On this Day - Raj Kadyan

 Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.

 On this day, 28 Jan....

 1807 - London's Pall Mall became the first street of any city to be illuminated by gaslight.

 

1846 - Battle of Aliwal, Brits beat Sikhs in Punjab.

 

1878 - The first commercial telephone exchange in the U.S. was installed at New Haven, Connecticut, and served 21 subscribers connected by a single strand of iron wire. For the first six weeks, the exchange was not operated at night. Instead of "hello," the first experimental shout was "Ahoy, ahoy." 

 

1887 - Work begins on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

 

1896 - The first speeding fine was handed out to a British motorist Walter Arnold for being caught   doing 8 mph in a 2 mph built up zone, and was fined one shilling. That speed limit had been in force since 1865. (The speed limit was raised to 20 mph in 1903, and to 30 mph within built up areas in 1934, which it has remained ever since).

 

1911 - The famous Hope diamond, once worn by Marie Antoinette, was bought this night for over $300,000 by Ned McLean, son of John McLean. Mrs. McLean wore it as a head ornament, guarded by a former Secret Service man who in turn was guarded by two private detectives. Walnut-sized and exquisitely blue in color, the 44.5-carat stone stems from India. Its owners included Louis XIV, Louis XVI, and a London banker named Hope. A sinister history of ill luck, madness, and violent death clings to the unique gem.

 

1933 - The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.

 

1935 - Iceland became the first country to introduce legalized abortion. 

 

1960 - The first wire photograph transmitted by radio waves bounced off the moon was sent between Hawaii and Washington, D.C., by the U.S. Navy, using 84-ft diameter parabolic antennas. 

 

1998 - Andy Nelson and navigator Bertrand Piccard, in the balloon Breitling Orbiter II set the world record for endurance at nine days and 17 hours - or, to be exact, 233 hours and 55 minutes. 

 

2010 - Five murderers of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh hanged: Lieutenant Colonel Syed Faruq Rahman, Lieutenant Colonel Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Major AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, Major Bazlul Huda and Lieutenant Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed.

2013 - 'Hareetz', Israel's oldest daily newspaper, publishes a story in which Israel admits it has administered birth-control injections to Ethiopian Jewish immigrants, without fully educating recipients of its effects.

Born....

 1865 - Lala Lajpat Rai 'Punjab Kesari', great valiant freedom fighter, social reformer, humanitarian and lawyer.

 

1899 - General (Later Field Marshall) K.M. Cariappa, first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Army.

 

1925 - Raja Ramanna, scientist and fourth President of Indian Atomic Energy Commission.

 

1986 - Shruti Haasan, actor.

 

RIP....

 

1984 - Sohrab Meherwanji Modi, famous drama and film producer, director and actor.

 

Titbits....

 

1887 - In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches wide and 8 inches   thick.

 

You may have known....  

 

Tigers have such powerful legs that even after death, they can sometimes remain standing!

Good morning. Have a nice day.

Raj Kadyan

On this Day - Raj Kadyan

 Paths are made by walking.

On this day, 17 Jan....

1601 - Akbar, after eight month's siege, entered Asirgarh one of the strongest forts in India. (Asirgarh Fort is situated in the Satpura Range about 20 kilometres  north of the city of Burhanpur, in Madhya Pradesh). 

 1871 - U.S. patent was issued to Andrew S Hallidie for an “endless wire rope way” subsequently used for the first cable car to be put into service in the world for public transport.  

1905 - The first U.S. patent was issued for a punchboard to Charles A. Brewer and Clinton G. Scannell of Chicago, Illinois, described as “vending devices".

1916 - Professional Golfer Association (PGA) forms in New York City.

1928 - The first U.S. patent for a fully automatic photographic film developing machine was issued to its inventor, Anatol M. Josepho. It was an apparatus for developing film strips.

1941 - Subhashchandra Bose went underground at Calcutta. (He appeared in Moscow after some days).

1946 - United Nations Security Council holds its 1st meeting.

1981 - Central Government offers full statehood to Mizoram.

1991 - Operation Desert Storm begins - US led allies vs Iraq.

2012 - India and China agree to build a functional plan to address border issue.

2013 - In efforts to turn its back on nuclear power, Japan announces plans to build the world's largest offshore wind farm in the Fukushima Prefecture, near the site of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

2019 - Indian spiritual leader Ram Rahim Singh and two aides sentenced to life in prison for murdering journalist who exposed sexual abuse at the sect.

Born....

1917 - Dr. Maruthur Gopala Ramachandran, (M.G.R.), Indian film star, politician and charismatic Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

1918 - Kamal Amrohi, screenwriter.

1933 - Aga Khan, religious leader.

1945 - Javed Akhtar, writer.

1950 - Honey Irani, writer.

1951 - Bindu, actress.

RIP....

1988 - Leela Mishra, actor.

2014 - Suchitra Sen, actor.

 You may have known....  

Squirrels were America’s most popular pet in 1700s.

Good morning. Have a nice day.

Raj Kadyan

On this Day - Raj Kadyan

 Life begins on the other side of despair.

 On this day, 16 Jan....

1793 – French king Louis XVI was sentenced to death by the National Convention during the French Revolution.

 1868 - A patent for a refrigerator car, “ice box on wheels,” was granted to William Davis, a fish dealer in Detroit, US. (He also designed the first railroad refrigerated car).

1877 - In colder regions the floors are covered by 'moquettes'. In 1877 on this day, Halcyon Skinner, US,  patented a power loom designed to securely weave tufting material into the carpet  suitable for the 'Moquette'.  

1894 - Canadian inventor Theodore Witte  was issued a U.S. patent for a "Puttying-Tool" to improve the application "of putty to window sashes and similar things."   

1909 -British explorer Ernest Shackleton claimed to have found the magnetic south pole.

1920 - 1st assembly of League of Nations in Paris.

1936 - The first photofinish camera was installed (at a U.S. racetrack).

1939 - Popular comic strip "Superman" debuts.

 

1942 - Jawaharlal Nehru succeeds Gandhi as head of Indian National Congress.

1957 - Three B-52's took off from Castle Air Force Base in California on the first nonstop, round-the-world flight by jet planes. The trip lasted 45 hours and 19 minutes.

1969 - Two manned Soviet Soyuz spaceships (Soviet Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5) became the first vehicles to dock in space and transfer personnel.

