Google celebrates hole puncher on 131st anniversary

On its 131st anniversary, Google pays tribute to the humble hole puncher with its special Doodle.

The doodle shows the Google logo made up of colourful paper circles - all except the second "g" which is replaced by a blue sheet of paper.

"It's a familiar scene with a familiar tool: the gentle rat-tat-tat on the table as you square up a dangerously thick stack of papers, still warm from the printer," Google wrote in a blog post.

"The quiet anticipation and heady uncertainty as you ask yourself the ultimate question: can it cut through all this?

"The satisfying, dull "click!" of the blade as it punches through the sheets.

"The series of crisp, identical holes it produces, creating a calming sense of unity among an otherwise unbound pile of loose leaf.

"And finally, the delightful surprise of the colorful confetti byproduct - an accidental collection of colorful, circular leftovers.

"Today we celebrate 131 years of the hole puncher, an understated - but essential - artifact of German engineering.

"As modern workplaces trek further into the digital frontier, this centuries-old tool remains largely, wonderfully, the same."

The hole punch was invented by German entrepreneur and inventor Friedrich Soennecken, who founded the office supplies company Soennecken in 1875.