International Women’s Day 2019 – who are the women in today’s Google Doodle?
INTERNATIONAL Women's Day is TODAY (March 8) - and Google has marked it with empowering quotes from inspirational women who have fought for gender equality and the feminist movement.
We explain what the Google Doodle is and what the quotes are.
What is International Women's Day and what is the Doodle?
International Women’s Day is held each year on March 8 - which is TODAY.
It is a worldwide event that celebrates women’s achievements and calls for gender equality.
The day has been observed since the early 1900s and aims to bring together governments, women's organisations and charities.
The Doodle celebrating the day is made up of many translations for the word WOMAN - such as frau, femme and donna.
As you click on the Google Doodle you are then treated to 13 quotes from inspirational women, all shared in their own language.
A message on each illsutration says: "Happy International Women's Day 2019! Explore powerful words by women and illustrated by women from around the [world] ! #GoogleDoodle #IWD2019."
Who has been quoted in today's Google Doodle and what did they say?
- Millicent Fawcett, British writer and suffragette - “Courage calls to courage everywhere.”
- Frida Kahlo, Mexican artist - “Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly?”
- Dr Mae Jemison, American astronaut and physician - “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.”
- Emma Herwegh, German writer - “Let nothing bind you in the world other than your highest inner truth.”
- Yoko Ono, Japanese multimedia artist - “A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”
- NL Beno Zephine, Indian diplomat - "We are too precious to let disappointments enter our minds."
- Mary Kom, Indian boxer - “Do not say you are weak, because you are a woman.”
- Clarice Lispector, Brazilian novelist - “I am stronger than myself.”
- Zaha Hadid, Britihs-Iraqi architect - “I really believe in the idea of the future.”
- Marina Tsvetaevea, Russian poet -“Wings are freedom only when they are wide open in flight. On one’s back they are a heavy weight.”
- George Sand, French novelist - “The future can awaken in a more beautiful way than the past.”
- Sanmao, Chinese-born Taiwanese writer - “A person who has at least one dream has a reason to be strong.”
- Chimamanda Adichie, Nigerian writer - “I matter. I matter equally. Not ‘if only’, not ‘as long as’. I matter. Full Stop."
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
How did International Women's Day begin?
The day can be traced back to 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City calling for voting rights, shorter working hours and better pay.
On March 8 1914, there was a march from Bow to Trafalgar Square in support of women's suffrage.
Suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst was notoriously arrested in front of Charing Cross station, on her way to speak in the central London square.
In the following years, a form of women’s day was held on varying dates in different countries, but by 1913 it was decided that March 8 would officially be International Women’s Day - and it has been that way ever since.