2000 - P. Moses, Indian High Commission Staff member, badly beaten up and abducted by Pakistani intelligence operators in Islamabad.

2021 - 10 Nepali climbers become the first to reach the summit of K2 in winter.

Born....

 1920 - Nani Palkhiwala, famous law expert.

1926 - O. P. Nayyar, music composer. (Often labelled as “individualistic”, “aloof”, and a “maverick”, Omkar Prakash Nayyar may have been all that, but few would deny that he was among the leading musical talents in the Hindi film industry of the 1950s and 1960s. Who can forget the lilting 'Reshmi salwar kurta jaali ka'?).

1946 - Kabir Bedi, actor.

RIP....

1938 - Sarat Chandra Chatterji, famous Bengali novelist and writer.

 1989 - Prem Nazir, actor.

1997 - Dr. Datta Samant, Trade Union leader, shot dead in Mumbai.

You may have known....  

Tigers have a diverse diet that includes many different animals.

Good morning. Have a nice day.

Raj Kadyan

On this day - 15 Jan 2024 - Raj Kadyan

 TODAY ON THE OCCASION OF ARMY DAY, WE SALUTE THOSE BRAVE SOLDIERS WHO KEEP ALL OF US SAFE.

No point telling people your dreams. Show them.

On this day, 15 Jan....

1656 - Chhatrapati Shivaji conquered Javali state.

1759 - The British Museum, in Bloomsbury, London, the world's oldest public national museum, opened to the public.    

1797 - The top hat was first worn in England by James Heatherington, a Strand haberdasher in London. An issue of the Times of that period records that when he left his shop with his extraordinary headwear, a crowd of onlookers assembled, which degenerated into a shoving match. Consequently, Heatherington was summoned to appear in court before the Lord Mayor and fined £50 for going about in a manner "calculated to frighten timid people." Within a month, he was overwhelmed with orders for the new top hats. 

1861 - The safety elevator was patented as a “Hoisting Apparatus” by the American inventor, Elisha G. Otis, New York. His invention was designed to arrest a fall in case of the lifting rope breaking.

1863 - Woodpulp paper was first used in the U.S. for a printed newspaper by the Boston Morning Herald.

1889 - The idea of a "Rotary Dining Table" was issued a U.S. patent to a Black American inventor, Daniel Johnson of Kansas City.  

1907 - Gold dental inlays were first described in the U.S. by H. William Taggart, a Chicago dentist.   

1934 - 8.4 earthquake in India/Nepal; 10,700 die.

1943 - World's largest office building, Pentagon, completed.

1948 - Gandhiji hails Indian Cabinet's decision to release Pakistan dues of Rs. 550 million. Fast continues for establishment of communal peace.

1949 - Cariappa took over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India. It is celebrated as an Army Day.

1955 - The first U.S. house to be both solar-heated and radiation-cooled started its system. 

1958 - Tamil becomes the official language of Madras.

1996 - Restoration of the original name of the city as "Mumbai" for Bombay. 

1996 - Victoria Terminus (VT) station in Mumbai renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus by the Centre.

2009 - U.S. Airways plane ditches in the Hudson River - all 155 passengers survive.

2019 - Beginning of humanity's largest gathering, the Kumbh Mela Hindu festival with 15 million people bathing at the joining of Ganges and Yamuna rivers, India. 120 million expected over next 49 days.

2019 - Plastic will outweigh fish in the world's oceans by 2050 according to report by the World Economic Forum.

Born....

1592 - Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor.

1947 - Pritish Nandi, journalist.

1956 - Mayawati, politician.

1964 - Bhanupriya, actor.

1982 - Neil Mukesh, actor.

 Titbits....

1831 - 1st U.S. railroad honeymoon trip, Mr. and Mrs. Pierson, Charleston.

You may have known....  

The Nazis plotted to kill Winston Churchill with an exploding chocolate bar.

Good morning. Have a nice day.

Raj Kadyan

On this Day 04 Jan - Raj Kadyan

 The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest.

 On this day, 04 Jan....

 1863 - Four-wheeled roller skates were patented by James Plimpton of New York.

1885 – Dr. William West Grant performed what is believed (sources disagree) to be the first successful appendectomy in the U.S.  

1887 - Thomas Stevens, US, is 1st man to bicycle around the world.

1904 - Thomas Edison's movie crew filmed the electrocution of an elephant. Topsy was being destroyed by its owners after she killed three men in as many years. The event was a public spectacle to a paying audience of 1500 people at Coney Island, where the elephant had been kept on show. Edison was the consultant chosen to arrange the electrocution death after cyanide-laced carrots had failed. 

1912 - The closest approach to earth by the moon was 221,441 miles apart centre to centre.

1932 - British Viceroy of India Lord Willingdon arrests Gandhi & Nehru.

1948 - Burma achieved its independence from Great Britain. (In 1989, Burma changed its name to Myanmar to reflect the multi-ethnic composition of the country).

1958 - The Russian Sputnik I satellite, the first man-made object to orbit the earth, fell back into the atmosphere and disintegrated, after 92 days in space. The Sputnik (meaning “companion” or “fellow traveller”) circled the earth every 95 minutes at almost 20,000 miles per hour, 500 miles above the Earth. The 184-lb satellite had transmitted a radio signal picked up around the world, and instrumentation for temperature measurement.

1962 - The first fully automated subway train began revenue service with passengers in New York City. 

1966 - Indo-Pak Summit, the peace talk between Pakistan and Indian leaders, started at Tashkent. The prominent personalities were Lal Bahadur Shastri and Gen. Ayub Khan.

1967 - Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. began delivery of the MIG aircraft.

1972 - Pakistan proposed to talk after the (1971) war.

 2004 - Spirit, a robot rover landed on Mars to analyze the planet's rocks, looking for evidence of water. It has taken the only photo of Earth from another planet. Surviving dust storms, it far outlasted its expected useful life. (A twin robot rover, Opportunity, landed three weeks after Spirit on the other side of the planet).

2010 - The Burj Khalifa, world's tallest building at 829.8 m (2,722 ft), officially opens in Dubai.

Born....

 1809 - Louis Braille, French educator who developed a tactile form of printing and writing, known as braille. 

1925 - Pradeep Kumar, actor.

1931 - Nirupa Roy, actor.

