Google's homepage doodle today pays homage to Howard Carter, a British archaeologist best known for uncovering the tomb of King Tutankhamen in Egypt.
The doodle on Google.com, which celebrates Carter's 138th birthday, features him standing amongst the riches uncovered in King Tut's tomb.
Carter was born in 1873 in England, and developed an interest in Egypt at an early age. He traveled there in 1891 for an apprenticeship that had him "recording the decorated walls of tombs in Middle Egypt," according to the Archaeological Institute of America. In the years to come, he primarily worked as an artist and photographer at various sites in Egypt. But in 1900, he was named chief inspector of antiquities in Upper Egypt, which included excavation and conservation tasks. A 1905 altercation with some French tourists, however, prompted him to resign and he returned to his artist roots, the AIA said.
It was not until 1922 that Carter discovered the intact royal tomb of King Tut, who was interred around 1333 B.C. surrounded by priceless valuables. As the New York Times noted in Carter's obituary, "to a modern world recovering from the World War his discovery brought a complete picture of the colorful civilization of the Eighteenth Dynasty in Egypt about which little had been previously known. The splendor of the tomb and its rich furnishings within it revealed a Golden Age of arts and crafts equal to any other period of ancient times."
Not surprisingly, Carter struggled to produce a follow-up as noteworthy as the King Tut discovery. A biography by Kegan Paul "depicts a somewhat lonely and despondent Carter in the aftermath of this success," AIA said. "At one point Carter is pictured, after work in the tomb had finished, pathetically seeking recognition in the lobby of Luxor's Winter Palace Hotel, 'waiting like the Ancient Mariner to trap some visitor to whom he might talk.'"
Carter passed away in 1939.
For more on Google's doodles, meanwhile, see the slideshow below. Recently, the company honored origami legend Akira Yoshizawa and German Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. One of the company's more popular doodles last year was a playable image in honor of musician Les Paul, which eventually got its own standalone site. The company has also honored Gumby creator Art Clokey, Muppets creator Jim Henson, Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, and Intel co-founder Robert Noyce.
In 2011, it was revealed that Google obtained a patent for its popular homepage doodles, covering "systems and methods for enticing users to access a Web site." Not everyone is charmed. PCMag's Jamie Lendino recently implored: Enough With the Google Doodles.
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