Today’s Motto: ‘Being valuable is far better than being merely good’

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

On this day, 29 Dec….

1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II (pic credit-britannica.com).

1530 – Mughal emperor Babur’s son Humayun succeeded him.

1885 – A group of middle-class intellectuals in India, some of them British, found the Indian National Congress to be a voice of Indian opinion to the British government. This was the origin of the later Congress Party which was founded in Bombay.

1930 – Muhammad Iqbal delivered his presidential address in Allahabad, articulating the vision for a separate Muslim state, introducing the two-nation theory.

1939 – William Shockley wrote in his laboratory notebook: “It has today occurred to me that an amplifier using semiconductors rather than vacuum is in principle possible. He went on to develop the transistor, for which he shared (with John Bardeen and Walter Brattain) the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1959 – Durgapur Iron & Steel  Plant inaugurated.

1965 – First Indian-made tank ‘Vijayanta’ rolled off the Avadi Heavy Vehicles factory.

1997 – Sonia Gandhi stepped into active politics. Though had been controlling the Party from behind after the death of her husband PM Rajiv Gandhi in  May  1991.

Born…. 1900 – Dinanath Mangeshkar, singer and legendary music teacher,  singer. Father of  evergreen singers Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Usha  Mangeshkar and Hridayanath Mangeshkar (pic credit-starsunfolded.com).

1917 – Ramanand Sagar, renowned film director and producer, famous for the Ramayan series.  He was also  film producer and director,  of films like Ankhen, Geet, Charas, Arzoo,  Lalkar, Zindgi  and  religious TV serials on   epics  Ramayan (1987-88), Shri Krishna  (1993-97), Luv Kush  and Sai Baba etc. He was awarded Padma Shri and Filmfare award 3 times apart from several  other accolades.

1942 – Rajesh Khanna, one of  the most popular and successful Heroes  of  Bollywood. His real name was Jatin Khanna. He ruled the hearts of cine lovers for almost a decade and a half, on the strength of his romantic style, natural acting, and successful films, Hindi cinema got the first such superstar, whose magic spoke loudly to the fans.  Rajesh Khanna was also a film producer and politician.  He ruled Bollywood for over two decades with about 180 films,  some very successful  like Aaradhana, Kati Patang,  Haathi Mere Saathi, Do Raaste, Aan Milo Sajna, Khamoshi, Ghar Pariwar, Swarg, Amar Prem, Saautan,  Avataar, Namak Haram, Baawerchee etc. He won about 5 Filmfare awards, BFJA award 4 times, and Lifetime Achievement award in 2005. He was also Lok Sabha MP from New Delhi for a term from Congress party.

1974 – Twinkle Khanna, Bollywood actor, daughter of Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia. Acted in about 22 moves like Joru Ka Ghulam, Chal Chal Mere Bhai etc. She’s married to popular actor Akshay Kumar.

RIP…. 1938 – Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, famous litterateur, writer, poet and editor.  He  is believed to initiate  Aadhunik kaal, or the Modern period of the Hindi literature, as it’s divided into four phases, and he represents the second phase, known as the Dwivedi Yug after him.  It  was preceded by the Bharatendu Yug, followed by the Chhayavad Yug and the Contemporary Period of literature.

2020 – Pierre Cardin. famous Italy born French fashion designer who is known for Avent-Garde and Space age designs. Stylish luxurious Pens and other stationery novelties. (pic credit-japantimes.co. jp)

You may have known…. India’s fleet is growing towards becoming a maritime power, with around 1,500 vessels and ambitious plans for domestic shipbuilding, while China maintains a significantly larger, leading global fleet (over 8,000 ships by some counts).

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