1957 - Gurdas Mann, singer.

1965 - Aditya Pancholi, actor.

RIP....

 1994 - Rahul Dev Burman, music director better known as 'Pancham Da'.

You may have known....  

Even though there is evidence of use of matches in China in the year 1270, the first modern match was only invented in 1826 by accident by a chemist named John Walker.

Good morning. Have a nice day.

Raj Kadyan

On this day 03 Jan - Raj Kadyan

 Genius is the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way.

 On this day, 03 Jan....

1496 - Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tested a flying machine.

 

 1871 - Oleomargarine was patented by Henry Bradley in Binghamton, NY. A "compound for culinary use" called margarine. 

1888 - The first wax drinking straw and the spiral winding tube-making process was patented by Marvin C. Stone in Washington, DC. Stone was already a manufacturer of paper cigarette holders.  

1943 - 1st missing persons telecast (New York City).

1947 - Gandhiji toured the riot-affected areas in Bihar from January 3 to January 29.

1957 - The world's first electric watch was introduced in Lancaster, PA by the Hamilton Watch Company. Research began in 1946, but it was to take more than ten years to develop a viable watch. On this day, Hamilton held a press conference. The idea of a watch which never needed winding was very exciting to 1950's consumers, who were captivated by progress and modernity. The Hamilton Electric was an instant hit.

1958 - Edmund Hillary reaches South Pole overland.

1985 - Azharuddin scores 110 in first Test innings.

1988 - Margaret Thatcher becomes longest-serving British Prime Minister in 20th century.

2000 - A. B. Vajpayee, Prime Minister, accuses Pakistan for the hijack of an Indian Airlines aircraft. (The crisis ended on Dec. 31 last with the Vajpayee Government agreeing to free three terrorists in exchange for the passengers).

2014 - According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the net worth of the 300 richest people in the world collectively increased by $524 billion; the group has an aggregate net worth of $3.7 trillion.

2018 - Security expert reveal two security flaws, Meltdown and Spectre which affect most microprocessors.

2019 - Chinese Chang'e-4 spacecraft becomes the first ever to touch down on the far side of the Moon.

2022 - Apple becomes the first US company to be worth $3 trillion in value, after tripling its price in under four years.

2023 - Cristiano Ronaldo joins Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr for the “biggest salary ever in football”, leaving Manchester United after criticizing it publicly.

Born....

1917 Kartarsingh Duggal, famous Punjabi story-writer and novelist

1938 - Jaswant Singh, politician.

 1941 - Sanjay Khan, actor.

1966 - Chetan Jagatram Manohar Sharma, cricketer (Indian Test pace bowler, World Cup hat-trick 1987).

1979 - Gul Panag, actor.

Tidbits....

2013 - Famous French actor  Gerard Depardieu is granted citizenship by Russian President, Vladimir Putin; Depardieu renounced his French citizenship due to the country's high taxes.

You may have known....  

Drunk wasps are more likely to sting.

Good morning. Have a nice day.

Raj Kadyan

On this day, 02 Jan - Raj Kadyan

 Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to popular opinion.

 On this day, 02 Jan....

1754 - Robert Clive again attacked and annexed Calcutta from Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah. (Calcutta was recaptured by Siraj-ud-Daulah in June 1756. Reportedly, they  placed 146 British prisoners into a room measuring 18 by 15 feet, called the 'Black Hole', with only 23 surviving the night).  

1757 - After the Battle of Plassey, Robert Clive defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah, Mir Jafar, Nawab of Bengal and re-captured Calcutta, after it had been seized by the Nawab of Bengal. 

 1839 - French pioneering photographer Louis Daguerre took the first photograph of the moon. Unfortunately it was lost when on 8 Mar 1839, a fire burned his laboratory, together with his records and early experiment materials.

1879 - 1st Test match hat-trick, Fred Spofforth at the MCG.

1936 -  The first electron tube to enable night vision was described, in St Louis, US.

1944 - 1st use of helicopters during warfare (British Atlantic patrol).

1947 - Mahatma Gandhi begins march for peace in East-Bengal.

1964 - Ayub Khan elected president of Pakistan.

1994 - Landslide win for GNLF in the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council elections.

2012 - While conducting military exercises in the Persian Gulf, Iran successfully test-fires two long-range missiles.

2018 - WHO reveals it will classify gaming addiction as mental health condition in its next Classification of Diseases.

Born....

1932 - Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, famous Ragi and politician. 

1940 - S. R. S. Varadhan, Indian-American mathematician.

1959 - Kirtivardhan Bhagwat Jha Azad, cricketer (Indian off-spin all-rounder in 7 Tests 1981-83).

 1937 - Manohar Joshi, politician.

You may have known....

Tigers have been known to successfully imitate the call of other animals to lure their prey closer.

Good morning. Have a nice day.

Raj Kadyan

Wishing You Good Health and Happiness on the Eve of New Year 2024

Wishing You Good Health and Happiness on the Eve of New Year 2024

May all Your Aspirations and Dreams find Fulfilment. 

If you don’t build your own dreams, someone else will hire you to build theirs.

On this day, 31 Dec....

1600 - East India Company chartered. (Originally chartered as the "Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies", the company rose to account for half of the world's trade, particularly in basic commodities including cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpetre, tea and opium. The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India).

 1861 - 22,990 mm of rain falls in Cherrapunji Assam, a world record.

1935 - A patent was issued for the game of Monopoly assigned to Parker Brothers. 

1938 - The “drunkometer,” the first breath test for car drivers was officially introduced in Indianapolis. It was the first successful machine for testing human blood alcohol content by breath analysis.

 1966 - Test Cricket debut of Bishen Singh Bedi, India v WI Calcutta, 2-92.

1984 - Rajiv Gandhi takes office as India's 6th Prime Minister succeeds his mother, Indira Gandhi.

1993 - The last research samples of the smallpox virus were scheduled to be destroyed. Smallpox was the world's most dreaded plagues until 1977, when it was declared eradicated. However, some scientists who wanted to continue research on the virus stopped the destruction plan. The remaining frozen samples are in Moscow, Russia, and the Cents for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, U.S.

1996 - Gold import policy liberalised in India.

2008 - One leap second is added to the end of the year.

2017 - Movie star Rajinikanth announces he is entering politics.

2020 - WHO grants the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine emergency authorization, paving the way for worldwide distribution.

