Google is our lifesaver, any time We are stuck on something like how to fix a hard-drive(DIY) and so on, we seek Google, type in the query, and we get the answers to our questions.
Now Google is not just a search engine. It is a multinational company that deals with all internet-related things and has also started selling its own phone- Google pixel series. But for many people, it is the denotation of Internet because Google is used as the first web page by majority Internet users.
Also, no other page/search engine has been used extensivelaprdy by anyone for literally searching everything (We just searched how to wake up early in the morning ?).
And now the biggest search engine giant has turned 21. So, it’s my effort to appreciate Google’s presence in our lives and wish it the best birthday by telling its fans 21 (lesser-known) facts about it.
1. BackRub Was Its First Name
Google founders originally named the search engine ‘BackRub’ because of its underlying algorithm of checking backlinks. But they scrapped that idea, for which We are very thankful because BackRub seems like a spa company’s name.
2. Met By Chance!
Sergey Brin, 21 in the year 1995 was already attending Stanford University, doing his Ph.D. Lawrence Page, then 22 was also considering the same university to begin his Ph.D. Well, it was fate that Page decided to attend Stanford and meet Brin (2nd year student), who was then asked to give a campus tour to Lawrence Page. That meeting changed the history of the Internet and search engine.
3. ‘Google’ came from an unintentional typo
After BackRub was scrapped, founders decided to call the search engine giant “googol”, which is a mathematical term for 1 followed by 0s. It represents Google’s capability to access data available on the Internet and binary code.
But rumors have it that the inventor misspelled Googol as Google, and it got stuck with Lawrence and Brin. A small typo with thankfully no autocorrect option gave us this amazing name.
4. The first Google Doodle was a message
Google’s little doodles are amazing. We personally loved last year’s Halloween Doodle. But did you know that the first doodle ever created by them in the year 1998 was actually a message from them to their customers? Well, they were traveling to attend the Burning Man festival in Nevada. Hence, they designed a doodle of a man standing behind the O in the Google logo. This was, they tried to inform that they won’t be available to fix tech issues. Full points for creativity!
5. 2000+ Doodles
Since that eventful day in august 1998, Google’s illustrator has produced more than 2000 doodle marking special occasions or anniversary of extraordinary people.
6. Gmail Was Launched On 1st April
Not many people know, but Gmail was launched on 1st April, 2004, that was initially interpreted as a hoax.
7. Doodle that you can play with
On 21st May 2010, Google came up with its first ever interactive doodle that you can play with too. It was a PAC-MAN doodle, marking the anniversary of the gaming company. Google, if you read this, we are waiting for our candy crush playable doodle too.
8. Garage is the common denominator for all successful companies
Well, Google didn’t start out in a garage, but in the year 1998, the founders rented the garage of Susan WojcickWe in Menlo Park, California. They later bought the house and started their work that changed the world. There they snacked on candies and decorated the house with lava lamps.
Now Google has 70 offices in 50 countries! Maybe We should clear out my garage too, as all successful companies start out in there.
9. Lego case pen drive- first home of ‘Google’
The first time Google’s code was developed, Lawrence and Brinn stored it in ten 4 GB hard drives with a Lego casing. The reason was that it was under their budget. Now that casing can be viewed at Stanford University.
10. Chewy candy was their first snack
Every Google office is famous for providing the best gourmet food to its employees. We could intern there for that very reason (Like’s that’s the only reason!). But in 1999, the first-ever snack for the employees was not a gourmet food, but Swedish fish, a chewy candy.
11. First ever investor
The first investment made in Google was by Andy Bechtolsheim in September 1998 with a moderate sum of $ 100,000. Shocked! That it wasn’t a million dollars investment, well, that was a huge sum back then, and We think Andy will be pretty happy he made that investment.
12. Goats as lawn mowers
In 2009, the headquarters of Google welcomed new members, and they were 200 goats. We are not kidding! They rented these goats from California so that they could graze the grass to mow the land. It was pretty cute and environment-friendly as told by the employees.
13. A twitter entry to remember
I’m 00100000 01101100 01110101 01100011 01101011 01111001 00001010— Google (@Google) February 26, 2009
This was Google’s first ever tweet, which meant ‘I am feeling lucky’. It broke the internet but didn’t break the then character limit of 133 characters.
14. Google has a dinosaur
Well, a skeleton of a T-Rex, named Stan, pretty cool, isn’t it? It is placed in the headquarters and is the stimulus behind one of my favorite games the ‘Dino-Run’. You must have played this game on Google Chrome when it can’t connect to the internet. No? Try it right now, it’s super fun.
15. Dog- lovers
Google loves dogs, which is pretty evident from its policy that allows every kind of Dog in the office as long as they are friendly and can hold their pee.
16. Yahoo rejected the offer to buy Google
Yahoo certainly regrets this! The founders in the initial day planned to sell their baby (Google, guys) to Yahoo but they declined the offer. It later realized its mistake as Google became popular and offered a whopping amount of $ 3 billion in 2002 to acquire it. However, Google declined the offer. A Blow for a blow!
17. It handles billions searched everyday
Google is the most powerful and the biggest search engine, which processes 3.5 billion searches every day. That means 40,000 searches per second. Phew, that’s a lot of hard work!
18. Want to overtake a company? Well, mozzarella sticks should do it
Google overtook YouTube by meeting the owners at Denny’s. They negotiated a deal while having a plate of Mozzarella sticks. Google is all about food, isn’t it? And we love that.
19. A takeover every week sounds fun!
Since 2010, Google has been overtaking companies every week whether big or small.
20. Top place to work
Want to work in the best company well, don’t Google it, but go to Google (Not a good one, we know.) Well, from 2012-2017, and in 2007 and 2008, Google was ranked as the best company to work in the Fortune’s best companies to work in. 8 awards for best working place is something that most company only dream about.
21. Bikes to travel in the campus
Google is all about preserving the environment, which you can see from the fact that in 2007, Google introduced “Clown Bikes”. These bikes are called GBikes and are colored in its logo, have a basket and are used for traveling around the campus. Pick the nearest bike and paddle away to the entrance and park their or hand over it to fellow Googlers.
Well, learning these facts was awesome. Happy Birthday dear Google, you have made our life so much easier.