Motto for Today: ‘Treat past just as a lesson, and not a life sentence. Don’t live in it.’

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

On this day, May.23……..

1785 – A letter from Benjamin Franklin referred to his bifocal glasses. Writing from France to George Whatley, a friend, Franklin described his “double glasses” solution to needing two pairs of glasses of different focussing power to see objects far or near He wrote, “I had the glasses cut and half of each kind associated in the same circle….” Franklin thus invented the split-lens glasses, and was well-known for wearing and popularizing them

1825 – The electromagnet in a practical form was first exhibited by its inventor, William Sturgeon.

1829 – Accordion patent granted to Cyrill Demian in Vienna, Austrian Empire.

1903 – The European capital cities of Paris and Rome were linked by telephone for the first time.

1905 – Thomas A. Edison was issued a patent for a “Process of Duplicating Phonographic Records”. (On the same day of 23 May he was also issued patents for – “Device for Feeding Pulverulent Material”{1911}; “Phonograph or Talking Machine” {1916}; and “Production of Thin Metal Sheets or Foils” {1922}).

1933 – Gertrude Ederle and C. Kelsey were granted a patent for a “paddle-driven swimming device”.

1940 – R.V. Jones, a scientist with air intelligence, tells the government that intersecting radio beams could guide Luftwaffe bombers to their targets.

1947 – The U.K. Cabinet took the historic step of agreeing to Lord Mountbatten’s proposal for the partition of India into two states, one Muslim and the other Hindu.

1962 – A 12-year-old boy’s severed arm was re-attached in the world’s first successful replantation of a human limb with the microvascular repair of vessels by a team of surgeons led by Drs. Ronald A. Malt and J. McKhann at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. The arm had been severed three inches below the shoulder by the wheels of a train.

2015 – Myanmar President Thein Sein implements a population control law requiring women to wait three years between children; critics believe the law can be used to oppress women as well as minority religion and ethnic populations in the country.

2016 – Chinese archaeologists announce findings of earliest use of barley in China to make beer, Shaanxi province 3400-2900 BC.

2019 – The Bhartiya Janata Party wins re-election in a landslide over the opposition Congress Party, world’s largest-ever democratic election with over 600 million voters.

2019 – Prototype of new high-speed train that will float above the track, capable of travelling 600km an hour (370 mph), unveiled by Chinese Railway Rolling Stock Corporation in Qingdao.

2022 – New York City removes its last public payphones in Midtown Manhattan, they will become part of a museum display.

2022 – US President Joe Biden says for the first time he would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion.

2022 – US President Joe Biden with countries including India, South Korea and Japan, launches the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in Tokyo, an economic alliance of Asia-Pacific nations to counter Chinese influence.

Born….

1906 – General Pran Nath Thapar, former Chief of Indian Army.

1919 – Gayatri Devi, English-Indian wife of Raja Sawai Man Singh II. Renowned for her “unparalleled beauty”, Gayatri Devi’s life combines the glamour, adventure, and tryst of royal living. (image credit-ThisDay app)

1965 – Woorkeri Venkat Raman, cricketer, Indian slow left-arm all-rounder (image credit-ESPNCricinfo)

RIP….

1975 – Lt Gen P. S. Bhagat, VC, PVSM, an ENGINEERS officer of the Indian Army and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy. The Victoria Cross was conferred on him for his actions in the Sudan theatre during World War II. After retirement he was appointed Chairman of the Damodar Valley Corporation. (image credit-Hillvoice.in)

You may have known….

Bacon was used to make explosives during World War II.

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