Tchaikovsky's Birthday Raises the 'Barre' on Twitter, Google

May 7, 2010— -- A strange thing is happening today: Ballerinas are suddenly plie-ing across Google's homepage, and the top trending topic on Twitter is none other than Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Today would have been the 170th birthday of the Russian composer, who created several of classical music's most popular works, including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and the 1812 Overture.

In honor of Tchaikovsky's 170th, Google designed one of their playful "Google Doodles", creating a special homepage logo depicting Swan Lake with the help of the San Francisco Ballet.

And today's most popular pastime on Twitter -- which is usually dominated by tweets about teen idol Justin Bieber or the latest news on tech mogul Steve Jobs -- has improbably become wishing Tchaikovsky a happy birthday, prompting some good-natured surprise:

@JohnRossBowie: instead of Justin Bieber, pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky is a trending topic today. Am I having some sort of weird flash-sideways?

@LorenSC: It's astonishing that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is the top trend on twitter. Surprised anyone knows who he is. And happy bday 2 Tchaikovsky!