World Record For Largest Observed Snowflake Celebrated With Google Doodle

125th anniversary

By Chris Crum · January 28, 2012 · 138 Comments

World Record For Largest Observed Snowflake Celebrated With Google Doodle

If you go to Google.com today, you will notice a new Google doodle celebrating the 125th anniversary of the world’s largest snowflake. Then, you might ask yourself, ‘Where does Google come up with this stuff?”

The doodle is animated. A flock of birds flies away as the giant snowflake falls from the sky, to land as the second “O” in the word Google. A cow looks at it for a second, then goes about her business.

According to Wikipedia, which Google presents as the top organic result when clicking on the doodle, it was this day in 1887 when the largest snowflake was observed at 38 centimeters (15 in) in diameter in Fort Keogh, Montana.

Those visiting Google might also notice a message that says: “We’re changing our privacy policy and terms. Not the usual yada yada. Learn more.”

If you haven’t been following, Google announced some major changes to its privacy policy this past week, which is essentially a consolidation of policies across Google services. What it boils down to is that you should consider using any Google product (other than a few select products) the same as using Google, because they fall into the same terms, and Google will use data across these different services. Here is some of our coverage:

Your Grandmother Will Love Google’s New Policy Terms

Google Privacy Changes: What Do They Mean To You?

Can Consumers Opt-Out Of Google’s New Privacy Policy?

Google Privacy: “The Real Story”

Google’s Policy For Government Contracts Unchanged

Google’s Privacy Approach With Danny Sullivan and NPR

More Backlash From Google’s New Privacy Policy

Yes, Virginia, Google’s New Privacy Policy Lets You Opt Out Of Sharing Your Data

Top Rated White Papers and Resources

There are 138 Comments. Add Yours.

Elaina Brownell
January 28, 2012 at 10:49 am
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So how exactly did u get the recording of its size without making it melt?
- ethan
  January 28, 2012 at 10:55 am
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  y do u cuse so much u dont sound cool
  - Tim
    January 28, 2012 at 6:00 pm
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    Kids still learn how to type, and some even learn how to spell the words they type correctly. They think they grow older if they type curse words. In reality, they only age as fast as any other person, animal or object in the world. They are just too young to realize it.
  - brittany
    January 28, 2012 at 11:32 pm
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    Thats a good question Ethan.
- Roy
  January 28, 2012 at 10:56 am
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  Good question Elaina… Stupid way of asking it.
  - jade
    January 28, 2012 at 5:13 pm
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    i agree!
- Heather
  January 28, 2012 at 10:56 am
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  By measuring it outdoors, where it was very cold, missus potty mouth!
- Justin
  January 28, 2012 at 11:06 am
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  You’re stupid.
- Jim Kirk
  January 28, 2012 at 12:19 pm
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  Someone wasn’t hugged enough as a child
  - Jess
    January 28, 2012 at 1:34 pm
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    Haha….i know right!!!! Them should watch their mouthsss…
- anne
  January 28, 2012 at 12:58 pm
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  Instead of raising a stink on here, why don’t you do some of your own research? And while you’re at it, get a dictionary. Cussing isn’t very creative.
- Celeste
  January 28, 2012 at 1:47 pm
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  LMFAO(:
- Steve
  January 28, 2012 at 3:25 pm
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  Successful troll is successful.
- Blossom
  January 28, 2012 at 3:41 pm
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  When you swear you sound like a nine year old trying to sound “cool.”
- Dave
  January 28, 2012 at 3:56 pm
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  I remember when I learned how to spell my first cuss words..
- Indie
  January 28, 2012 at 4:03 pm
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  Very carefully, and yoiu should go wash ur mouth out maam <3
- Kyle
  January 28, 2012 at 6:07 pm
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  I would imagine they used a folding ruler while the snowflake was still on the ground.
  (to keep from breaking it, also.)
  Which leads me to my question about you:
  are you an internet troll, or just stupid?
- Just Another Kid
  January 28, 2012 at 6:48 pm
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  stop trying to be cool by cussing. and why do you get so angry because you don’t know how they measured it? calm down and google it. gosh
- sayhi2yourmom4me
  January 28, 2012 at 7:13 pm
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  Ahh internet rage…something about being online can give some people tourettes..lol
- sstupiddmuch
  January 28, 2012 at 7:58 pm
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  you have no life
- dk4ever
  January 28, 2012 at 9:16 pm
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  lol sad man
- Really? REALLY?!
  January 28, 2012 at 9:56 pm
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  People like you disgust me. I got on hear expecting to read a little something about a SNOWFLAKE and then scroll to the comments expecting things like, “Oh My Gosh, that’s one big freaking snowflake,” or crap like that. What I did not expect was a disgrace like you to show up and troll around.
- Megan
  January 28, 2012 at 10:40 pm
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  is that all you can say is f words
Pam
January 28, 2012 at 11:15 am
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How amazing! I have seen some large snowflakes in my youth, but Montana must make some super snowflakes! A fifteen inch snowflake would be beautiful.
- Tia
  January 28, 2012 at 5:28 pm
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  I agree. It must have been awesome finging it and even better seeing it fall. Amazing.
  - surfmonkey
    January 28, 2012 at 7:48 pm
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    im more curious about how fast it fell thru the air… did it kinda float all snowflaky the whole way or was it more like snow falling off a branch- fwump and a bunch o snowdust….
    - LubuxNonsense
      January 28, 2012 at 10:28 pm
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      Thats interesting to think about:
      “hey Jon! We should head up this path~*THWACK!*”
      “Mike?”
Harley
January 28, 2012 at 11:23 am
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I’m sure that whoever wrote this news report worked extrememly hard to create a report that was worth reading. Please, show some respect for her hard work. If you want to spend your day posting inapropriate comments on a public news site, please go else where.
- Conn
  January 28, 2012 at 8:34 pm
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  On the internet man, this is as good as it gets. No respect on the internet.
Harley
January 28, 2012 at 11:28 am
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*His hard work: much apologies to Chris Crum.
Oofie McGoofy
January 28, 2012 at 11:28 am
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You’re a retard and hood ass wanna be wigger.
- shaz
  January 28, 2012 at 5:47 pm
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  Half of u on ere need f off talking bout snowflakes is ok.
backlash
January 28, 2012 at 11:30 am
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Do cows graze snow?
- Shannon
  January 28, 2012 at 11:51 am
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  I thinks is a great story! its amazing what can be discovered! And yes backlash cows do graze in the snow. you must not be around farms.
- Dan
  January 28, 2012 at 8:21 pm
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  yes they do, when it is in their pasture of grass
Weat Mattis
January 28, 2012 at 11:32 am
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Seriously… an EIGHT SIDED SNOWFLAKE!!!
Epic fail!
Rick H
January 28, 2012 at 11:39 am
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WOW only 3 lines out of 24 to tell you about the snowflake!

