Who was Omar Khayyam? Google Doodle honours Iranian mathematician and poet

Today's Google Doodle celebrates Khayyam on what would have been his 971st birthday

Google Doodle has honoured Iranian mathematician, poet and astronomer Omar Khayyam on what would have been his 971st birthday.

Saturday's Google Doodle is of Iranian mathematician Omar Khayyam on what would have been his 971st birthday.

He is best known for his work on the classification and solution of cubic equations. However, he was also a well-known astronomer and poet.

Born on May 18, 1048, Khayyam was born in Nishapur, now in northeastern Iran, and spent of his life near the court of the Karakhanid and Seljuq rulers.

He was the first to give a general method for solving cubic equations.

While he didn’t consider negative roots, his methods were still suitable to find geometrically all real (positive or negative) roots of cubic questions. He also contributed to the understanding of the parallel axiom.

He became known posthumously for his poetry because of a translation of his work in a book titled Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Edward FitzGerald in 1859.

It consisted of a selection of quatrains attributed to Khayyam, with the book becoming popular in the 1880s throughout the English-speaking world.

As an astronomer, he designed the the Jalali calendar which is still used to this day in some parts of Iran and Afghanistan.

It is a solar calendar with a precise 33-year intercalation cycle and formed the basis for other calendars in the region.

Khayyam's Google Doodle will appear to Google users in Canada, Japan, India, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Iceland Chile, Peru, Sweden and the Middle East and North Africa region.

Here, we look into how doodles from this region deserve to be shown further afield.

A Google Doodle celebrating Egyptian actress Karima Mokhtar's 89th birthday. All images: Google

Egyptian writer Ihsan Abdel Quddous

Kuwaiti actor and comedian Abdulhussain Abdulredha's 83rd birthday

UAE National Day 2022 Google Doodle.

Ousha Al Suwaidi was a poetess from the United Arab Emirates.

Prof. Hamed Abdel Fattah Goher was an Egyptian oceanographer, scientist and TV presenter.

Tunisia's Tawhida Ben Cheikh was a pioneer in women's medicine.

Google Doodle of Egyptian actor and director Nour El-Sherif honours him on what would have been his 75th birthday.

Google celebrates Syrian-Egyptian composer and actor Farid Al Atrash with a Google Doodle to mark what would have been his 110th birthday.

Children's author Notaila Rashed is honoured with a special Google Doodle to mark her 86th birthday.

Egyptian actress, producer, writer and filmmaker Bahiga Hafez was born 112 years ago, on August 4.

The Google Doodle for January 20, 2020, celebrates Mufidah Abdul Rahman, Egypt's first female lawyer.

A Google Doodle on June 10, 2019, celebrates Egyptian author Ahmed Khaled Towfik.

Google Doodle honours Persian mathematician, poet and astronomer Omar Khayyam on what would have been his 971st birthday.

Mary Mounib was a renowned actress in the Egyptian cinema scene. Her 114th birthday is marked in a Google Doodle on February 11, 2019.

Egyptian poet Gamila El Alaily is honoured in a Google Doodle on March 20, 2019.

Syrian artist Louay Kayali is the subject of Google's doodle on January 20, 2019.

Egyptian-French singer and actress Dalida is honoured on her birthday by Google Doodle, on January 17, 2019.

Egyptian actress Hind Rostom is celebrated in a Google Doodle on her 87th birthday, on November 12, 2018.

Ibn Sina, one of the greatest thinkers of Islam's golden age, is honoured on August 7, 2018.

A Google Doodle honours Saudi musician Talal Maddah on what would have been his 78th birthday, on August 5, 2018.

A Google Doodle gif marks Egyptian actor Omar Sharif's birthday on April 10, 2018.

Egyptian poet Farouk Shousha is honoured by Google on what would have been his 82nd birthday, on January 9, 2018.

Google celebrates Lebanese singer Sabah's 90th birthday on November 10, 2017.

Egyptian painter Inji Aflatoun's Google Doodle pays homage to her style of bold brushstrokes.

Google celebrates the birthday of Algerian painter Mohammed Khadda, who was born on March 14, 1930.

Lebanese singer-songwriter Melham Barakat is honoured by Google on his birthday.