 

Born....

1902 - Dr. Raghuvir, dictionary creator, having knowledge of Vedic Sanskrit, Tebiti, Chinese and Mongolian.

1943 - Ben Kingsley, English actor (Film Gandhi).

 1956 - Prabhu Ganesan, film producer (Chennai).

1965 - Sivaramakrishan Laxman, right-hand batsman and leg break bowler.

RIP....

 1706 - Francois Martin, founder of Pondichery.

You may have known....  

Male lighting bugs flash about every 5 seconds while females flash about every 2 seconds.

Good morning.  Have a nice day.

Raj Kadyan

On this Day : 24 Dec 2023

 It is difficult to  follow your dreams. But it is a tragedy if you don’t.

On this day, 24 Dec....

 1889 - A bicycle with a back-pedal brake was patented by Daniel Stover and William Hance of US.

1893 - Henry Ford completed his first useful gas motor. He and his wife tested the small one-cylinder engine in their kitchen

1906 - Reginald A. Fessenden gave what is generally considered to be the first broadcast of entertainment by radio, as part of the ongoing promotion of the new system using his new alternator- transmitter. 

1945 - A warning about Russian atomic bomb development was sent by an attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Thomas P. Whitney wrote: “the U.S.S.R. is out to get the atomic bomb. This has been officially stated. The meagre evidence available indicates that great efforts are being made and that super-priority will be given to the enterprise.” It was only four months since two atomic bombs had been dropped on Japan to end WW II. 

1986 - Consumer Protection Act received the assent of the president.

 1998 – Prime Minister AB Vajpayee announces increased cash awards for Asian Games medalists.

2000 - Viswanathan Anand becomes the first Asian to win a world chess title in the world chess championship in Taheran.

Born....

1924 - Mohammed Rafi, singer.

 1959 - Anil Kapoor, actor.

 RIP....

 1524 - Vasco De Gama, Portuguese navigator who discovered India (died in Cochin).

1973 - E.V.Ramasami, founder of DMK party, prominent leader, great social worker and revolutionary freedom fighter.

1987 - Dr. M.G.Ramachandran, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He was posthumously awarded the 'Bharat Ratna' by the President of India.

You may have known....  

 

 Unlike humans, who can move only their lower jaw, sharks can move both their lower and upper jaws.

Good morning. Have a nice day.

Raj Kadyan

On This Day - Raj Kadyan

 A leader does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.

 

On this day, 06 May....

1529 - Babur defeated the Afghan Chiefs in the Battle of Ghagra.

1840 - The adhesive postage stamp was first sold in Great Britain.

  1857 - The British East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose Sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British and is considered to be the First Martyr in the War of Indian Independence.

1889 - The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.

1891 - U.S. President Benjamin Harrison had the first electric lights installed in the White House. Irwin H. “Ike”, the electrician who came to do the work, was retained as the White House electrician to operate the lights because the President's family was afraid of getting shocked.    

1896 - The Aerodrome No. 5  made the first successful flight of an unpiloted, engine-driven, heavier-than-air craft of substantial size.  Its first flight travelled 3,300-ft.

1916 - The first U.S. radio telephone ship-to-shore conversation was made.   

1948 - India rejected the Security Council's plan for UN supervision over plebiscite in Kashmir.

1953    - A heart-lung machine designed by Dr. John Heysham Gibbon was used to successfully complete the first open-heart surgery, demonstrating that an artificial device can temporarily mimic the functions of the heart. 

 

2015 - In response to terrorist dangers such as the January shootings at French satire magazine 'Charlie Hebdo', the French National Assembly passes a law to expand the government's surveillance powers; critics warn that the act will violate civil liberties.

2019 - One million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction according to a major new UN report.

Born

1856 -   Sigmund Freud, Austrian father of psychoanalysis.

1861 - Motilal Gangadhar Nehru, lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress.

1861- Radindranath Tagore, poet/mystic/composer, Nobel 1913.

1983 – Gagan Narang, sportsperson (shooting).

RIP....

1589 - Mian Tansen, famous singer of Akbar's court.

1922 - Chhatrapati Rajarshi Shahu, great revolutionary, freedom fighter and social reformer of Kolhapur.

1952 - Maria Montessori, pioneer in modern education, who spent almost 10 years in India, died in Noordwijk aan Zee. The principles and techniques advocated by her are also applied to the education of handicapped children and adult education.

You may have known 

 

Pakistan military displays more of an indirect exploitation through the retired personnel. They act as primary conduits for the covert use of the country's resources.

Good morning. Have a nice day.

Raj Kadyan

On this day - Lt Gen Raj Kadyan

The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.

On this day, 20 Feb....

1673 - 1st recorded wine auction held (London).

1846 - British occupy Sikh citadel of Lahore.

1872 - Silas Noble and James P. Cooley of Granville, US, patented a toothpick manufacturing machine.    The company is now the largest and oldest toy drum manufacturer in America.

1872 - Cyrus W. Baldwin received a U.S. patent for a vertical geared hydraulic electric elevator which was installed in the Stephens Hotel hotel in New York City.

1872 - Luther Childs Crowell, received a patent for a machine for manufacturing square-bottom paper bags.   As a child, he spent a great deal of time folding pieces of paper. In 1867, he took out his first patent for a square-bottom paper bag, and wholesale production began in 1879. (It remains the standard paper bag in use throughout the world).

1937 - The first  successful automobile-airplane combination was complete.    The first flight took place the next day. It claimed a top air-speed of 120 mph and 70 mph on a highway.   The Studebaker Corporation eventually took delivery of five Arrowbiles.

1944 - Batman & Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers.

1947 - British Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced in the House of Commons, London, that Britain will release India before June 1948 and for this purpose Lord Louis Mountbatten was appointed to work as the new Viceroy of India.

1976 - Production of Crude Oil started from offshore Bombay High near Mumbai.

1986 - The Soviet Union launched into orbit Mir, a new space station.  It had six docking ports and special laboratories for scientific research. Weeks later, a veteran crew was sent to man the 56-ft-long and 13.6-ft wide station. The core module provided living quarters for the cosmonauts: galley/table, cooking elements and storage, individual crew cabins and personal hygiene area.   

1987 - Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh became the 23rd and 24th states of Indian Union.

1993 - Government decides to form an Autonomous Council for the tribals within Assam to solve Bodo issue.

