Motto for Today: ‘Always do what you are afraid to do.’

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

On this day, Oct. 28…….

1793 – Eli Whitney applied for a patent for his cotton gin, which was granted the following March. Southern planters of the time desperately needed to make cotton-growing profitable, especially since tobacco-growing was in decline due to over-supply and soil exhaustion. Long-staple cotton, which was easy to separate from its seeds, could be grown only along the coast. The one variety that grew inland had sticky green seeds that were time-consuming to pick out of the fluffy white cotton balls. Whitney solved this problem, and reinvigorated cotton planting throughout the South.

1886 – The monument of Liberty Enlightening the World, popularly called the Statue of Liberty, was unveiled in New York Harbour. It was dedicated by confetti (the first ticker tape parade) in the New York Harbour by President Cleveland in the presence of its sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. It was a gift from the people of France to commemorate the 100th anniversary of American independence. In 1876, a preview of the statue, the right hand and torch, was exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The statue was assembled on Liberty Island (formerly Bedloe Island), 151-ft tall on a 155-ft high granite pedestal. Its copper skin is supported by a massive internal iron pylon and secondary skeletal framework.

1928- Freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai injured leading silent protest against visiting British commission in Lahore (dies of injuries 17th November).

1947 – Sheikh Mohammad Abdulla invited to form an interim government in J&K.

1962 – US pledges to rush arms to India.

997 – Gold import in India placed under Open General License.

2015 – World Health Organization ranks Tuberculosis alongside HIV as world’s deadliest infectious diseases, killing 1.2 million (2014).

2021 – Mark Zuckerberg announces Facebook will change its corporate name to Meta amid increased public scrutiny over leaked internal documents.

Born….

1867 – Bhagini (Sister) Nivedita, born Margaret Elizabeth Noble; was a Scots-Irish social worker, author, teacher and a disciple of Swami Vivekananda.

1930 – Anjaan, lyricist.

1955 – Indra Nooyi, businessperson. Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, who is frequently ranked among the most powerful women in the world.

1955 – William Henry “Bill” Gates III is an American businessman who dropped out of Harvard University, yet co-founded Microsoft, a computer software company whose business practices were at times ruled to be anti-competitive in several court battles.

RIP….

1627 – Jahangir, Mughal emperor. Weak from asthma and no food, died at Bhimghar near Kashmir. He was buried at Shahdara (Lahore) on the banks of the Ravi.

1997 – Dr. V. Doreswamy Iyengar, Veena maestro, household name among Carnatic music lovers

You may have known….

It cost the soft drink industry $100 million a year for thefts committed involving vending machines.

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