Google marks anniversary of hip-hop with new interactive doodle
The search engine site, which sometimes uses its homepage to honor prominent figures, is highlighting the artist to celebrate him on what would have been his 112th birthday.
Born Zhou Yaoping in China on Jan. 13, 1906, he was raised by a Qing Dynasty official. By the time he was a teenager, he developed an interest in linguistics and earned his high school diploma with honors.
After graduation, he attended St. John's University in Shanghai, where he studied economics and linguistics. He later transferred to Guanghua University, where he graduated in 1927.
Throughout his career, he taught economics as a college professor. Then in 1955, the Chinese government placed him at the head of a committee to reform the Chinese language to improve literacy.
Google doodle: Who was Nigerian author Chinua Achebe
For three years, he and members of the committee developed Pinyin, the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, transforming the Chinese language.
“The new system transformed China’s literacy rate, providing more natural passage into the written language, which requires mastering thousands of characters,” Google wrote on its blog. “It bridged multiple Chinese dialects with its shared designations of sound.”
Known as the “Father of Pinyin,” he went on to write 40 books, and he translated the Encyclopedia Britannica into Chinese.
Want better sleep? Write a to-do list, study says
A 7-year-old Pakistani girl was raped and killed — and the country is demanding #JusticeForZainab
Google honors Chinese linguist Zhou Youguang with doodle
Sea lions are attacking swimmers in San Francisco Bay
Man shoots his mom in the head during tantrum over video games, police say
31 million people believe they’ll still owe credit card debt when they die
Trump's first official physical exam could provide new clues about his health
Now casting: Netflix’s ‘Ozark’ seeking hospital staff, bank customers
MSNBC's Chris Matthews joked about his 'Bill Cosby Pill' before interviewing Hillary Clinton
In 2017, he died at his home in Beijing at age, a day after his 111th birthday. Now Google is paying tribute.
Check out the doodle archive to see his animated doodle.