--- title: New Google Doodle Marks 2015 Winter Solstice description: It's the shortest day and the longest night of the year, occurring when the North Pole is at its greatest distance away from the sun canonical: https://time.com/4158224/google-doodle-winter-solstice-2015/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-22T02:56:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:56.141Z og:title: New Google Doodle Marks 2015 Winter Solstice og:description: It's the shortest day and the longest night of the year. og:url: https://time.com/4158224/google-doodle-winter-solstice-2015/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f37e658d1a9be6f/69887673ab6d77e2c76a7aff/screen-shot-2015-12-22-at-10-43-59-am.png?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2015-12-22 at 10.43.59 AM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Google Doodle Marks 2015 Winter Solstice twitter:description: It's the shortest day and the longest night of the year. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f37e658d1a9be6f/69887673ab6d77e2c76a7aff/screen-shot-2015-12-22-at-10-43-59-am.png?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New Google Doodle Marks the 2015 Winter Solstice ## Video: How Google Makes its Doodles [Watch (HLS stream): How Google Makes its Doodles](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/upF0qp1E.m3u8) (3:23)  _Published 2018-07-07. Our videographer went to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California to meet some of the designers and coders who create the special, clever variations on the Google.com logo known as_ by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Dec 22, 2015 2:56 AM UTC  Google Doodle marking the 2015 winter solstice in the northern hemisphere Google Doodle marking the 2015 winter solstice in the northern hemisphereGoogle by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Dec 22, 2015 2:56 AM UTC It’s the official first day of winter, and Google is celebrating accordingly with a snow globe-themed [Google Doodle](http://www.google.com/doodles/winter-solstice-2015-northern-hemisphere) marking the winter solstice. The doodle, which is visible in Canada, Latin America, most of Europe and parts of Asia, shows the company’s famous logo within a snow globe with two people skating. The December solstice, which [marks](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/21/5-things-to-know-about-the-winter-solstice/) the shortest day and longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere, occurs when the North Pole is at its greatest distance away from the sun due to the 23.5-degree tilt of the earth’s access. It usually takes place on Dec. 21 or Dec. 22. The moment that marks the shortest day this year [will take place](http://time.com/4152522/winter-solstice-2015/) at 11:48 p.m. ET on Monday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4158224/google-doodle-winter-solstice-2015/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4158224/google-doodle-winter-solstice-2015/"},"headline":"New Google Doodle Marks the 2015 Winter Solstice","datePublished":"2015-12-22T02:56:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:02:56.141Z","description":"It's the shortest day and the longest night of the year","url":"https://time.com/4158224/google-doodle-winter-solstice-2015/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Google Doodle","earth","sun"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f37e658d1a9be6f/69887673ab6d77e2c76a7aff/screen-shot-2015-12-22-at-10-43-59-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f37e658d1a9be6f/69887673ab6d77e2c76a7aff/screen-shot-2015-12-22-at-10-43-59-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2015-12-22 at 10.43.59 AM","caption":"Google Doodle marking the 2015 winter solstice in the northern hemisphere","creditText":"Google","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4158224/google-doodle-winter-solstice-2015/","name":"New Google Doodle Marks the 2015 Winter Solstice"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Google Makes its Doodles","description":"Our videographer went to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California to meet some of the designers and coders who create the special, clever variations on the Google.com logo known as","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/upF0qp1E/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-07-07T16:09:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/upF0qp1E.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4158224/google-doodle-winter-solstice-2015/","duration":"PT3M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4158224/google-doodle-winter-solstice-2015/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```