Google Celebrates The 125th Birthday Of Duke Kahanamoku, ‘Father Of Modern Surfing’

Google updated its homepage today with a new Doodle in memory of Duke Kahanamoku, born in Hawaii 125 years ago on Aug. 24, 1890. Kahanamoku was the first to make surfing popular in California, New Zealand and Australia — he’s considered as the “father of modern surfing.” Google updated its logo with a surfer board, replacing a “O” by Kahanamoku’s head.

Kahanamoku, after breaking several world records in swimming competitions in the beginning of the twentieth century, invented the idea of surfing by rescuing a fishing vessel in 1925, which was stuck in a squall off the coast of Newport Beach, Calif. He rushed to the boat with his surfboard, and so the board became a tool that all rescue swimmers used afterward.

Kahanamoku first popularized surfing in California, and then in Oceania. He died on Jan. 22, 1968.

Kahanamoku’s legacy is being celebrated now at Honolulu’s Bishop Museum.