Today is International Women's Day, and so Google has joined in with the celebrations with today's doodle.
The doodle replaces the G with the female gender sign, and the second O becomes a flower.
International Women's Day started back in the early 20th century. In 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York demanding improved working conditions including shorter hours, better pay and the right to vote. The first National Women's Day was held on 28 February, 1909, and remained on the last Sunday of every February until 1913.
The idea of making the celebration international was put forward by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women's Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, in 1910. Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland celebrated the first International Women's Day on 19 March, 1911, with over a million women and men attending rallies arguing for equal rights. Russia joined in in 1913, and the date was transferred to 8 March, where it still stands.
IWD is now an official holiday in countries including Afghanistan, Armenia, Belarus, China, Laos, Uganda and many more. It sees men honouring their womenfolk with flowers and small gifts.
While we've come a long way since having to argue for such a day in the early 20th century, the occasional incident reminds us we've still a long way to go. Especially in the male-dominated technology industry. Companies still trot out 'booth babes' to try and help attract attention to their gadgets, and some products aimed at women are really quite amazingly patronising.
Russian company CBOSS was even accused by The Telegraph of offering dinners with young escorts for prospective clients at Mobile World Congress recently. CBOSS has just been banned from the Barcelona trade show, so hopefully that action should signal an end to exploitative behaviour at tech shows.
Here's a run-down of some of our favourite Google doodles.
Which is your favourite? Let me know in the comments below, or over on Facebook.
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