Google is now 19 years old — that's insane.
For many, it's the first thing they see when they open a web browser. Nearly everyone has used it once to search for something. Over time, it expanded from being a mere search engine into a wholly omnipresent platform — Google is now in smart speakers, phones, streaming sticks, laptops, and even glasses.
Google Turns 19, So Here Are 19 Surprises
The value and impact of Google can never be quantified. Were it to fail, the tech industry and the lives of modern consumers who rely on the internet for most of their day-to-day activities will collapse. It's that huge.
For its 19th birthday, Google has done something special. It created a Google Doodle collection, a birthday surprise spinner that lets users play some of the most memorable Doodle games the company had come up with in the past.
True to its age, the 19th anniversary Google Doodle contains 19 surprises, including a Beethoven-themed musical puzzle game, a Magic Cat Academy game, tic-tac-toe, cricket, and much more.
In addition, users can also bring up awesome interactive doodles from the archives, including music-creation tools Google launched earlier this year. Users who dig deep enough might even uncover a Snake easter egg somewhere in the chaos, which is a vibrant, modern take on the addictive mobile classic.
Those interested in playing the classic title can search for it by typing in "snake game," or alternatively, users can just search for Google's Doodle spinner by searching for "Google birthday surprise spinner" and giving it a go. Again, there are 19 classic Doodles to try, so make sure to check them all out.
Keep in mind that Pac-Man is included, too — a game that reportedly squeezed 4.82 million hours of combined playtime from users worldwide and allegedly cost the economy $120 million for wasted time that should've spent on productivity.
Google Turns 19: Here Are Some Cool Facts
Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998, and they were also responsible for designing the first Google Doodle, an out-of-office message in case of a server crash. The two were out attending that year's Burning Man Festival, as Recode reports.
Google was founded in the garage of Susan Wojcicki — then a newly minted business school graduate, she's now the CEO of YouTube, which Google owns.
Google is named after "googol," which is the numeral one followed by 100 zeroes.
Google changed its logo in 2015, retaining the multicolored scheme but opting for a more rounded and uniform typeface, dropping the serifs.
Thoughts about Google's 19th birthday? Have you given the company's commemorative Doodle spinner a go? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
