Today’s Motto: ‘Whenever you see a Successful Venture, think……..

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

On this day, 15 Dec….

1803 – East India Company captured Orrisa state.

1854 – First practical street cleaning machine was put into operation in Philadelphia.

1916 – French defeat Germans in WW I Battle of Verdun. The Battle of Verdun was one of the largest and longest battles of the First World War on the Western Front between the German and French armies  (pic credit-Sky History).

1939 – Nylon yarn was sold to hosiery mills to make women’s stockings; marking the first use of commercial yarn for apparel.

2000 – The ill-fated Chernobyl nuclear plant was ceremoniously permanently shut down in Ukraine – more than 14 years after one of its reactors exploded in the world’s worst civil nuclear catastrophe on 26 Apr 1986.

2001 – The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy, was reopened to the public after a $27 million realignment that took over a decade.

2011 – Jacques Chirac, former President of France, is declared guilty of embezzlement and violating trust for filling non-existent jobs with party members while serving as Mayor of Paris. Chirc remained President  from 1995-2007.

2019 – Protests against India’s new citizenship bill that excludes Muslims, erupt across major cities, killing at least five.                                                                                                                          Born….

1832 – Gustave Eiffel, French civil engineer who specialised in metal structures, known especially for the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

1888 – Maxwell Anderson. American writer, poet, journalist known for his works  Elizabeth the Queen,  Both Your Houses, Wnterset, High Tor, The Wingless Victory, Joan of Lorraine etc. He was awarded Pulitzer Prize, Gold Medal in Drama and Honorary Doctorates etc.

1924 – Nek Chand (Saini). He was a self-taught artist, known for building the Rock Garden, an eighteen-acre sculpture garden in the city of Chandigarh. Nek Chand was born in Shakargarh  (near Gurdaspur) and worked as Road Inspector during the  development of Chandigath, a planned  City under French/Swiss architect Le Corbusier in 1950s,  collected  rejected, broken pieces of  old buildings/houses  and gave them creative shapes  depicting various forms of social, cutural and family lives in India. His Rock Garden was  recognised  later in 1975  by Govt. of India  appreciating his vision and was  (pics  from Rock Garden  galleries)

1951 – Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne, former Indian Air Chief between July 31, 2011 to Dec. 31, 2013 (pic credit-Wikipedia)..

1971 – Jeev Milkha Singh, famous golfer.  Son of  legendary athlete  “Flying Sikh” Milkha Singh and  India Volleball team Captain Nirmal Kaur, Jeev has been top Indian entry to Europe Tour. He has won 4 events in European Golf Tour from 1998 onwards.

1976 – Baichung Bhutia,  most popular Indian   striker footballer. He has captained India team to Asian, national and International tournaments. Was awarded Arjuna Award twice in 1998-99, AIFF Player in 1995, 2008 and AFC Challenge Cup and Padam Shri in 2008 (pic credit-Free Press Journal).                                                                                                                                                                 RIP….

1950 – Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, first deputy Prime Minister of independent India and Bharat Ratna awardee. Also known as the ‘Iron Man’. He played a vital role in integrating India into a united country. He got more than 562 Indian Princely states to merge into India during  the period  1946-1948 when India gained   Independence. As the Home Minister it  was the most monumental task as the country was also  facing violent riots  due to Partition  of India. (it is also written in some documents that he was first choice as Prime Minister of India by Congress’ AICC meeting with 14 out of 15 members voting in his favour but MK Gandhi  nominated Jawarlal Nehru to the PMs post)

Titbits…. 

1965 – Two U.S. manned spacecraft, Gemini 6 and Gemini 7, manoeuvred to within 10 feet of each other while in orbit.

1995 – Playboy goes back on sale after 36 year ban in Ireland for its nude content (pic credit-Playboy magazine).

You may have known….

Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn’t wear pants.

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