Today’s Motto: ‘In their tussle, ambition beats genius 99% of the time’

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

On this day, 11 Dec….

1769 – Venetian blinds were patented in London by Edward Bevan.

1844 – The first dental anaesthetic, nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”) was used.

1858 – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Yadunath Bose became the first  two  graduates of arts from the University of Calcutta. BC Chattopadhyay was a revolutionay writer poet, philosopher, who wrote the National  Anthem song Vande Matram and  famous novel Anandmath in Sanskitised Bengali. (pics credit-Wikipedia Commons and IndiaNetZone)

1911 – Marie Curie became the first person to be awarded a second Nobel prize. Marie and her husband Piere Curie were two  prominent Polish physicists and chemists who reserched on radioactivity of elements/metals and discovered Radium and Radioactivity,  and Polonium.

1958 – Wilson Jones became India’s first individual World Champion when he  won the Amateur Billiards Championship.

1967 – People’s front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) established.

1967 – The Concorde, a joint British-French venture and the world’s first supersonic airliner, was unveiled in Toulouse, France.

1971 – The elite para-commandos and Parachute Battalions -India’s ‘Red Devils’, as they are affectionately called, have an unsurpassed ethos and elan of their own. 2 Para Battalion executed a superb airborne assault operation at Tangail in East Pakistan, which was the first of its kind in the subcontinent.

1991 – The centre notifies the interim order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal directing Karnataka to release 205 tmc ft of water to Tamil Nadu.

1997 – More than 150 countries agreed at a global warming conference in Kyoto, Japan to control the Earth’s Greenhouse Gases.

2010- The world’s first customer delivery of a Nissan Leaf all-electric vehicle was made by a dealer at Petaluma, California.

2017 – Saudi Arabia announces an end to its 35 year ban on cinemas.

2019 – India passes controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill  (CAA) clearing way for citizenship for immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan but not if they are Muslim.

Born….

1882 – Subramanya Bharathy, Great  Indian poet, journalist, teacher, social reformer  and Freedom fighter. Born in Madras Presidency but considered a link between South and North  Indian culture for his service to Hindi literature. He wrote several books and novels, viz., Bharthiyar Kavidhaigal, Panjali Sabatham, Kanan Pattu Kuyyil Paatu etc. He translated Patanjli’s Yoga Sutra and Bhagwat Gita into Tamil. In 1987 a Subramanim Bharati Award was constituted  to honour his legacy and promote  literature among youth.

1922 – Dilip Kumar (Yusuf Khan), legendary Bollywood  actor, born in Peshawar (now in Pakistan) started his filmy career with Jwar Bhata in 1944,  established himself as a great actor with Madhumati, Naya Daur,  Ganga Jumna, Devdas, Ram Aur Shyam, Saudagar, Mughle Azam and many successful fims. He was also known as a Tragedy King of Hindi cinema, He marriied twice with Asma Rehman and popular heroine Saira Banu. Dilip was honored with Dada Saheb Phalke award in   1994 and Filmfare 15 times including a Lifetime Achievement award in 1983. He was also given Padma Bhushan in  1991 and Padma Vibhushan in 2015. He died in July 2021.

1931 – Acharya  Shree Rajneesh “Osho”, Spiritual Guru of the rich. Revered by many as Bhagwan Osho, was an Indian philosopher, spiritual godman, teacher who founded a religius movement for relieving people from worldly tensions, worries by  propagating free life, sex liberalism and discover pleasure of mind thru’ his mystic teachings.  Rich and prominent people from world over  like Maa Anand Sheela, Sawami Satyananda, Helen Byren, film celebrities  Vinod Khanna, Manoj Kumar etc.  were attracted to his philosophy, though marked as controversial by many.

1935 – Pranab Mukherjee, velteran Bengal politician, who served Congress Party in variuos capacities, as Uinion Finance Minister and President of India from 2012-17. Was honored with  Bharat  Ratan  in 2019.

1965 – Kimi katkar, a flameboyant. bold and romantic Bollywood actor. She acted in Adventures of  Tarzon, Mera Lahoo, Dariya Dil, Hum, Kala Bazar, Vardi,  Tezaa etc. (pic credit-Instagram)

1969 – Vishwanathan Anand, Indian chess grandmaster.

RIP….

1998 – Poet Pradeep (Ramchandra Narayana Dwivedi), best known for his patriotic song Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo,  written as a tribute to the soldiers who had died defending the country during the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Sung by Lata Mangeshkar with C Ramachandra music had  been sung at the National Stadium on Jan 27, 1963 in the presence of PM Nehru and is the gem of all patiotic Indians.  He wrote many popular patriotic songs and films and  other occasions. He was honoured with Sahitya Akademy (1963) ,  Dada Saheb Phalke (1997) Indian classicawards.

2012 – Ravi Shankar,  legendary  music composer who excelled with Sitar and is one  of the  top  evergreen classical  Bhajan and vedic singers.   He sung for films as well and led many concerts world over. He was awarded Padam Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna for his contribution.

You may have known….

Men are 6 times more likely to be struck by lightning than women.  (pic credit-iStock.com)

 

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