Google pays tribute to Jules Verne

Google paid tribute to Jules Verne, author of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," on Tuesday, replacing the logo on its home page with an underwater scene.

Instead of the usual blue, green, red and yellow logo, Google's name is spelled out on the famously spartan home page by a series of portholes.

A tiny joystick allows a visitor to navigate beneath the waves and view sea creatures out of the portholes.

Verne, whose other works include "Around the World in Eighty Days" and "A Journey to the Center of the Earth," was born in France on February 8, 1828.

The Mountain View, California-based Google frequently changes the colorful logo, or "doodle," on its home page to mark anniversaries or significant events or to pay tribute to artists, scientists, statesmen and others.