Motto for Today: ‘A healthy body with a fresh mind is the best fashion statement.’

WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HAPPY DIWALI.

This is Your Day-TODAY: Take a Determined Step Forward and Make History!  

On this day, Oct.24……..

1579 – Jesuit father and first Englishman S.J. Thomas Stephens arrived at Goa in a Portuguese ship. He settled here and died in 1619.

1836 – Alonzo Dwight Phillips of Springfield, Massachusetts, received the first U.S. patent for the phosphorous friction safety match. (The first friction matches, using a mixture of chemicals for their heads, were made and sold in England in 1827. Phillips’ match, which could be struck on any rough surface, was the first genuine friction match made in America. Known as “loco focos,” and later as “lucifers,” these matches were made entirely by hand from a mixture of chalk, phosphorus, glue and brimstone {sulphur).

1876 – A U.S. patent was issued for the metal case of a one-day back-winding alarm clock to the Seth E. Thomas of New York City, being the first American patent for an alarm clock of this familiar type. It was manufactured that year by the Seth Thomas Clock Company of Thomaston, Connecticut. (The first alarm clock made in the U.S. appeared in Concord in 1787. That clock was made by Levi Hutchins with a pine case).

1939 – Nylon stockings went on sale in the U.S. for the first time to employees at DuPont’s Wilmington, Delaware nylon factory. The modern materials revolution began in 1938 with DuPont’s commercialization of their nylon product, which was the first man-made fibre to be made exclusively from mineral sources. The company specifically intended to compete with silk in the women’s hosiery market. The fibre was strong, elastic, moth-proof and did not absorb moisture. Years of research led to enormous success. “Nylons,” as they were soon called, eventually replaced silk stockings.

1953 – Selection of the Dassault Ouragan fighter from France at this time reflected the Indian decision to initiate diversification of supply sources. The first four of over 100 Ouragans, or ‘Toofanis’ as they were to become known in the IAF, reached Palam Airport from France.

1975 – Bonded labour system was abolished in India by Ordinance.

1984 – First Metro Train (Underground Train) in India started between Esplanade and Bhowanipore in Calcutta city.

2011 – A vaccination program immunizing over 170 million children every year has resulted in the near eradication of polio in India.

2013 – The U.S. Ambassador is summoned by Germany over suspicions that the U.S. monitored the cell phone calls of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

2017 – Albert Einstein’s “Theory of Happiness”, written as a note for a bellboy instead of a tip in Tokyo in 1922, sells for $1.56 million.

2018 – Virat Kohli becomes the 12th and the fastest-ever to score 10,000 runs in one day international matches, taking just 205 innings.

Born….

1914 – Lakshmi Sahgal, Indian Independence movement revolutionary and officer of Indian National Army.

1915 – Jeevan, actor.

1921 – Illustrator Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Iyer Laxman, better known as R. K. Laxman, the creator of the iconic ‘Common Man’.

1935 – Mark Tully, writer.

1976 – Mallika Sherawat, actor.

RIP….

1991 – Ismat Chugtai, famous Urdu author, social worker and campaigner for justice for women.

2013 – Manna Dey, singer.

Titbits….

1901 – 1st woman to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel (Anna Taylor).

You may have known….
Trivia in Roman mythology was the goddess who haunted crossroads, graveyards and was the goddess of sorcery and witchcraft. She wandered about at night, and was seen only by the barking of dogs who told of her approach.

Good morning. Have a nice day!

{Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R) Raj Kadyan}