994 - Government makes the first appointment under 27% reservation for OBCs in Central Services and Public Sector Undertaking.

1999 - India and Pakistan signed a formal agreement for launching the Delhi-Lahore bus service. Mr. Vajpayee travels to Lahore on the inaugural run of the bus between New Delhi and Lahore.

Born....

1945 - Annu Kapoor, actor.

RIP....

1707 - Aurangzeb, Mogul emperor.

1950 - Sarat Chandra Bose, freedom fighter, journalist, leader and elder brother of Subhashchandra Bose.

You may have known....

Heavy chemical industry was started in 1941 and the production of sulphuric acid, synthetic ammonia, caustic soda, chlorine and bleaching powder commenced. The Hindustan Aircraft Company also assembled its first aircraft in 1941.

Good morning. Have a nice day.
Raj Kadyan

On this day - Lt Gen Raj Kadyan

Don't waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.

On this day, 19 Feb....

1831 - The York  locomotive,  the first practical coal-burning locomotive built in America,  made its first trial run. It was designed with a vertical boiler by Phineas Davis.   It was the first locomotive constructed with coupled wheels and two pairs of drivers. On 27 Sep 1835, while on an excursion for employees, Phineas Davis, was on board the locomotive observing its operation when the train derailed due to defective track, and Davis died in the accident.

1863 - The first pipeline running from an oilfield to a refinery was completed at Oil Creek, Pennsylvania. It was two inches in diameter, running 2.5 miles.   Unfortunately, excessive leaks made it impractical to use.

1878 - The phonograph was patented by Thomas A. Edison. His first recording was made reciting “Mary Had a Little Lamb.

1910 - Typhoid Mary [Mary Mallon] is freed from her first periods of forced isolation and goes on to cause several further outbreaks of typhoid in the New York area.

1949 - Mass arrests of communists in India.

1977 - Deep-ocean researchers found an extraordinary oasis of extremophile life. New types of worms, clams and crabs were seen thriving around geothermal hot water vents. The food-chain of the ecosystem depends upon bacteria oxidising hydrogen sulphide contained in the volcanic gases that spew out of the hot springs. Thus, the energy source that sustains this deep-ocean ecosystem is not sunlight, but rather the energy from chemical reaction (chemosynthesis).

2010 - Tiger Woods the world number one golfer talks publicly for the first time since the scandal surrounding his private life erupted last year. During his press meeting he said "I was unfaithful, I had affairs and I cheated. What I did was unacceptable,"

Born....

1473 - Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer.  

1670 - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the great Maratha leader.

RIP....

1861 - Rani Rashmoni, great nationalist, who compelled the British to abolish the tax imposed on fishing in the river, ingeniously blocking the trade and commerce on the part of Ganges.

1915 - Gopal Krishna Gokhale, social reformer, political leader and freedom fighter.

1978 - Pankaj Mallik, famous Bengali music director and playback singer

You may have known....

A programme costing Rs. 4 crore for the manufacture of armaments and explosives was launched in 1941 to meet the immediate requirements of war. The ordnance  factories started producing 700 varieties of ammunition. There were pressing demands to meet the civilian requirements too.

Good morning. Have a nice day.
Raj Kadyan

On this day - Lt Gen Raj Kadyan

You never touch your true potential until you challenge yourself to go beyond imposed limitations.

On this day, 28 Dec....

1828 -- 6.8 earthquake strikes Echigo Japan, 30,000 killed.

1849 - Discovery of dry-cleaning. It is said that dry-cleaning was accidentally discovered when M. Jolly-Bellin, a tailor, upset a lamp containing turpentine oil on his tablecloth and noticed it had a cleaning effect. He opened the very first dry cleaning shop called "Teinturerie Jolly Bellin" on rue Saint Martin in Paris in 1825. Another story says that by accident the owner of a textile dye works in 1848 found that the liquid from an oil lamp could dissolve fat. While different stories reportedly tell of its origin, one thing in common is that fabric was accidentally saturated with a volatile liquid and, by surprise, the material appeared clean after it dried. One such tale tells about a French sailor who accidentally fell into a vat of turpentine and when his soiled uniform dried, it was clean.

1869 - William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio, was issued the first U.S. patent for chewing gum, made of "the combination of rubber with other articles adapted to the formation of an acceptable chewing gum", but he never commercially produced gum. That was done by Thomas Adams of Staten Island, N.Y., who knew that chicle could be chewed. His first experiments to vulcanise chicle for use as a rubber substitute were unsuccessful until he boiled a small batch of chicle in his kitchen and created the first chicle-based chewing gum. Testing sales at a local store, he found people liked his gum. In 1871, Adams patented a gum-producing machine so he could increase production.

1886 - The first U.S. patent for a commercially successful dishwasher was issued to Josephine Garis Cochrane.

1895 - The brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière presented their motion-picture films in their first public performance, at the Salon Indien of the Grand Café  in Paris.

1896 - In the Indian National Congress, Vande Mataram was first sung in Calcutta.

1981 - The first American “test tube” baby conceived through "in vitro" fertilization was born on this morning, a 5-lb 12-oz girl, at Norfolk General Hospital. The term “in vitro” is Latin for “in glass,” because conception takes place in a laboratory dish.

1926 - Imperial Airways begins England-India mail & passenger service.

1931 - The second round of a British-Indian conference on the political future of India collapsed in disagreement over demands by Indian nationalists for complete independence. The British government had seemed willing to grant a limited dominion status. But Mahatma Gandhi, who had come to the conference to present the demands of the All-India Nationalist Congress, refused to accept anything less than complete independence. The breakdown of the talks set off a new round of disorders, Gandhi was greeted by rioting in the streets of Bombay between upper-caste Hindu members of the Congress party and "untouchable" caste members.

1983 - Gavaskar achieves his 30th century, beating Bradman's 29.

Born....

1932 - Dhirubhai Ambani, businessman.

1937 - Ratan Tata, industrialist.

1940 - Ak Antony, politician.

1951 - Sajid Khan, actor.

1952 Arun Jaitley, Politician; Minister of Finance.

RIP....

1923 - Gustave Eiffel, French civil engineer who specialised in metal structures, known especially for the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

1972 - C. Rajagopalachari, the only Indian Governor General.

