Google doodles to mark Dali's birthday

Happy birthday, Salvador Dali, from your admirers at Google.

The Internet search engine created a special logo on its home page using Dali's Persistence of Memory painting to honor what would have been his 98th birthday today.

Users who clicked on the logo Friday immediately got a listing of Dali-related sites, led by the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.

"It was a complete surprise," said Meredith Brand, a spokeswoman for the museum.

More than 20 people signed the site's online guest book Friday (www.salvadordalimuseum.org/), up from the usual two or three, Brand said. But she didn't know whether that was because of the logo or fans marking the birthday.

The search engine has incorporated special themes into its logo for a while, including for holidays such as Christmas, Valentines Day and St. Patrick's Day. A gallery of some of the Google logo art is at www.Google.com/holidaylogos.html. "The reason that the Dali Museum comes up (first) is that it's a Web site that's related to Dali," said Nathan Tyler, a spokesman for Google. "And it's a good site. It's a useful resource for Google users."

Tyler wouldn't say what lies ahead for special Google logos, but he noted that the company and its users have an interest in art. "We recently did a Monet logo. We do artists from time to time."

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