Today’s Motto: ‘Hope is a waking dream’

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

On this day, 09 Mar….

1562 – Kissing in public was banned in Naples and made punishable by death.

1822 – Charles M. Graham of N.Y. was issued the first U.S. patent for artificial teeth.

1858 – The system of street mailboxes was first started in the US. The initial boxes had a central hole for the shaft of a lamp post, lids covering the drop hole to exclude weather, a sight hole so a carrier could see if any letters had been deposited, and a small door secured with a lock for the carrier to empty the box.

1897 – Fans start calling the team ‘Indians’ (in 1915 it became official).

1959 – Barbie, the popular girls’ doll, debuted, over 800 million sold.

1976 – 1st female cadets accepted to West Point Military Academy, US.

2015 – A small treasure of 2,300-year-old coins and jewelry is found in a cave in the Galilee region of Israel; the items date from the time of Alexander the Great.

2022 – Stolen notebooks belonging to naturalist Charles Darwin, including his famous ‘tree of life’ sketch, mysteriously returned after 22 years to Cambridge University Library.

Born…. 1886 – C.S. Ratnasabhapathy Mudaliar,  famous  South  Indian industrialist, politician.  Served in Madras Assembly from 1926-32.

1931- Dr. Karan Singh- Esrstewhile prince and  governor of Jammu & Kashmir.  Learned Sanskrit, Hindi scholar, philosopher  turned politician. Was Union Minister in   Indira Gandhi cabinet. Has written about 20 books like An Examined Life, Badlate Kashmir Ki Kahani, Bridge to Immortality, Essays on Hinduism, Population etc.

1951 – Ustad Zakir Hussain, famous Tabla player, composer, producer and  brand model. Became ambassador of Indian classical  music and Tabla. Awarded United States of America National Endowment of Arts, National Heritage fellowship.. He also won Sangeet Natak Akademy award and Fellowshiop, and Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan  and later Padma Bhushan in 2023  and  4 Grammy Awards.

1956 – Shashi Tharoor. Former Indian diplomat, writer and politician. Served in Uniteds Nations Hig Commission for Refugees, peacekeeping and other welfare operations. He’s now Lok Sabha member for 3rd term and heads Parliament’s Committee on External Affairs. Has written several books of economics, politics, foreign affairs etc. Was honourede by French govt. with ‘Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur’.

1996 – Darsheel Safary. He is an Indian child actor. He played the lead role in the National award winning movie ‘Taare Zameen Par’ and became the youngest to win a filmfare award. He acted in Midnight’s Children, Bumm Bumm Bole,  Zokkomom and some Gujrati TV serials.

RIP….  1650 – Saint Tukaram Maharaj, famous Hindu saint of Maharashtra  and follower of  Namdev  and  worshipped  Vithoba (Vitthal)  of Pandharpur, an incarnation of Vishnu Bhagwan in the 17th century. He also wrote One Hundred Poems of Tukaram  and others.

1994 – Devika Rani Roerich, the first lady of the Indian screen. She acted in  Achhut Kanya, Jeevan Nayya, Jeevan Prabhat, Jawani ki Hawa , Anjan, Nirmala, Savitri, Izzat  etc. She was awarded Padma Shri and  became the first awardee of Dadasaheb Phalke honour.   She had married filom director/producer Himanshu Rai (1929-40) and famous Russian painter Svetoslav  Roerich.  Also founded Bombay Talkies, film studio.

You may have known….
In September 2009, India’s ISRO Chandrayaan- 1 using its Moon Mineralogy Mapper detected water on the moon for the first time. The mission went into space on Oct. 22, 2008 and operated upto  August 2009.

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