1977 - Sumitranandan Pant, famous Hindi poet and literaeur.

You may have known....

Multiple Rocket Launcher System (MRLS):
India - 292;
China - 1,770.

Good morning. Have a nice day.
Raj Kadyan

On this day - Lt Gen Raj Kadyan

No amount of regretting can change the past, and no amount of worrying can change the future.

On this day, 20 Dec....

1880 - New York's Broadway was first lighted by electricity and became known as the “Great White Way.”

1883 - International cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls.

1892 - The first U.S. patent issued for a pneumatic automobile tire that could readily and easily be detached or mounted to the rim of a wheel. The inventors were Alexander T. Brown and George Stillman of Syracuse, New York.

1900 - 'Nature' reported the Musical Arcs invented by William Du Bois Duddell, an English physicist. By means of an arrangement of electric currents he produced a musical note from an arc lamp that could be altered to any pitch and a tune played.

1951 - At 1:50 p.m., the first electricity ever generated by atomic power began flowing.

1971 - Pakistan president Yahya Khan resigns.

1988 - The Constitution (62nd Amendment) Bill for reducing the voting age from 21 to 18 years receives Parliamentary approval.

1990 - India and Pakistan agree not to attack each other's nuclear installations.

1993 - India and Council of European Union sign a co-operation agreement in Brussels.

Born....

1868 - Harvey S Firestone, was an American industrialist who developed straight-side pneumatic tyres used on the Model T Fords. His innovations in the industry changed the design and production of pneumatic tyres, including non-skid tyre treads, low-pressure balloon tyres, and farm tractor tyres.

1970 - Sohail Khan, film producer.

1993 - Colonel Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair, one of the outstanding and decorated officers of the Indian Army. His convoy was ambushed by Naga rebels. Col NJ Nair displayed indomitable courage in leading the attack personally to break the ambush and sacrificed his life defending his men. For this supreme act of valour, he was conferred the 'Ashoka Chakra'. Earlier in 1983, in Mizoram, Col Nair engaged the insurgents in close quarter combat and   was awarded the Kirti Chakra in recognition of his exceptional gallantry.

Titbits....

1969 - Jasu Patel takes 9-69, India vs. Australia at Kanpur.

You may have known....

Major ports terminals - India has 7 while China has 15.

Good morning. Have a nice day.
Raj Kadyan

On this day - Lt Gen Raj Kadyan

Don't find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain.

On this day, 10 Dec....

1478 - First dated printed arithmetic book. The anonymous Arte dell'Abbaco (“The Art of the Abacus”), printed in Treviso, Italy had this publication date.

1801-  Oxyhydrogen blow-pipe. Robert Hare presented to the Chemical Society of Philadelphia his paper, Memoir of the Supply and Application of the Blow-Pipe. It presented the twenty-year-old scientist's discovery relating to the intense production of heat with his oxyhydrogen blow-pipe, progenitor of the welding torch.

1845 - Civil engineer Robert Thompson patented pneumatic tyres in London.

1868 - Gas-lit traffic lights were first placed in operation at the corner of Bridge Street and New Palace Yard, London, atop a 22-ft high cast-iron pillar.

1901 - Nobel Prizes. At the first Nobel Prize Award Ceremony, the king of Sweden distributed the Nobel Prizes, in accordance with the will of inventor Alfred Nobel. The day was the anniversary of Nobel's death.

1932 - The Indian Military Academy (IMA) was formally inaugurated by Field Marshal Sir Philip W Chetwode, Bt, GOB, KCMG, GCSI, DSO and was christened as "The Pioneer ". The crowning event was delivered in the hall, now named after him, and in the address to the trainees, he enunciated the principle: 'the safety, honour, and welfare of your country comes first, always and ever time', which was to guide the future officers of the Indian Army . A passage from this address has come to acquire immortality and has been adopted as the credo of the Academy.

1952 - World's first official Family Planning programme launched in India.

1954 - Land speed record. To determine if a pilot could eject from an airplane at supersonic speed and live, Lt. Col. John Paul Stapp, a flight surgeon, rode a rocket sled to 632 mph.   The sled's rocket motors generated 40,000 lbs. of thrust and he reached a speed of 632 mph in five seconds. At the end of the ride Stapp was stopped in 1.25 seconds which subjected him to 40 Gs. It was the equivalent of hitting a brick wall in a car travelling at 120 mph. (Data from 29 increasingly harsh rocket-sled rides during the 1950s proved invaluable in the design of improved helmets, arm and leg restraints, better aircraft seats, and stronger safety harnesses).

1990 - Hindu-Muslim rebellion in Hyderabad-Aligargh, 140 die.

1992 - The Central Government bans RSS, VHP, ISS, Bajrang Dal and Jamait-e-Islami.

Born....

1878 - Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, great social reformer, ardent patriot, incisive thinker and eminent literateur. He was the first Indian Governor General of independent India and popularly known as 'Rajaji'.

1960 - Rati Agnihotri, actor.

1965 - Jayaram, actor.

1982 - Shilpa Anand, film and television actor.

RIP....

1896 -   Alfred Bernhard Nobel, the Swedish chemist and inventor who invented dynamite and other more powerful explosives. Nobel amassed a huge fortune, much of which he left in a fund to endow the annual prizes that bear his name.

Titbits....

1915 - 1,000,000th model T Ford assembled.

2014 - James Watson, one of three scientists to co-discover DNA structure, has auctioned off the 1962 Nobel Prize medal he received for the achievement; Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov paid $4.8 million for the medal but then returned it to Watson.

You may have known....

Railway coverage (km): India - 63,794;  China- 86,000.

Good morning. Have a nice day.
Raj Kadyan

On this day - Lt Gen Raj Kadyan

We have to be honest about what we want and take risks rather than lie to ourselves and make excuses to stay in our comfort zone.

On this day, 09 Dec....

1658 - Dutch troops occupy harbour city Quilon (Coilan), India.

1845 - Silver suture.  J. Marion Sims began his experiments  to use a fine silver wire for sutures. In his era, the suture materials used for vaginal tears, mostly silk and catgut, absorbed bodily fluid, caused inflammation around the wounds, promoting horrible infections that would never heal. So he used a fine silver wire he had drawn by a jeweller. Sims successfully performed a vesico-vaginal fistula operation on 21 Jun 1849

1884 - The first U.S. patent for ball-bearing roller skates was issued to Levant M. Richardson of the Richardson Skate Company, Chicago. This design allowed until then unseen speed.

