Google Celebrates the First World's Fair and the International Workers' Day

Google ran a flurry of doodles over the weekend, some obvious, some less so, but in line with what it has been doing lately. The company has been putting out custom logos at a steady rate, but it doesn't seem like people are getting fed up with it, not yet anyway, and, especially on the weekends, a small, informative distraction is welcomed.

On its homepage as well on several localized version of its search engine, Google ran a doodle celebrating the 160 anniversary of the first World’s Fair which started the tradition of big expositions showcasing technological and scientific advances to the general public.

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations as it was labeled, or simply the Great Exhibition, ran for from the 1st of May 1851 to the 15th October the same year.

It was one of the most important events of the period and designed to put all of the world's technological advances on display. Considering that the Industrial Revolution was still in full swing and making a real difference in the lives of most people in the developed countries, the timing was perfect.

And, since the United Kingdom was at the height of its success and was the most advanced country in the world, due in no small part to the technological advances that started in the country and only later spread to Europe, North America and the rest of the world.

The Great Exhibition was organized by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, Henry Cole and others. It was created to display all the great advances of the countries of the world, but also to prove Britain's superiority in technology, industry and science.

The Great Exhibition wasn't the only thing celebrated yesterday by Google, the International Workers' Day was also marked on localized versions of the search engine, in countries where it's considered an important event.