Today’s Motto: ‘A wise man could sit on an ant-hill but only a fool will stay there’

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

On this day, 08 Jul….

1497 – Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama departs on his first voyage – becomes first European to reach India by sea.

1862 – American inventor Theodore R. Timby patented the revolving gun turret.

1881 – Ice Cream ‘Sundae’  was accidentally discovered. The name became “sundae”, after the day – Sunday – on which the drug store owner Berner first served it.

1994 – Kim Il-Sung, the communist dictator of North Korea since 1948, dies of a heart attack at the age of 82. On the death of his father, Kim Jong-il became the Supreme Leader of North Korea. He ruled the country till 2011 when his son, Kim Jong-un took his place and is the current ruler.

1996 – U.N. says India is leading in HIV infections.

1997 – 33 persons killed and 67 injured as blast rips through part of Ambala-bound train at Lehra Khanna station in Bhatinda district, Punjab.

2013 – A dozen people are killed and injured after a hotel collapses in Hyderabad.

2021 – A tiny Leonardo da Vinci sketch “Head of a Bear,” the size of a Post-it, sells for £8.9 million at auction in London (pic credit-ca.pinterest.com).

2022 – Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated. He was the longest serving PM of Japan from  2006-07 and 2012-2020.  In 2022 a  terrorist killed him in political violence, while campaigning for his  LDP party.

Born…. 1914 – Jyoti Basu,  prominent  West Bengal   Communist Party politician, who  later broke away into CPI (Marxist), and ruled over the state for over 23 years (1977-2000).  He was earlier Dy. CM for a term. He had a chance to be the Prime Minister of India in 1996 when no political party had clear majority in the Lok Sabha, but his party chief HK Surjeet advised otherwise and lost an opportunity (for Communist rule in India). HD Devegowda of Janata Dal  became the PM instead for about one year. Basu was honoured in Soviet Union and  with Mother Teressa award, Doctorate by Calcutta University and others citations.

1958 – Neetu Singh, veteran romantic actor. Known for films Sooraj, Do Kaliyan, Das Lakh,  Rickshawala, Yadon Ki Baraat, Deevar, Kabhi Kabhi etc. She married Rishi Kapoor a successful hero of those days, the yougest son of Raj Kapoor. She won Filmfare, Screen, Star Dus and Zee Cine award one each.

1966 – Revathi (Asha Keluni),  popular Tamil, Malyalam and Hindi film  actor/director. She acted in over 100 films like Mauna Ragam. Azhagu, Salaam Venky, Kllukam, Punnagal Mannan etc.  She won 3 National and 6 Filmfare awards.

1972 – Sourav Chandidas Ganguly,  aggressive  Indian left hand opening  batsman, also called Maharaja of Indian Cricket.  One of the most successful  Captains and former BCCI President  (2019-22).  He won the ICC Champions Trophy in 1999 (scoring 183 individual runs, a record)  and reached finals in 2000 and 2004. He scored  centuries in 1st two Tests  of1996. He scored 11,363 ODI runs and  7,212 Test  runs with 16 centuries and 35 Half-centuries  (239 was his top Test score). Ganguly also took 32 wickets with 3/28 as his best with ball.  He was Player of the Match in ODIs 4 times continuously in 1997, which is a record. He appeared in Wisden Almanac of Cricket in 2002. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2004. Due to differences with new coach Greg Chappell in 2006 and having been dropped, he quit  all formats in 2008. (In a daring  shirtless display at Lords after winning ICC  2002 NatWest Trophy, beating England at Lords on July 13, 2002, also  chasing 325 runs  in ODIs.  It was just on the spot  act by  Indian captain , in a snub to  England  player Andrew Flintoff’s  earlier display in Mumbai: pic credit-cnn.cricindia.com).

RIP: –-1990 – Pu Laldenga. Founder of Mizo National Party who became first Chief Minister of Mizoram on February 20, 1987.  The region  has a history of about 3,000 years of  ethnic tribal  chieftains controlling  the area.  Aizawl is the state capital and the state has over 722 km border areas with Bangladesh and Myanmar.

You may have known…. India is the only country other than US and Japan, to have built a super computer indigenously.   It was  name Param 8000 and  completed by Vijay Bhatkar (Father of Indian Spercomputers), under program C-DAC.   At present  the  AIRAWAT  Super Computer is the fastest supercomputer in India, having been ranked 136th fastest in the world  and  among the TOP500 Super Computers.

India is the only country other than US and Japan, to have built a super computer indigenously.

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