Today’s Motto: ‘It is during the darkest moments that….

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

On this day, 13 Apr….

This day is celebrated as Baisakhi, the day when 10th Guru  Gobind Singh ji  raised Khalsa Panth in 1699, to protect Hindus, Women, Weak and Poor citizens who were suffering from Mughal tyranny.        It’s also a day to begin Harvesting of Crops by farmers across India. It is also celebrated as the beginning of Hindu New Year by different names as Bohag Bihu in Assam, Pana Sankranti in Odisha,, Poila Baisakh in Bengal, Bihar,  Ugadi in Maharashtra, Central India and Karnataka,  Vishu in Kerala, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry  etc.

This was also the darkest day for Freedomfighters  of Punjab,  when  a  heinous  massacre of peaceful  gathering  was  executed at Jallianwala Bagh  in Amritsar  on April 13, 1919. They were protesting  against the Rowlatt Act which  authorised the Government to imprison any person without any trial and conviction in a court of law.  The massacre killed about 3,000 people on the orders of  British Brig. Gen.  Michael O’Dyer, who  stationed his  soldiers at a narrow exit  point  across Jallianwala Bagh and ordered   to fire upon them. Many fell upon each other or into the wells,  while running for safety (pic credit-news.sky.com).

1796 – The first elephant taken to the U.S. from Bengal. I was described thus: “It eats thirty pounds of rice besides hay and straw – drinks all kinds of wine and spiritous liquors, and eats every kind of vegetable; it will also draw a cork from a bottle in its trunk.”

1928 – 1st Trans Atlantic  solo flight in Europe-by Charles Lindbergh.

1933 – 1st flight over Mount Everest by Lord Clydesdale.

1948 – Bhuvaneshwar became the capital of Orissa.

1970 – An explosion during the Apollo 13 mission led to one of the most spectacular rescue missions in US space history. The explosion aboard the Odyssey spacecraft left the crew stranded for four days more than 200,000 miles from Earth. An oxygen leak forced the Apollo 13 astronauts to abandon ship and return in lunar module. Against all odds, the three astronauts and thousands of others brought the capsule safely back to Earth (pic credit-britannica.com).

2012 – Indian actor Shahrukh Khan is detained by the U.S. at a New York airport for 90 minutes, angering  S. M. Krishna, India’s External Affairs Minister.

2019 – World’s largest plane by wingspan at 117m, the Stratolaunch, built as a flying launch pad for satellites, takes its first flight from Mojave, California.

2024 – Iran launches a strike on Israel with 300 drones and missiles in retaliation for the bombing of its embassy in Damascus – almost all shot down.

Born…. 1890 – Ramchandra Gopal Torne (Dadasaheb ), legendary  film director. He was the first Indian Director and Producer to make a feature film in India; that film was named Shree Pundalik. Although Torne made his first film, Shree Pundalik (1912) just under a year before Dhundiraj Govind “Dadasaheb” Phalke made his, it is the latter who is regarded as the father of Indian cinema. The distinction may lie with the fact that, unlike Phalke, Torne sent his film overseas for processing. Moreover, Torne’s Pundalik was 22 minutes long, whereas Phalke’s Raja Harischandra, ran for about 40 minutes.

RIP….  1972 – Balraj Sahani, veteran  Indian  film actor who was known for his roles in Do Bigha Zamin, Kabuliwala, Waqt,  Chhoti Behan, Dharti Ke Laal,  Seema, Ek Phool Do Mali, Garam Hawa, Lajwanti, Kathputli, Nanak Dukhiya Sab Sansar,  etc. He also wrote on social issues in Punjabi, did scriptwriting for film Baazi of Guru Dutt. He was awarded Padma Shri and Soviet Land Nehru award.

You may have known….

India has (at least) one Air Force base on foreign soil – Tajikstan Farkhor air base. It was part of the Soviet Union and Dushambe is its capital.                                                                          {Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}