Today’s Motto:’If your mind has wings to fly, you will hardly need your feet’

This is Your Day-TODAY: Take a Determined Step Forward
On this day, 16 Jun….

1606 – Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru, was executed by the Mughal government after enduring five days of torture.

1657 – The first pendulum clock was patented by its inventor, Christiaan Huygens.

1884 – The first gravity-powered American roller coaster that was commercially successful was put in operation at Coney Island, New York, the invention of La Marcus Thompson.

1903 – Pepsi-Cola Co. forms. Pharmacies at the time were favourite gathering places. To increase business at his store’s soda fountain, pharmacist Caleb D. Bradham created a soft drink. In the summer of 1898, he mixed carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, oils, pepsin, and kola nut extract. Customers liked the beverage and called it Brad’s Drink. As its popularity grew, Bradham changed the name to Pepsi-Cola. The name emphasised the pepsin and kola nut extract it contained for their supposed health benefits. Pepsin, an enzyme, was thought to aid in digestion, and caffeine, an alkaloid found in kola nuts, was believed to bestow beneficial energy.

1903 – Ford Motors under Henry Ford incorporates.

1909 – 1st US airplane sold commercially.

1922 – Henry A. Berliner demonstrated the first helicopter prototype for representatives of the U.S. Bureau of Aeronautics.

1963 – Valentina Tereshkova (USSR) became 1st woman in space, aboard Vostok 6.

1990 – Bombay gets 42 cm rainfall, the century’s highest. (The previous high of 41 cm was recorded on June 18, 1986).

1993 – Harshad Mehta accuses PM of taking Rs. 1 crore payoff from him in November 1991; Rao terms it malicious and unfounded.

2010 – Bhutan enacted a Tobacco Control Act, establishing the world’s first country-wide tobacco ban.

2019 – India imposes retaliatory tariffs on 28 US goods.

2019 – Sara Netanyahu, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admits to misuse of state funds in court.

2020 – At least 20 Indian soldiers swere martyred in 1st deadly clash on the Chinese Indian border in 45 years in the Galwan Valley.

Born….

1920 – Hemant Kumar, famous singer and music director.

1950 – Mithun Chakravorty, famous Hindi film actor.

RIP….

1605 – Akbar (Abul-Fath Djalal-ud-Din), Mughal emperor of India (1556-1605), passed away of diarrhoea or dysentery at the age of 63 years. At Akbar’s graveside, stood conspicious in his simplicity, Jesuit priest Father Xavier who always remained his devoted friend. (Date could be 16 or 17).

1925 – Chittaranjan Das, Indian patriot and freedom fighter.

1997 – P. Sukumaran, Malayalam film actor.

Titbits….

1882 – 17″ hailstones weighing 1.75 lbs fall in Dubuque Iowa, USA.

1943 – Actor/comedian Charlie Chaplin (54) marries actress Oona O’Neill (18).

1989 – 4 hole-in-ones made, all on 6th hole, in the US Open.

You may have known….

Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty stricken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth.

{Compiled by Ly Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan|