Google Swimming Doodle Welcomes Summer

By Paul Thomson :: 12:30 AM

The colorful Google doodle featuring a quintet of swimmers bobbing in a wave on Google’s homepage today (above) signifies the first day of Summer.

Also known as the Summer Solstice (exact time, Friday, June 21, at 1:04 a.m. ET), the first day of Summer is also the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere – meaning that part of the globe receives more sunlight than on any other day of the year.

This year’s Summer Solstice is remarkable because it will be closely followed by the largest “supermoon” of 2013. In the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, the moon will reach its full phase and will be the closest to Earth that it will be all year.

In the Southern Hemisphere, today marks the first day of Winter Solstice. Not to leave out half of the globe, Google also had a doodle designed for Australia and southern parts of the world as well – see the image below.

Both of Google’s artworks for today were drawn by Christoph Niemann, an illustrator, graphic designer, and author of several children’s books.

Google’s Southern Hemisphere Doodle: