowning. As the owner of the Lime Rock Lighthouse in Rhode Island, Google says Idawalley Zorada Lewis made her first save at the age of 12 and continued braving into the Newport harbor’s dangerous, cold waters to save drowning men and women all the way into her sixties. From the Google Doodle Blog: A lighthouse keeper required unwavering courage, sheer physical strength, constant diligence, and a willingness to put one’s own life on the line. Ida was so dedicated that supposedly she would rush into inclement weather without shoes or coat so as not a waste a single second. Her life and legacy were not only an honor to research and illustrate, but trul...

Designed by doodler Sophie Diao, the artwork pays homage to the March sisters -- Beth, Jo, Amy and Meg. Today’s Google doodle honors author Louisa May Alcott on the writer’s 184th birthday. While Alcott is best known for her novel, “Little Women,” she penned several novels during her lifetime, including two follow-ups to “Little Women” — “Little Men” and “Jo’s Boys.” In addition to writing classics, Alcott was known for her progressive ideals around feminism and was an abolitionist — working as a nurse at a Union hospital during the beginning of the Civil War. Growing up, Alcott’s home was a station for the Underground Railroad. The Louisa May Alcott doodle was designed by Sophie Diao and features the March sisters from “Little Women” — Beth, Jo, Amy and Meg. The doodle leads to a search for “Louisa May Alcott” and includes the usual sharing icon. “The March family of Little Women was based on Alcott’s own, and the coltish Jo was Louisa’s vision of herself: st...

Tuesday's Google Doodle celebrates the 434th anniversary of the Gregorian calendar In the year 1582, Oct. 4 was followed directly by Oct. 15 Tuesday’s Google Doodle celebrates the 434th anniversary of the Gregorian calendar, which was introduced on Oct. 4, 1582, by Pope Gregory XIII. The new calendar, introduced during the Renaissance, replaced the Roman Calendar that Julius Caesar had reformed in around 46 B.C. Before Caesar realigned the calendar, a Roman year had been 10 days shorter than a current year, and divided into lunar months. In order to keep the year in tune with the seasons, an extra month would be tacked on occasionally. Caesar noticed that Egyptians used a calendar based on the sun rather than the moon. So, in consultation with the Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes, he decided to create his own new system, hoping to solve the problem of the drifting seasons. Each solar year in Caesar’s calendar became 365 days and six hours...