Motto for Today: ‘The only way round is through.’

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

On this day, Feb.02……

1046 – The weather turns especially cold throughout Europe. Monks note in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that “no man alive…could remember so severe a winter.” It is the first known record of the beginning of the 200 year period of exceptional cold, known as the “Little Ice Age.”

1795 – A prize of 12,000 francs was offered by the French government for a method of preserving food and transporting it to its armies. The winner was Nicholas Appert, a French chef who invented a way to can food.

1880 – The steamship SS Strathleven arrived in London with first successful shipment of frozen mutton from Australia.

1892 – The bottle cap with cork seal was patented by William Painter, Baltimore U.S. This represented a major saving for the bottlers. (The cap was used until the 1970s, when cork in soft drink and beer bottle caps was considered unhealthy, so, manufacturers switched to cans and plastic, instead. Currently, caps used on bottles use plastic cap “liners”, instead of cork).

1931 – 1st use of a rocket to deliver mail, Austria.

1935 – The detective Leonard Keeler conducted the first use of his invention, the Keeler polygraph, or lie detector machine. Those examined were two criminals Cecil Loniello and Tony Grignano, who were convicted of assault at their trial where the results were introduced as evidence.

1947 – Beginning of polaroid photography. Edwin H. Land gave the first demonstration of his invention of instant photography.

1962 – Eight of the nine planets lined up for the first time in 400 years.

1965 – Government sanction was accorded to the Officers Training School for the start of Short Service Regular Commission.

1967 – US President Johnson orders consignment of 2 million tons of food grains under PL-480, to be sent to India.

1978 – The Indian National Congress (I) recognized as a national party and allotted the election symbol ‘hand’ (palm).

1982 – Geet Sethi becomes the youngest Indian to win the National Billiards’ crown at Madras.

Born….

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

1915 – Khushwant Singh, novelist, lawyer, journalist and politician. Known for humour, sarcasm and an abiding love of poetry. He was decorated with the Padma Bhushan in 1974. But he returned the award in 1984 in protest against Operation Blue Star. In 2007 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.

2022 – More than one million Afghans have fled the country for Iran since October due to the country’s economic crisis, according to immigration authorities threatening a new migrant crisis.

Titbits….

1852 – 1st British public men’s toilet opens (Fleet St. London).

You may have known….

A person is more likely to die from a giant meteorite hitting the earth than a small meteorite hitting just him.

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