Today’s Motto: ‘Everyone is entitled to his Own Opinion, but no one is entitled to his Own Facts’

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

On this day, 07 Jan….

1714 – The world’s first patent for a “Machine for Transcribing Letters” was granted in England by Queen Anne to Henry Mill, a waterworks engineer with the New River Company.

1761 – Third Battle of Panipat: Afghan army beats Marathas. This third battle of Panipat is considered one of the largest and most eventful fought in the 18th century, and has perhaps the largest number of fatalities in a single day reported in a classic formation battle between two armies; 60,000 to 70,000 died (pic credit-Alamy).

1785 – Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard and American scientist and physician John Jeffries made the first air crossing of the English Channel from England to France in a hot-air balloon – the first international flight.

1890 – W B Purvis patents fountain pen.

1927 – Commercial telephone service (using radio) began between New York and London.

1987 – Kapil Dev takes his 300th Test wicket. At 28, he was the youngest cricketer to accomplish this feat.

2015 – At about 11:30 local time, two brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Armed with assault rifles and other weapons, they killed 12 people and injured 11 others. The gunmen identified themselves as belonging to the Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, who took responsibility for the attack. Several related attacks followed in the Île-de-France region, where a further five were killed and 11 wounded (pic credit-BBC).

2021 – Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla, becomes the world’s richest person, worth $186 billion, overtaking Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

2022 – First successful transplant of a pig’s heart into a human when genetically modified pig’s heart inserted into a 53-year-old man in Baltimore, Maryland.

Born….1928 – Vijay Tendulkar, legendary and famous playwright and novelist. Began as Marathi  playwright, theatre, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily. His Marathi plays established him as a writer of plays with contemporary, unconventional themes. He is best known for his plays Shantata – Court Chalu Aahe !, Ghasiram Kotwal, Sakharam Binder, Mitrachi Goshta and films like Manthan, Aakrosh, Ardhsatya. He was awarded 3 Filmfare, a National award, Padma Bhushan,  Saraswati Samman and many more!

1948 – Shobha (Rajadhyaksha) De, a Times of India  columnist, a feminist and writer on social issues. She is the author of popular  novels viz., Socialist  Evenings,  Starry Nights, Insatiable, Second Thoughts, Speedpost, Lockdown Liaisons, Sultry Days, Strange Obsession, Sisters, Spouse : The Truth About Marriage, Superstar India, Seventy and To Hell With It! etc. She has been honoured with Best Author award by Asian Age and Lifetime Achievement awards by many organisations.

1953 – Bhagyaraj (Krishnaswamy), film  writer,  actor,  director. Has acted mostly in Tamil and Hindi films, TV serials. He is connected with about 75 films and awarded Filmfare South and Lifetime Achievements awards. He has written some novels,  stories and edits a magazine Bhagya  too.

1957 – Reena Roy, popular Bihari and  Hindi  romantic  film actor. Debuted with BR Ishara’s Zaroorat, Zaise Ko Taisa, Zakhmi, and manmy films with veteran Shatrughan Sinha. She is known for her roles in Naagin, Kalicharan, Aasha, Zaani Dushman, Rajkumar, Ghulami, Refuigee, Aadmi Khilona Hai, Do Waqt Ki Roti, Ham Dono, Ek Chithi Pyar Bhari etc. She married Pakistan cricketer Mohsin Khan but separated later in 1990. She was awarded  Filmfare award for  Best Support role  in 1998 in film Apnapan  but she declined due to Category issue,

1961 – Supriya Pathak, Bollywood Gujarati and Hindi film actor, daughter of veteran actress Dina Pathak. Supriya has won three Filmfares for her roles in Kalyug, Bazaar, Goliyon Ki Raasleela-Ram Leelas. She also acted in Mimi, The Big Bull, Rashmi Rocket etc. She married famous comedy actor producer Pankaj Kapur and  actor Shashid Kapoor is her son.

1964- Nicolas Cage (Nicolas Kim Coppola). An American actor known for films Long Legs, Ghost Rider, The Unbreakable, National Treasurer, The Family Man Face/Off, Gone in 60 Seconds etc. He won a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, a BAFTA, an Academy award etc.

1979 – Bipasha Basu, famous model and romantic Bollywood actor. She has also acted  in language and horror films in English, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu  like Aatma, Dhoom 3, Lovers, Hamshakal, Creative 3D, Alone, Most Welcome etc. She has won a Filmfare and several awards  nominations.

1982 – Lauren Cohan- American actor known for romantic roles in The Boy, Mile 22, and  TV serials like  Supernatural, The Walking Dead etc. She has got some nominations and film awards (pic credit-The Seattle Times).

RIP:  1989- Emperor Hirohito. The longest serving   124th Japanese Emperor who ruled from 1926 to 1989. Honored as Emperor Shova posthumously.

You may have known….

Small land holding size is one of the reasons for low production in India. The average size of holdings for all operational classes (small & marginal, medium and large) has declined over the years and for all classes put together it has come down to 1.16 hectare in 2010-11 from 2.82 hectare in 1970-71  (even smaller 5 marlas in Hills).

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