first section about googles doodle then ONLY three lines about the snowflake.

Then MOST of this story is about googles changes to its privacy policy! I WANT TO READ ABOUT THE SNOWFLAKE!!!!!!
- edufornication
  January 28, 2012 at 3:57 pm
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  Yea! I wanna hear about the 15in snowflake, but the story and the majority of these comments have almost nothing to do with it. :-/
  - wow
    January 28, 2012 at 9:08 pm
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    Seriously… I only read the comments to laugh. but sometimes it is very frustrating to see the ingnorance of immature idiots with their inability to communicate. Unless of course these really are children cussing, then I can undertand the adolecence. It doesn’t excuse their potty mouth, it just explains it…
Cathy (Lay Off The Books)
January 28, 2012 at 11:44 am
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Very neat! Thanks for sharing.
And when I clicked on the doodle, your site came up above Wikipedia. Pretty impressive
Thomas J.
January 28, 2012 at 11:50 am
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That’s retarded. Most of its about the privacy policy. Retards, I want to read about the snow flake.
Nathan
January 28, 2012 at 12:07 pm
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I at least thought there was gonna be a photo – wish we had flakes like that in the UK
- erin
  January 28, 2012 at 3:35 pm
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  This snowflake was discovered in 1887.
  Color photographs were invented in the 1940′s.
  - Fluidstonestudio
    January 28, 2012 at 4:20 pm
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    a black and white photo would have been ok
    - surfmonkey
      January 28, 2012 at 7:51 pm
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      lol, smart*ss
sushi
January 28, 2012 at 12:13 pm
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so you think putting * makes the words safe e
- dbcad7
  January 28, 2012 at 9:19 pm
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  No… “*” doesn’t help.. ALL words are dangerous “*” or not.. best not to read at all, and burn unacceptable unapproved books while your at it.. also all children under 21 should have a net nanny that only lets them go to disney.com and parents who don’t enforce it should go to jail for child abuse… any other problems need solving.. am willing to help.
  - fucking anonymous
    January 28, 2012 at 10:30 pm
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    Umm yeah because 16 year olds really wanna go to Disney.com right. I’ve got essays due all the time and Disney.com will never suffice for an essay about the Origin of Rock and Roll. Righhht because if my parents let me do homework on another site it’s child abuse. And words are just words it’s because of stupid people that people say they’re bad.
    Oh and just to be nice….Snowflakes are conglomerations of frozen ice crystals which fall through the Earth’s atmosphere. They begin as snow crystals which develop when microscopic supercooled cloud droplets freeze. Snowflakes come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Complex shapes emerge as the flake moves through differing temperature and humidity regimes. Individual snowflakes are nearly unique in structure. Types which fall in the form of a ball due to melting and refreezing, rather than a flake, are known as graupel, with ice pellets and snow grains as examples of grapple. (your probably thought I was stupid or something.)
    - dbcad7
      January 30, 2012 at 12:49 am
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      next assignment.. the word “sarcastic”
Dennis Moses
January 28, 2012 at 12:24 pm
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Holy moly guacamole that is big!
- bobby brown
  January 28, 2012 at 7:02 pm
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  thats what she said
kayla
January 28, 2012 at 1:04 pm
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Wikipedia isn’t the top organic result.
Chandler
January 28, 2012 at 1:20 pm
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That snowflake is the size of my computer monitor. By the way, my website is under construction, so don’t be alarmed to get a 401 error or blank page.\
~~Hi!~~Hey!ASAP
Rose Luce
January 28, 2012 at 1:34 pm
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Chris,

