Today's Google Doodle honors Stamen Grigorov, the man who discovered Lactobacillus bulgaricus bacillus, which is why we have yogurt today. Stamen Grigorov is a Bulgarian physician and microbiologist who was born 142 years ago today on October 27, 1878 in Bulgaria and died at the age of 67 on October 27, 1945. This contribution also led to the first tuberculosis vaccine in the world.
He was only 27 years old when he made his discovery in the year of 1905. In the microbiological laboratory of Professor Léon Massol in Geneva, he discovered that a certain strain of bacillus is the true cause for the existence of natural yogurt.
Google wrote "Today’s Doodle celebrates the 142nd birthday of Bulgarian physician and microbiologist Dr. Stamen Grigorov, the first scientist to discover the bacterium essential to the fermentation of yogurt. Grigorov also contributed to the development of the world's first tuberculosis vaccine." Specifically the anti-tuberculosis vaccine and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, as it was called in 1906.
The Doodle highlights the food over the vaccine, where Google wrote:
As a reminder of home, Grigorov’s wife gifted him with some Bulgarian culinary staples, including yogurt. Intrigued by yogurt's reputed health benefits, Grigorov decided to inspect it under a microscope. Following thousands of experiments, in 1905 he finally found what he was looking for: the rod-shaped microorganism that causes yogurt's fermentation. The bacterium was later renamed Lactobacillus bulgaricus in honor of Grigorov’s home country.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