1902 - The first U.S. stamp to show a bicycle in its design was issued. This blue 10-cent Special Delivery "Messenger on Bicycle" stamp showed in a small way how technology was coming in America's future, because it replaced earlier issues of a design showing a "running" messenger.

1921 - Tetraethyl lead was first given a laboratory test as an anti-knock additive to gasoline fuel. The knock in the one-cylinder laboratory engine was utterly silenced. Even at a strength of only 2-3g grams per gallon, it had a remarkable ability to quiet the relentless knocking.

1946 - The first meeting of Constitutional Committee Assembly was held in Parliment after a gap of two years, 11 months and 17 days. The Congress started its work of framing the Indian Constitution. Muslim League boycott failed to prevent Constituent Assembly opening. From 16th August 1946, the country witnessed communal riots on an unprecedented scale. At this crucial juncture, on 20th February 1947, Clement Atlee the British prime minister, fixed June 1948 as a deadline for transfer of power and Lord Mountbatten was appointed as the new Viceroy.

1947 - India's agreement with Pakistan on outstanding issues like assets, liabilities, division of sterling balance and military stores, etc. signed.

1968 - The first demonstration of the use of a computer mouse was given at the American Federation of Information Processing Societies' Fall Joint Computer Conference at Stanford University, California.

2010 - Pakistani media publish fake WikiLeaks cables attacking India.

Born....

1484 - Surdas, blind Hindi bard and singer.

1825 - Tula Ram Rao, one of the revolutionary heroes of the 1857 and Sepoy Mutiny.

1945 - Shatrughan Sinha, actor, politician.

1946 - Sonia Gandhi, politician and  Chairperson of Indian National Congress.

1975 - Dino Morea, actor.

1981 - Dia Mirza, actor.

You may have known....

Roadways coverage (km): India: - 3,320,410 China: - 3,860,800

Good morning. Have a nice day.
Raj Kadyan

On this day - Lt Gen Raj Kadyan

Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.

On this day, 02 Dec....

1877 - Louis-Paul Cailletet became the first to liquefy oxygen. Shortly after, he also was first to liquefy nitrogen, hydrogen, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and acetylene.

1942 - The first self-sustained nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated. At the University of Chicago, Enrico Fermi and his team achieved the world's first artificial nuclear chain reaction, in a makeshift lab underneath the University's football stands at Stagg Field. (Fifteen years later to the day, in 1957, the first full-scale atomic electric generating station in the U.S. began operation in Pennsylvania. The plant reached full power 21 days later, generating 60 megawatts).

1982 - Dr. William C. DeVries replaced the diseased heart of Barney Clark with the Jarvik-7, the first permanent artificial heart ever used for a human patient. This was the first of a series of five implants of the Jarvik total artificial heart during the next three years. The first patient, 61-year-old Barney Clark, survived for 112 days. Only four others received the Jarvik as a permanent replacement heart. The second, William Schroeder, lived 620 days.

1901 - King Camp Gillette begins selling safety razor blades.

1927 - 1st Model A Fords sold, for $385.

1984 - Following the Bhopal Gas disaster on the night of December 2, 1984, the ICMR initiated a series of interdisciplinary investigations on the health of the people with severe, moderate and mild exposure. A Coordinating Unit, which was later re-designated as the Bhopal Gas Disaster Research Centre was established early in 1985 at the Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal, to monitor and coordinate the managerial and technical aspects of the various projects.

1999 - Navjot Singh Sidhu, former Indian opening batsman, announced his decision to retire from international and domestic cricket at a press meet in Chandigarh.

Born....

1855 - Narayan Ganesh Chandavarkar, one of the founders of Indian National Congress and social reformer.

1959 - Boman Irani, actor.

1960 - Silk Samitha, actor.

RIP....

1552 - Father Francis Xavier, Portuguese Jesuit priest. He started his mission by training and employing native clergy in conversion efforts. He spread Christianity to India, Malay Archipelago and Japan.

You may have known....

China's population is 1.09 times of India. (In 2028, India, with 1.45 Billion population, is expected to overtake China as the world's most populous country).

Good morning. Have a nice day.
Raj Kadyan

On this day - Lt Gen Raj Kadyan

Dreams express what our soul is telling us.

On this day, 30 Nov ....

1609 - The modern face of the moon first emerged when Galileo Galilei turned his telescope toward the moon, noted the irregularities of the crescent face, and made a drawing to record his discoveries. He made at least five more drawings of the moon over the next eighteen days, prepared careful watercolor sketches from these drawings, and then selected four of these to be engraved for his revolutionary Starry Messenger, which appeared the following March.

1784 - John Jeffries, an American physician and scientist, recorded the first scientific data for free air, to a height of 9,309-ft, during a balloon flight in London, including twelve observations of temperature, pressure, and humidity. Jeffries' values agree closely with modern determinations.

1858 - John Landis Mason received a U.S. patent for his invention known by his name - the Mason jar. Although hundreds of men and women obtained patents for fruit jars, probably the most well known in the industry has been the Mason jar. It has become a common term for the preserved food jar. Mason developed and patented a shoulder-seal jar with a zinc screw cap. The "Mason jar" had a threaded neck which fit with the threads in a metal cap to screw down to the shoulder of the jar and in this way form a seal. In 1869, a top seal above the threads and under a glass lid was introduced to the jar, thus effecting an excellent seal.

1875 - A U.S. patent was issued for a "Biscuit Cutter" was issued to black American inventor Alexander P. Ashbourne.

1897 - A U.S. patent for a "Device for Rolling Cigarettes" was issued to black American inventor J.A. Sweeting.

1899 - Aluminium was first used commercially in the U.S. as an electrical transmission conductor.

1924 - 1st photo facsimile transmitted across Atlantic by radio (London-NYC).

1954 - In Sylacauga, Alabama, USA, Ann Hodges, 32, was bruised on the arm and hip by a meteorite that fell through the roof of her house into her living room. It smashed the case of her wooden radio and struck her as she lay resting on her sofa. The 9-lb, 6 in diameter fragment came from a larger, likely more than 150-lb, chondrite meteorite that exploded over central Alabama about 2 pm, according to reports from people in several states that saw a bright flash across the sky. (This remains (till 2006) the only recorded instance of a person being hit by a meteorite. She donated it in 1956 to the Alabama Museum of Natural History, and it is known by her name as the Hodges Meteorite).