I realley like your webpage today. I enjoy seeing different pages for the holidays,etc.

My Grandchild Jessica is going to SVA in New York City and I told here to watch all Google pages so that when she graduates she would be able to get a job

Please tell the management that I like Goodle front page, etc. Sincerely Rose
Moi
January 28, 2012 at 2:07 pm
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When I clicked the picture the top result for me was this website
- Fluidstonestudio
  January 28, 2012 at 2:36 pm
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  I got here too – thought it might be a cool place to leave a link
Mika Noonan
January 28, 2012 at 2:46 pm
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This doesnt explain my question of “Where did the largest snowflake fall?”
dr6502times
January 28, 2012 at 2:46 pm
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were there cameras in 1887 that could capture a snowflake? how do we really know it was that big? just cause someone said so?
- surfmonkey
  January 28, 2012 at 7:55 pm
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  they had only primitive cameras, but im pretty sure they had the ruler mastered by then…
- Conn
  January 28, 2012 at 8:38 pm
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  or u know, someone could have bullshitted the whole story with a made up sketch, fake measurements and false claims. You dont know, i dont know, theres no telling if this even really happened.
  - Thomas
    January 28, 2012 at 11:11 pm
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    Don’t use that logic. Even now, photoshopping is so easy. I learned how to do it when I was 7 (the computer’s software I had made it a little easier than normal.)
Jess
January 28, 2012 at 2:49 pm
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i think that the snow flake thing is pretty interesting, though its kinda stupid how people are making a big deal of it, sometimes i think people are only leaving stupid or mean comments to get attention
Believe me, its happened alot on utube (not my channel though)
destyn anthony ogle
January 28, 2012 at 3:10 pm
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i thing that its cool and that Elaina Brownell your right but you could of said it so id appropriate for a 12 YEAR OLD
shania
January 28, 2012 at 3:45 pm
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i love your doodles you guys>D
- Deez Nutz
  January 28, 2012 at 11:19 pm
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  That’s what she said
Peter Andre
January 28, 2012 at 3:55 pm
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You lot of fecking conts dont know what the feck your on about.
colton
January 28, 2012 at 4:28 pm
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man only if SOPA was passed would we not see comments like this lol
- flagfreak99
  January 28, 2012 at 4:53 pm
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  yea, and you wouldnt see facebook,twitter, and other social sites!!!
  - Conn
    January 28, 2012 at 8:43 pm
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    Dont forget about Youtube, Google video, Hulu, and all videos that have any kind of song playing in the background!
Ray-Ray
January 28, 2012 at 4:42 pm
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Hey i posted this from my nook color how cool is that!:-/ ;-(; any way to read this you tilt yo head to the side( hey guys i am really sorry i have to sound stupid when i post stuff says mi damn manager)!! Well duces yall see ya at the next concerts ya stalkers
anon
January 28, 2012 at 4:44 pm
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i am quite suspicious if this is true, maybe some hill billy just wants to be famous for seeing a big piece of show, herp de derp
harlicon
January 28, 2012 at 4:52 pm
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it appears my earlier comment has been duplicated! Not by me! perhaps this is what you wish people to perceive if you don’t like the comment?
Adele Briggs
January 28, 2012 at 5:00 pm
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I think it was a great doodle to recognize the largest snowflake. Love the things Google comes up with. You guys are awesome!!
DOn’t know why people have to ruin things by being so stupid! Grow up!
hannah
January 28, 2012 at 5:13 pm
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goodness gracious! you people scare me… lol its pathetic..you guys who are trollin! i feel sorry for your children, if you have any. oh, and lovin the tacoman, lol i loooove tacos also!!
Libby
January 28, 2012 at 5:28 pm
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Pix or it didn’t happen