Google has honored the world’s ‘most loved’ naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, on his 100th birthday on Friday (May 8) though a special Google Search animation. Google transformed its homepage with a custom design, including a specialized logo featuring a “Thank You” note surrounded by animations of animals wearing party hats and bearing cupcakes, when “David Attenborough” is searched.“The bespoke Search experience features a ‘Thank You’ note, with animal animations wearing party hats, bringing their own cupcakes and small gifts to celebrate his accomplishments – a genuine celebration of a global icon,” a spokesperson for Google told The Independent UK.
Live event and tributes for Sir David Attenborough
The centenarian is spending his birthday with close family before heading to London’s Royal Albert Hall for a star-studded live event staged by the BBC, according to reports. The celebration, which will be broadcast on BBC One, features tributes from fellow broadcasters including Sir Michael Palin and Chris Packham, alongside musical performances by Sigur Rós and Bastille.The event serves as a homecoming for Attenborough, whose career-defining 1979 series, Life on Earth, set the gold standard for wildlife filmmaking. Reflecting on his legacy this week, Sir David called his iconic 1979 encounter with mountain gorillas in Rwanda “one of the most privileged moments” of his life.While the day is one of celebration, it also carries the weight of Attenborough’s lifelong message. In his 2020 work, A Life on Our Planet, he warned that human activity is sending the natural world into a decline, famously stating, “We are replacing the wild with the tame.”The Attenborough Nature Reserve, opened by Attenborough in 1966, is meanwhile celebrating both the presenter’s birthday and the reserve’s 60th anniversary, and plans to host three days of festivities to celebrate. “To have the reserve’s 60th anniversary so close to Sir David’s 100th birthday is really special, especially given the long connection he has with the reserve. We therefore thought it fitting to mark the two occasions together with a celebration of the reserve and its wildlife,” Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust Chief Executive Paul Wilkinson said.
