We are already familiar with the Google Doodles - the custom logos that appear on the search engine home page to commemorate special dates or events. For 12 years now Google has been creating these logos, holiday honoring all as global Earth Day for the birthdays of historically significant people (such as Albert Einstein) and even the birthdays of fictional characters such as Paddington Bear.

In the first ten years of Google Doodles (1998-2007), there was usually only a handful or maybe a dozen doodles each year, usually for big events and holidays (like New Year's Day or the Olympics). But from 2008 Google has been using more and more doodles, often with cryptic meanings to take a little research to find meaning behind. Below are some of the best handpicked Google Doodles over the last 12 + years, loved it!

It has a favorite that is not listed here? Share in the comments!

1998

Burning Man This was the first Google Doodle, and was created to indicate Google 'founders of Burning Man Festival service.

1999

Season's Greetings. (Global).

Search Uncle Sam. "This logo was shown on Google U.S. Government Search page.

2000

Groundhog Day. (U.S.).

Father's Day. (Global).

Series since the first week of May. This was the first employee of Google Doodle, and told the story of an alien plot.

Summer Olympics in Sydney - Soccer. (Global). A series of doodles created for the Olympic Games in Sydeny, Australia.

Summer Olympics in Sydney - Kayaking. (Global).

Bastille Day. (France). Bastille Day is a holiday celebrating the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille.

Declaration of Independence. (U.S.). Doodle This was created to commemorate the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Shichi-go-san. (Japan). Shichi-Go-San is a traditional rite of passage and festival in Japan for three and seven year old girls and three boys and five years old.

2001

To show that Google Chrome is fast, Google produced this film speeds comparing actual things with travel speeds / processing.

There are 3 situations:

- Chrome opening shot recipe site X potato
- Chrome opening Pandora X sound waves
- Chrome X-Ray opening Weather.com

See below:

Making of:

Source