Motto for Today: ‘The wisest men follow their own direction.’

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

On this day, Jan.31…

1893 – The trademark “Coca-Cola” was first registered in the United States Patent Office. (The name refers to two of its original ingredients: kola nuts, a source of caffeine, and coca leaves. The current formula of Coca-Cola remains a trade secret, although a variety of reported recipes and experimental recreations have been published).

1915 – 1st German poison gas attack, against Russians.
1928 – Scotch tape 1st marketed by 3-M Company. (Scotch tape was invented by a college dropout named Richard Drew from Minnesota who worked for a small sandpaper company founded in 1902 called Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, later known as 3M).

1945 – Private Eddie Slovik became the only U.S. soldier since the U.S. Civil War to be executed for desertion.
1948 – Indian cities swept by riots in wake of Gandhi murder.
1961 – The U.S. launched a 4-year-old male chimpanzee named Ham on a Mercury-Redstone 2 rocket into suborbital flight to test the capabilities of the Mercury capsule. During his 16.5 minute suborbital flight, Ham experienced about 7 minutes of weightlessness, reached an altitude of 108 miles and a speed of 13,000 mph. He was wired to medical sensors to monitor his vital signs. During flight, Ham performed some simple tasks such as pulling levers when a light came on for a reward of banana pellets. Ham was recovered safely 1,425 miles downrange. This was a test flight before risking the lives of human beings. Now, after Ham’s successful flight, NASA was ready to launch the first Mercury astronaut, Alan Shepard, into sub-orbital flight three months later.
1960 – Milkha Singh at Lahore sets record for 200m in 20.7s.
1963 – Peacock declared as National Bird of India.
1983 – The wearing of seat belts in cars became compulsory in Britain.
1985 – Under the 52nd Constitutional Amendment, Anti-Defector Bill was passed unanimously in Lok Sabha. This avoided the Representatives of People to switch over political parties.
1985 – The final Jeep rolled off the assembly line at the AMC plant in Ohio. (Willys MB Jeeps went into production in 1941 specifically for the military, arguably making them the oldest four-wheel drive mass-production vehicles now known as SUVs).
1996 – Asia’s first Sports University inaugurated in Pune.
1997 – INS Vikrant, Indian Navy’s first aircraft carrier, de-commissioned.
2012 – China tightens its control of monasteries following deadly protests in Tibet.

2015 – New Zealand professional golfer Lydia Ko, age 17, becomes the youngest No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, beating the record set by Tiger .Woods in 1997 at age 21.

2020 United Kingdom formally withdraws from the European Union (Brexit).

Born….
1923 – Major Som Nath Sharma; was the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, the highest Indian gallantry award. He was awarded the medal posthumously for his bravery in the Kashmir operations in November 1947.
1975 – Preity Zinta, actor.
RIP….
1969 – Saint Meherbaba.
1994 – Milind Desai, 12, the youngest editor in Gujarati journalism.

2000 – KN Singh, actor.

Titbits….

1990 – 1st McDonalds in Russia opens in Moscow, world’s biggest McDonalds.

You may have known….
The oceans cover some 70 percent of Earth’s surface, yet humans have only explored about 5 percent, meaning 95 percent of the planet’s vast seas have never been seen.

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