1974 - India, Pakistan decide to end the ten-year trade ban.

2001 - Robert Tools, 59, the first person in the world to receive a fully self-contained artificial heart, died in Louisville, US. Five months earlier, on 2 Jul 2001, doctors at Jewish Hospital in Louisville had implanted the AbioCor heart replacement. He died of internal bleeding and organ failure after living with the device whirring in his chest for 151 days. Doctors said the death was not caused by problems with the AbioCor heart device.

Born....

1835 - Mark Twain [Samuel Clemens], American author.

1858 -  Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose, Indian physicist and plant physiologist who investigated the properties of very short radio waves, wireless telegraphy, and radiation-induced fatigue in inorganic materials.

1874 - Winston Churchill, soldier, author and politician.

1936 - Sudha Malhotra, singer.

1962 - Irrfan Khan, actor.

1986 - Rahul Sharma, cricketer.

RIP....

1630 - 16,000 inhabitants of Venice died this month of plague.

You may have known....

In food deficit, while India has 109 kilocalories   deficient per person per day ; Pakistan has a figure of 169 kilocalories deficiency daily per person.

Good morning. Have a nice day.
Raj Kadyan

On this day - Lt Gen Raj Kadyan

No one can gain anything till he is willing to lose.

On this day, 21 Nov ....

1783 - Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier, a professor of physics and chemistry, and the Marquis Francois Laurant d'Arlandes became the first men to make a free flight. Their hot-air balloon lifted off from La Muette in Paris. They flew nearly 6 miles in 25 mins, reaching an altitude, it is thought, of around 3000-ft (though this is poorly documented). Spectators included  King Louis XVI, who offered to send two prisoners, but Rozier wanted to deny criminals the glory of being the first men to go into the atmosphere.

1846 - The word anesthesia was coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

1871 -  The first U.S. patent for a cigar lighter was issued to Moses F. Gale of New York City.  It described an ornamental mechanical device to be attached by a flexible tube to a gas supply. The gas for lighting cigars travelled through a hollow body of a device shaped such as a bird. The flow of gas was regulated by an internal valve actuated by the action of the body pivoting on a control screw.

1877 - Thomas Edison announced his invention of his “talking machine” - the tin-foil cylinder recorder that preceded the phonograph. He appears to have envisioned it as a business dictation machine.

1905 - 1st game ever played in the Australian Tennis Open.

1922 - Rebecca L. Felton sworn in as 1st female U.S. Senator.

1947 - First postal stamp of indepedent India of three and half annas denomination was started.

1947 - Major General Cariappa took over from Lieutenant General Sir Francies Tulker as the Army Commander, Eastern Command, in the rank of Lieutenant General.

1962 - The Chinese People's Liberation Army declares a unilateral cease-fire in the Sino-Indian War.

1969 - Bhilai Steel Plant creates a new world record in steel-making by producing 'one heat' in four hours three minutes.

1971 - Battle of Garibpur: Indian troops aided by Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrillas) defeat the Pakistan army.

1973 - Seth Govinddas, M.P. of Jabalpur, was honoured in the Central Hall of Parliament for completion of 50 years in Parliament, which was an unprecedented record.

1993 - India and South Africa sign a historic pact on re-establishing diplomatic and consular relations after a gap of 50 years.

Born....

1926 - Premnath, actor.

RIP....

1970 -   Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, Indian physicist whose work was influential in the growth of science in India. He was the recipient of the 1930 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Titbits....

1871 - The 1st human cannonball, Emilio Onra, is shot.

You may have known....

India's population is 131 Crore, which makes is second most populous country. Pakistan's population is 18.9 Crore - sixth largest in the world.

Good morning. Have a nice day.
Raj Kadyan

On this day Lt Gen Raj Kadyan

Doing uncomfortable things is weight training for life.

On this day, 14 Nov ....

1666 -  The English physician, Samuel Pepys, made an record in his diary describing Richard Lower making the first documented blood transfusion. “Dr. Croone told me ... there was a pretty experiment of the blood of one dogg let out, till he died, into the body of another on one side, while all his own run out on the other side. The first died upon the place, and the other very well and likely to do well". (Two days later, 16 Nov, Pepys noted meeting with Robert Hooke and  hearing the dog was “very well, and like to be so as ever, and doubts not its being found of great use to men").

1681 - East India Company declared Bengal as a separate presidency.

1832 - The first street car to be used in the U.S. took its initial trip with municipal officials in New York City. It was named the John Mason, after the prominent New York banker who founded the service, who had it built by John Stephenson's company. The carriage was horse-drawn and rode on iron wheels along iron rails laid in the middle of the road.

1896 - The Locomotives on Highways Act 1896 took effect in Britain. It raised the country speed limit to 14 mph (12 mph in some towns) for horseless carriages under 3 tons unladen weight.

1896 - Power plant at Niagara Falls begins operation.

1906 - Roosevelt becomes 1st U.S. President to visit a foreign country (Panama).

1910 - The first airplane flight from a ship was made by Eugene Ely from the bow of the scout cruiser Birmingham in Virginia, US. His runway was 83 feet long, with a five degree slope, but because the plane itself was 57 feet long, the available runway for takeoff was only 26 feet. ( He then flew through fog and rain and won a $5,000 prize. Ely was a civilian pilot for the Curtiss Aviation Company. The following year, 18 Jan 1911, Ely made another first in history when he landed on the battleship USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay).

1967 - U.S. patent for "Ruby Laser Systems" was issued to Theodore Maiman for which he had applied on 13 Apr 1961. He had first operated a laser based on a ruby crystal on 16 May 1960, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.

1968 - 1st European lung transplant.

1996 - Competition Post Card', a new category of postcard, priced Rs. 2 introduced in India.

Born....

1889 - Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first PM. (To commemorate his birthday, this day is observed as 'Children's Day' from 1957).

1944 - Aditya Vikarm Birla, Business magnate.

RIP....

1967 - Kanakaiya Nayudu Colonel Cottari , cricketer (7 Tests for India in 30's).

You may have known....

India has 14 submarines whereas Pakistan has 4.

Good morning. Have a nice day.
Raj Kadyan