FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Google LLC (/ˈɡuːɡəl/ (listen)) is an American multinational technology company that focuses on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. It has been referred to as the “most powerful company in the world” and one of the world’s most valuable brands due to its market dominance, data collection, and technological advantages in the area of artificial intelligence. It is considered one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.
Google was founded on September 4, 1998, by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were PhD students at Stanford University in California. Together they own about 14% of its publicly listed shares and control 56% of the stockholder voting power through super-voting stock. The company went public via an initial public offering (IPO) in 2004. In 2015, Google was reorganized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. Google is Alphabet’s largest subsidiary and is a holding company for Alphabet’s Internet properties and interests. Sundar Pichai was appointed CEO of Google on October 24, 2015, replacing Larry Page, who became the CEO of Alphabet. On December 3, 2019, Pichai also became the CEO of Alphabet.
The company has since rapidly grown to offer a multitude of products and services beyond Google Search, many of which hold dominant market positions. These products address a wide range of use cases, including email (Gmail), navigation (Maps), cloud computing (Cloud), web browsing (Chrome), video sharing (YouTube), productivity (Workspace), operating systems (Android), cloud storage (Drive), language translation (Translate), photo storage (Photo), video calling (Meet), smart home (Nest), smartphones (Pixel), wearable technology (Fitbit), gaming (Stadia), music streaming (YouTube Music), video on demand (TV), artificial intelligence (Assistant), machine learning APIs (TensorFlow), AI chips (TPU), and more. Discontinued Google products include Glass, Google+, Reader, Play Music, Nexus, Hangouts, and Inbox by Gmail.
Google strives for ambitious technological innovations aimed at solving humanity’s biggest problems. Some of these include quantum computing (Sycamore), self-driving cars (Waymo, formerly the Google Self-Driving Car Project), smart cities (Sidewalk Labs), and transformer models (Google Brain).
Google and YouTube are the two most visited websites worldwide followed by Facebook and Twitter. Google is also the largest search engine, mapping and navigation application, email provider, office suite, video sharing platform, photo and cloud storage provider, mobile operating system, web browser, ML framework, and AI virtual assistant provider in the world as measured by market share. On the list of most valuable brands, Google is ranked second by Forbes and fourth by Interbrand. It has received significant criticism involving issues such as privacy concerns, tax avoidance, censorship, search neutrality, antitrust and abuse of its monopoly position.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
What is the world’s longest railway?
The Trans-Siberian Railway, from Moscow to Vladivostok, is 5,777 miles long. In the United States, we have 1,780 miles of continuous track, completed in 1869 when the Central Pacific Railroad built east from Sacramento, California, and the Union Pacific Railroad met at Promontory Point, Utah.
Advice of the Day
Sins and debts are always more than we think they are.
Home Hint of the Day
To clean suede, brush with a suede brush or steel wool, then wipe with a cloth dipped in white vinegar and wrung out almost dry.
Word of the Day
Pica
1/6 inch; used in printing for measuring column width, etc.
Puzzle of the Day
Little Rhody.(Name the U.S. state!)
Rhode Island
Born
- Queen Elizabeth I of England – 1533
- Grandma Moses (painter) – 1860
- J. P. Morgan Jr. (financier) – 1867
- Elia Kazan (director) – 1909
- Anthony Quayle (actor) – 1913
- Buddy Holly (singer) – 1936
- Gloria Gaynor (singer) – 1949
- Julie Kavner (actress) – 1951
- Chrissie Hynde (singer) – 1951
- Devon Sawa (actor) – 1978
- Evan Rachel Wood (actress) – 1987
Died
- Catherine Parr (widow of Henry VIII of England) – 1548
- Maurice Duplessis (former premier of Quebec) – 1959
- Keith Moon (musician) – 1978
- Uzi Gal (invented the Uzi submachine gun) – 2002
- Gregory Mcdonald (author) – 2008
Events
- Edith Eleanor McLean was the first baby to be placed in an incubator– 1888
- First automobile parade, Newport, Rhode Island– 1899
- First international lifeboat race took place, New York City– 1927
- First Canadian Official Languages Act went into effect– 1969
- The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) made its debut– 1979
- Google Inc. was founded– 1998
Weather
- New England and New York experienced a widespread killing frost, resulting in a $1 million crop loss in Maine– 1888
- 105 degrees F, Santa Ana, California– 1949
- 109 degrees F in Weldon, North Carolina– 1954
- Football players at Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, Florida, were knocked off their feet by a violent bolt of lightning– 1970
- Calgary was deluged by hail that caused approximately $350 million in insured losses, making this hailstorm the costliest on record in Canada.– 1991
COURTESY www.almanac.com
