Today’s Motto: ‘A thoughtless decision taken in a hurry, can ruin the rest of our life’

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

On this day, 20 Oct….
National Solidarity Day!

1568 – Akbar attacks Chittorgarh,  the capital  of  Mewar.  Chittorgah Fort built by  Chittrangda Mori in the  8th century, was attacked by  Chitrangda Mori ruler. It has a long history of  Rana Kumbha, Rana Sanga,  Maharana Pratap,  Rana Udai Singh as a child  saved by  Panna Dhai , 8 month  seize by Alludin  Khilji’s army,  Rani Padmini committing Sati to save her honour  and later prince  Amar Singh serving as Akbar’s Commander and for sometime Sisodia clan also ruling the  Riyasat.

1774 – Kolkata (then Calcutta) became the capital of India. New Regulating Act was introduced which abolished the East India Company Government and a new Government was formed.

1822 – First edition of the  Sunday Times  is published.

1876 – Alfred Johnson made the first solo Atlantic crossing.

1906 – Dr. Lee DeForest, one of the “fathers of Radio,” announced his three-element electrical vacuum tube, now known as  Triode (pic credit-alchetron.com).

1935 – Communist forces end their “Long March” at Yan’an, in Shaanxi, China bringing Mao Zedong to prominence.

1962 – China launched a major offensive, marking the start of the China-Indian War. (There had been a series of violent border incidents after the 1959 Tibetan uprising, when India had granted asylum to the Dalai Lama. Unable to reach political compromise  on the disputed territory along the 3,225-kilometre-long Himalayan border, the Chinese launched simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line on 20 October 1962).

1983 – the fifth legal definition of the Metre was the distance that light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. The length of the metre was redefined at the 17th meeting of the international body Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures (GCPM) by a method to give greater accuracy. Earlier definitions included the distance between marks on the international prototype metre bar made of platinum-iridium alloy. Before that, it was decided that it should be one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the equator (1 Aug 1793), and the earliest concept was the length of a pendulum with a half-period of one second (8 May 1790).

1991 – More than 1000 people died in a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Uttarkashi, India.

1999 – The Centre accepts the recommendations of the Backward Classes Commission on the inclusion of Jats and other backward classes (OBCs) in Rajasthan except Bharatpur and Dholpur districts.

Born…. 1957 – Kumar Sanu, (born as Kedarnath Bhattacharya in Calcutta), is known professionally as Kumar Sanu, is an Indian playback singer. He has primarily worked in Hindi cinema during the 1990s.  He has a Guinness  World Record of Recording 28 songs in 24 hours with different  musicians. He has been awarded Padma Shri in 2010, 5 Filmfare awards and 9 nominations for Aashuiqui, Saajan, Deewana, Baazigar, 1942 -A Love Story, Pardesh, Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai, Ham Dil De Chuke Sanam, Andaaz etc.

1963 – Navjot Singh Sidhu, Patiala  born powerful and  prolific  Indian opening batsman. Played 51 Tests and 136 ODIs and  other formats. Has 9 Test centuries and 6 in ODIs. Also a  TV  show  co-host with  Kapil Sharma and politician.  Sidhu has worked with  Congress, BJP,  AAP and then Congress but is now retired. Also won Amritsar Lok Sabha seat apart from being a minister in Punjab and PCC president for a while. He also has a road-raze case of  killng a  person in traffic-brawl.

1978 –  Virender Sehwag, another one of India’s most prolific and popular opening batsman.  He’s the first Indian batsman to  score a triple century in Test cricket, on March 29, 2004 against Pakistan in Multan. He is called Sultan of Multan. He played 104 Tests,  251 ODIs, 19 T20s  and 104 IPL  matches with an average of 49.34 and a strike rate of 82.. Scored 8,886 in Tests and 8,273 runs in ODIs. He has 2 triple centuries and 40 first class centuries to his credit. Has been awarded Padam Shri, Arjuna award, appeared as Cricketer of The Year in Wisden Book of Records twice and ICC Test Player of the Year in 2010. He opened the Virender Sehwag Cricket Academy for coaching youngsters of 6-18 years, in Jhajjar (Haryana) after retirement.   (pic credit-zeenews.com).

1979 – Nargis Fakhri. US born romantic Bollywood actress, known for roles in  Rockstar, Madras Cafe, Spy, Azhar,  Mein Tera Hero etc.Has won about 9 awards  including Filmfare Glamour award and a nomination as Best Female Debutant, Zee Cine Stardust  and  American awards.

RIP…. 1956 – Lawrence Dale Bell, American aircraft designer and aircraft manufacturer, founder of Bell Aircraft Co, whose experimental X-1 rocket-propelled airplane in 1947 was the first to break the sound barrier in level flight.                           

2011 – The former leader of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, and his son Moatassem Gaddafi were killed shortly after the battle of Sirte while in the custody of NTC fighters. (Gaddafi was found hiding in a culvert west of Sirte and captured by National Transitional Council forces. He was killed shortly afterwards. The NTC initially claimed he died from injuries sustained in a firefight when loyalist forces attempted to free him, although videos of his last moments show rebel fighters beating him before he was shot several times).         

 Tidbits…..  1847 – Little William Nelman poisons his grandpa. William, age 12, tended to be dishonest and often angered his grandfather. On one occasion, his grandfather hit William so hard that he fell and knocked his head. Determined to have revenge, William stole arsenic {used to kill rats} and put it in the sugar bowl, which his grandfather used liberally due to a sweet tooth. Even though William had ample opportunity over the next few days to reconsider this act and get rid of the arsenic, he did not, and Samuel died about a week later. This case was famous not only because it was shocking, but because the defence argued that William suffered from moral insanity — that is, the part of his mind that knew what he was doing was not connecting to the part that knew murder to be wrong. The judge in this case attributed William’s crime to “indulging habitually in a moody, resentful disposition” rather than true insanity. The jury found William guilty.

You may have known…. 1.  The human eye is a biological wonder. The orbicularis oculi boasts an impressive biological accolade — out of all 650 or so muscles in the human body, it’s the fastest one. This muscle can contract, or blink, in as little as 0.1 second. Although blinking is incredibly quick, the average person will blink up to 19,200 times per day — which takes up about 10% of a person’s waking hours.

2.  In Hindu faith and ritual, the ceremony of shaving the head, called a ‘mundan’, is believed to rid the baby of negativity from their past life and cleanse the child’s body and soul.   Some Hindus in India take the baby’s hair to scatter in the holy river Ganges, while some Muslims weigh it and donate the equivalent weight in silver to charity.                     {Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}