Motto for Today: ‘If you can imagine it, you can create it.’

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

On this day, Feb.01…….

1788 – Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patented the steamboat.

1811 – The Bell Rock Lighthouse was lit for the first time. It was built by Robert Stevenson and was regarded as his finest achievement.
1820 – A U.S. patent for a cement that hardened under water was issued to Canvass White, an engineer.
1851 – The submarine, Le Plongeur-Marin was tested in Kiel Harbour, but it suffered leaks and sank 50 feet. Its builder, Sebastian Wilhelm Valentin Bauer, a German pioneer inventor of submarines, was on board. He survived by waiting for the inside air pressure, compressed as more water leaked in, to match the water pressure outside. Seven hours later, he and his crew opened the hatch and rose to the surface to find funeral services in progress. (He was not deterred by the accident, and went on to build a treadmill-powered, 52-ft iron submarine, Le Diable-Marin).
1851 – Evaporated milk was invented by Gail Borden.
1884 – 1st volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, published.
1887 – Harvey Wilcox subdivides 120 acres he owned in Southern California and starts selling it off as a real estate development (Hollywood).

1898 – 1st auto insurance policy in U.S. issued, by Travelers Insurance Co.

1902 – China’s empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman’s feet. (Foot binding was a Chinese custom to prevent further growth. The practice possibly originated among upper-class court dancers and later became a means of displaying status and a symbol of beauty in Chinese culture. Feet altered by binding were called lotus feet. If a woman’s feet were bound, it was a sign that she was a higher-class woman who did not have to do hard work. However, foot binding slowly spread to the lower classes who wanted to try and get a higher social status. By the 17th century, Chinese girls of all social statuses had their feet bound. The practice lasted until the early 20th century, when it was banned by the People’s Republic of China. It was finally made illegal by the Chinese government in the 20th century. Foot-binding resulted in lifelong disabilities for most of its subjects, and a few elderly Chinese women still survive today with disabilities related to their bound feet).
1911 – Thomas Jennings was found guilty with the first use of fingerprint evidence in the U.S. Upon appeal, the Illionis Supreme Court ruled the evidence was admissible.
1972 – The first scientific hand-held calculator was introduced for $395 by Hewlett- Packard, named the HP-35 for having 35 keys.

1984 – Ravindra Hareshwar Mhatre, an Indian diplomat in UK who was kidnapped and later murdered in Birmingham by British Kashmiri militants. The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front claimed responsibility and demanded a ransom of 1 million pounds and the release of militant prisoned in India.

1985 – Muhammad Azharuddin created a world record at Kanpur by hitting a century in each of his first three tests.
1994 – ONGC becomes a Public Limited Company.
2018 – The Indian government announces plan to give 500 million people free healthcare.
Born….

1889 – Amrit Kaur, an eminent social worker, freedom fighter and political leader. Was born a princess in the royal family of King Harman Singh of Kapoorthala. She assisted Gandhi for 18 years and was connected with World Health Organisation and Red Cross Society.
1917 – AK Hangal, actor.

1958 – Jackie Shroff, film actor.

1971 – Ajay Jadeja, cricketer.

1971 – Manoj Tiwari, actor.
RIP….
1666 – Shah Jahan Mughal emperor.
1992 – Mohan Choty, comedy film actor.
2003 – Kalpana Chawla, scientist.
2009 – Ranbir Singh Hooda, politician.
You may have known….

Saturn, an 82-year old alligator survived the Battle of Berlin when the city’s zoo was bombed. In 1946 it was given to Soviet Union as a trophy. He lived at the Moscow Zoo until 22 May 2020, when he died of old age.
{Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R) Raj Kadyan}