Today’s Motto: ‘Every person who learns to love, must also risk hatred’

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

On this day, 22 Oct….

1764 – Battle of Buxar (Buxar is a “small fortified town” located on the bank of the Ganges river. It was fought between the forces under the command of the British East India Company and the combined army of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal, the Nawab of Awadh and the Mughal King Shah Alam II. British victory was a decisive victory for the East India Company).

1797 – André-Jacques Garnerin makes the first parachute descent from a balloon, Paris. (He was a balloonist and the inventor of the frameless parachute. The first successful parachute jump was made from a balloon 2,230 ft. He rode in a gondola fixed to the lines of a 23-ft diameter parachute, which was supported by a wooden pole and had its 32 white canvas gores folded like a closed umbrella. Lacking any vent in the top of the parachute, Garnerin descended with violent oscillations, and suffered the first case of airsickness. For his next jump, he added a hole in the top of the parachute. He made his fifth jump on 21 Sep 1802 over London, from a height of 3,000 ft. This was the first parachute descent made in England. He eliminated the centre vent for this jump; he again suffered a fit of vomiting).

1879 – Thomas Edison perfects carbonised cotton filament light bulb.

1897 – World’s first car dealer opens in London. (The year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the modern car. In that year, German inventor Karl Benz built the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. One of the first cars that was accessible to the masses was the 1908 Model T, an American car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company.

1938 – Chester Carlson demonstrates first Xerox copying machine. (Carlson used a sulphur coating on a zinc plate, vigorously rubbed with a handkerchief to apply an electrostatic charge. A glass slide was prepared using India ink to write “10-22-38 ASTORIA,” then laid on the sulphur surface in a darkened room. After illuminating it with a bright incandescent lamp for a few seconds, the slide was removed. When lycopodium powder was sprinkled on the sulphur surface and blown off, there remained a near-perfect image of the writing. Permanent copies were made by transferring the powder images to wax paper and heating the sheets to melt the wax. Xerox is a term coming from “xerography,” which means dry writing, and is a trademark).

1947 – There were bound to be difficulties in consolidating the loosely federated Indian provinces, princely states, etc. into one homogeneous whole state. It was completed with astute pragmatism  of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, who convinced over 600 states to  forgive their status and join  Greater  India  (Bharatvarsh). The kingdom of  Jammu & Kashmir, after initial dithering, acceded to India voluntarily and by popular consent. Pakistani tribesmen with the support of  Pakistani army units invaded Kashmir.

1963 – Bakhra-Nangal Dam, a multipurpose river valley project, was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Sir Chhotu Ram was the main person who conceptualised the project and worked with the Raja of Bilaspur, the town was completely relocated  to pave way for Govind Sagar  lake coming up there. Statrted in 1955, it was completed in 1963 after some hiccups on funding.

1983 – The Union government reduces the upper age limit for the Civil Services Examination from 28 years to 26 years.

2008 – India launches its first unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-1.  Lanched by ISRO on Oct. 22, 2008 it orbitted  around the Moon at distances 100-200 km, until Agust 2009. It had  instruments from India, USA, UK, Germany, Sweden  and Bugaria, conducting research on lunar surface and movements.

Born…. 1873 – Swami Ram Tirath, great social reformer and poet. Born in urliwala village in Gujranwala distt. (now Pakistan). He was a teacher of Hindu philosophy, Krishna life and Advait Vedanta,  left his wife and studied spiritualism  in the Himalayas. also travelled to Japan, China,  America and Europe to spread his message of humanity.

1931 – Brigadier Bhawani Singh of Jaipur, a shooting legend,  Maharaja Swai Bhawani Singh in 1971 Indo-Pak war for liberation of Bangladesh, was honored with Mahavir Chakra,  later became an entrepreneur and   politician.  His daughter Diya Kumari is  currently a Minister in Rajasthan Govt. (pic credit-Shruti Dixit, HeyZindagi).

1937 – Kader Khan, noted Bollywood, scriptwriter. comedy actor,  producer. Born in Afghanistan, he taight civil engineerig in Mumbai before  joning fillm industry,  and  acted in about 300 films like Daag, Undertrial, