Today’s Motto: ‘If today is not well spent, tomorrow becomes unimportant’

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

On this day, 29 Dec….

1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II.

1885 – A group of middle-class intellectuals in India, some of them British, found the Indian National Congress to be a voice of Indian opinion to the British government. This was the origin of the later Congress Party which was founded in Bombay on Jan. 01, 1985.

1939 – William Shockley wrote in his laboratory notebook: “It has today occurred to me that an amplifier using semiconductors rather than vacuum is in principle possible. He went on to develop the transistor, for which he shared (with John Bardeen and Walter Brattain) the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1959 – Durgapur Iron Plant inaugurated.

1965 – First Indian-made tank ‘Vijayant’ rolled off the Avadi Heavy Vehicles factory.

1987 – Cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko returned to Earth, ending his record 326-day space flight orbiting Earth in the Mir space station. The Soyuz spacecraft landed at a snow-covered site in Kazakhstan. His stay in space broke the previous Soviet record of 237 days. (For comparison, the U.S. space endurance record is 87 days (pic credit-The HIndu Archives).

1997 – Sonia Gandhi  (widow of former PM Rajiv Gandhi)  stepped into active politics (pic Bridgeman Images).

Born….

1900 – Deenanath Mangeshkar, legendary music teacher,  singer. Father of  evergreen singers Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Usha  Mangeshkar and Hridayanath Mangeshkar.

1917 – Ramanand Sagar, veteran film producer and director, who is known for films like Ankhen, Geet, Charas, Arzoo,  Lalkar,Zindgi  and  relgious TV serials on   epics  Ramayan 1987-88), Shri Krishna  (1993-97), Luv Kush  and Sai Baba etc. He was awarded Padam Shri and Filmfare award 3 times apart from several  other accolades.

1942 – Rajesh Khanna, veteran actor who ruled Bollywood for over two decades with about 180 films,  some very successful  like Aaradhana, Kati Patang,  Haathi Mere Saathi, Do Raaste, Aan Milo Sajna, Khamoshi, Ghar Pariwar, Swarg, Amar Prem, Sasutan,  Avataar, Namak Haram, Baawerchee etc. He won about 5 Filmfare awards, many nominations and Lifetime Achievement award in 2005. He wasa also Lok Sabha MP from New Delhi for a term from Congress party.

1974 – Twinkle Khanna, Bollywood actor, daughter of Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia. Actedv in about 22 moves like Joru Ka Ghulam, Chal Mere Bhai etc. She’s married to actor Akshay Kumar.

RIP….

2020 – Pierre Cardin. famous Italy born French fashion designer who is known for Avent-Garde

and Space age designs. Stylish luxurious Pens and other stationery novelties. (pic credit-Alrabeeh)

You may have known….

Going to work is statistically three times more dangerous than war.

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