Today’s Motto: ‘A person who has lost his way, normally runs faster’

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

On this day, 24 Jul….

1844 – Henry Rossiter Worthington patented the independent single direct-acting steam power pump, an invention which laid the foundation of the entire pump industry.

1847 – Richard M. Hoe of New York City patented the rotary type Printing Press on this day. He created a revolution in printing by rolling a cylinder over stationary plates of inked type and using the cylinder to make an impression on paper. This eliminated the need for making impressions directly from the type plates themselves, which were heavy and difficult to manoeuvre.

1851 – – Window tax abolished in Britain. (The window tax was a property tax based on the number of windows in a house. It was a significant social, cultural, and architectural force in England, France, Ireland and Scotland during the 18th and 19th centuries. To avoid the tax some houses from the period can be seen to have bricked-up window-spaces {ready to be glazed or reglazed at a later date}).

1932 – Ramkrishna Mission Seva Pratisthan was established for the service of the sick and humanitarian activities.

1935 – 1st greeting telegram sent in Britain.

1938 – Nescafé instant coffee was commercially introduced in Switzerland by the Nestlé company, as it assists the Brazilian government in solving its coffee surplus problem. Instant coffee is made with a blend of beans, mixed in a blending drum, roasted and ground, then brewed in huge percolators, sprayed into a heated stainless steel dryer to remove all water, and the coffee is packed as small granules.

1985 – PM Rajiv Gandhi signs peace accord with Sikh leader Harchand Singh Longowal. Called Punjab Accord, it ended the four-year old agitation in Punjab.

1989 – A majority of Opposition members in Lok Sabha resign on the issue of C & AG report on Bofors gun deal.

1997 – The same Scottish scientists who produced Dolly the cloned sheep, announced they had cloned a sheep with human genes. Polly and four other cloned lambs mark a milestone in the effort to alter the genetic make-up of animals. It is hoped that similar animals will eventually provide human drugs, milk and transplant organs as well as aiding medical research (pic credit-rainbowfun.com.au).

1997 – Country’s highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna conferred on former interim Prime Minister Gulzarilal Nanda and posthumously on freedom-fighter Aruna Asaf Ali. Nanda became interim PM twice, after the deaths of PM Nehru in May 1964 and  Lal Bahadur Shastri in Jan. 1966. He was the Home Minister earier and a simple man;  he had no house and no car of his own, when he died on  15th January 1998  (just 6 months short of  completing 100 years)..

2000 – S. Vijayalakshmi becomes the first Indian woman Grandmaster in the International Grandmasters Chess tournament held in Hyderabad.

2019 – Global warming is the fastest in 2,000 years and scientific consensus that humans are the cause is at 99%, according to three major reports published in journals “Nature” and “Nature Geoscience”.

2019 – 19-year-old Hungarian swimmer Kristóf Milák breaks Michael Phelps’ 10-year-old 200m Butterfly world record at the World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, swimming 1:50.73, 0.78s faster than Phelps (pic credit-images.yahoo.com).

2023 – Israel’s Parliament Knesset, passes a controversial- yet  pragmatic  “Reasonableness bill“, taking away the ability of the Supreme Court to declare government decisions unreasonable, as the first bill in a plan to weaken the judiciary amid large, widespread protests.

Born…. 1911 – Pannalal Ghosh, famous flute player. He was a disciple of Allauddin Khan, and is credited with popularising the flute as a concert instrument in Hindustani classical music and also the “Pioneer of Indian Classical Flute”.  Born in  Barisal,  (now in Bangladesh), he innovated Indian vocal music and  composed Ragas like Darbari, Puriya, Bohag  etc. and invented 42″ brass Flute with just 4 holes and later a 7-hole flute. He composede music for some films like Sneh Bandhan (1940)  and Andhiyan in 1952,  played  with veterans like  Ali Akbar Khan and Pt. Ravi Shanker.

933 – John Aniston, Greek-American actor known for roles in Days of Our lives, Search for Tomorrow, Journeyman etc. He won 3 awards including  Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement award in 2022.

1937 -Manoj Kumar. Iconic Bharat Kumar of Indian cinema. was an actor, writer, director, producer,   born as Harikrishan Giri Goswami in Abottabad (now in  Pakistan) acted in popular and successful films like  Shaheed,  Upkaar, Purab Aur Paschim, Do Badan, Hariyali Aur Raasta, Himalaya Ki Gode Mein, Fashion, Chand, Kaanch Ki Gudiya, Piya Milan Ki Ass,  Voh Kaun Thi, Pehchaan etc. He also joined BJP in 2004, He has was honoured with Padma Shri,   2 National Films awards, 8 Filmfares  including Lifetime Achievement and Dadasaheb Phalke award in 2015. He  died on April 4 last year due to heart problems.

1945 -Azim Premji, a legendary Indian budsinessan, industrialist and Chairman of Wipro Ltd., an IT and consumer products company. He has been among top Asian businessmen and a great philanthropist. His worth is  over $4.5 billion.

1990 – Daveigh Elizabeth Chase, American actress,  who starred in The Ring, ‘Lilo And Stitch, Big Love with famous roles as Samanta Darco, a cult film.  She was nominated in 6  International fiolm awards and won 3 like Young Artist award, and as a villain

You may have known…. Rural India is home to the bulk of the Indian population; nearly 70% of the country’s population lives in rural areas.  Majority of India’s population resides in rural areas, with about 72.2% living in villages (ploughing their agri’ farms  with a pair of Bullocks or tractors), while the remaining 27.8% live in towns and urban agglomerations. Specifically, the rural population inhabits roughly 638,000 villages, and the urban population resides in 5,480 (approximately)  towns and urban areas. With about 72.2% living in villages, while the remaining 27.8% live in towns and urban agglomerations. Specifically, the rural population inhabits roughly 638,000 villages, and the urban population resides in approximately 5,480 towns and urban areas.                                                                                                                                        {compiled by Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}