Today’s Motto: ‘Your value is the product of your thoughts’

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

On this day, Apr. 18…………

1336 – The famous Vijaynagar Hindu Empire established, Deccan region of South India is founded. European visitors are overwhelmed by the wealth and advancement of its 17-square-mile capital.

1846 – The first U.S. patent for a telegraph ticker that would print letters of the alphabet was issued to R.E. House of New York City. It was able to print at the rate of 50 words a minute in Roman letters. (It had first been publically exhibited in 1844 at the American Institute Fair in New York City. It was widely used for ten years, until replaced by improved versions).

1853 – 1st train in Asia (Bombay to Thane, 36 km).

1910 – The first night airplane flight made in the U.S. was made by Walter R. Brookins in Montgomery, Alabama.

1917 – 1st crossword puzzle book published (Simon and Schuster).

1917 – Gandhi saw one of his testing grounds of Satyagraha in Champaran. He defied section 144 of Criminal Act.

1925 – The first U.S. commercial transcontinental fax was sent from San Francisco to New York City.

1930 – Attempted raid on the armoury of police and auxiliary forces in Chittagong in Bengal province, by armed pro-independence revolutionaries led by Surya Sen popularly known as Master-da.

1934 – 1st “Washateria” (laundromat) opens. (Self-service laundry, coin laundry or coin wash is a facility where clothes are washed and dried. They are known in the UK as launderettes or laundrettes, and in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as laundromats {from the genericised trademark of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation} or washaterias. George Edward Pendray created the word “laundromat” for Westinghouse).

1966 – Artificial sweetener. James M. Schlatter applied for a patent for “Peptide Sweetening Agents” , an invention which eventually led to the marketing of aspartame under the name NutraSweet.

1991 – Kerala declared the first fully literate state in the country.

2000 – A. B. Vajpayee, Prime Minister, constitutes a Group of Ministers to review the national security system in its entirety in the light of the recommendations of the Kargil review committee.

2015 – An outbreak of an unknown disease in Nigeria has so far resulted in 17 deaths, each occurring within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms; while tests show that the disease is not viral, the cause has not yet been identified.

Born….

1916 – Lalita Pawar actor. (Amboo alias Lalita Pawar was born in Indore. She will be always remembered as a leading film actress and character artist. Her first film was ‘Ganimi Kawa’ in1928).

1956 – Poonam Dhillon, Bollywood character actor. Launched in film Noorie, she has many blockbudter films to her credit viz., Sohni Mahiwal, Trishul, Yeh Vada Raha, Teri Meharwania,Teri Kasam, Naam etc. She won 2 Filmfare awards.

RIP….

1859 – Tatya Tope. His original name was Ramchandra Raghunath Tope. A leader of Sepoy Mutiny, was captured in April, courtmarshalled and hanged at Sivpuri for 1857 war of independence.

1904 – Ramnath Goenka, president and founder of Indian Express Group.

1955 – Albert Einstein, German-American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity and won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. Recognised in his own time as one of the most creative intellects in human history.

1978 – Sardar Sobha Singh, famous builder of many buildings in New Delhi.

Titbits….

1987 – An unconscious skydiver is rescued by another diver in mid-air.

1994 – Brian Lara scores 375 for WI vs England to beat Sober’s record.

You may have known….

The most important part of an ancient Roman wedding was the domum deductio, when the bride traveled from her family’s home to the home of her new husband. During the domum deductio, it was customary to throw walnuts. These were considered sacred at weddings, both as a fertility symbol and because the sound they made as they hit the ground was believed to be a good omen.

 

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