Like Aunty Pearl Gibbs and Mandawuy Yunipingu before him, today legend Lionel Rose has a place on one of the biggest forums in the world.
The Google Doodle celebrates the lives and achievements of the best of us with an illustration on their homepage, the go-to web browser for billions of humans every day.
Today's doodle features an illustration of the boxing legend, on the anniversary of his induction into the Sport Australian Hall of Fame in 1985.
Rose was the first Indigenous man to win a world championship sports title, beating Japanese fighter Masahiko 'Fighting' Harada in the bantamweight on 26 February, 1968.
Jubilant Australian Lionel Rose embraces the gloves that won him the world bantamweight title. Source: Bettmann
A Gunditjmara man, Rose was born into financial hardship, but his fighting prowess saw him begin his professional boxing career at the age of 16. His achievements led him to become the first ever Aboriginal man to become Australian of the Year.
Although courted by celebrities, including Elvis Presley, who insisted on meeting him when he defended his title in California, Rose remained a humble and quiet man.
"He was a gentleman, and he didn't have a nasty bone in his body," said Gordon Syron, an Aboriginal artist and former amateur boxer.
Lionel Rose, the Australian world bantamweight champion, smokes his pipe to relax shortly before a session at the Kilcunda training camp. Source: Corbis Historical
"When he beat Fighting Harada, I was so proud of him, as were so many Aboriginal people."
His career was multifaceted; after he hung up the gloves, he had a brief stint as a singer and appearances on television.
But it was as the fighter who rose from poverty to the top of the world that he is remembered and celebrated.
