The internet's number one site, a tech behemoth beyond compare, as Google continues to grow and dominate so many aspects of the world we live in, it could be argued that today's anniversary may yet turn out to be one of the most influential dates in our lifetimes.
It was this day in 1998 that Sergey Brin and Larry Page took their college research project to the next business level and incorporated Google - largely so they could bank a cheque written out by an investor in their company name.
In hope that Google will prove to be a benign and kindly dictator rather than the Big Brother some fear, we are raising a glass to the ultimate web star with a Webster Martini, enjoyed on the ocean liner S.S. Mauretania back when the only webs people thought about belonged to spiders. With its balance of fruit and vermouth, the Webster tastes extremely contemporary - yet The Savoy Cocktail Book remarks that it was a favourite on the early 20th-century ocean liner RMS Mauretania. Happy birthday, Google!
Birmingham's Bullring
Happy Birthday to the Bullring, an icon of Birmingham that celebrates its birthday today. It's either a teenager or 900-ish, depending on how you're counting.
The Bullring has been a feature of Birmingham since the Middle Ages, though it got its name during the 1500s when a chap named John Cooper was given the right to bait bulls on the site. Since then, the Bullring has been through a range of incarnations, from a welter of stalls and old buildings through to a grandiose Victorian-covered market. After this was bombed during World War II, the 1960s replacement - designed to be the largest mall outside the US - was derided widely as an eyesore.
The Bullring's current incarnation opened on this day in 2003 and, in what would have been inconceivable back in the day, is home to a range of luxury brands. We are toasting its evolution with a Market Daiquiri.
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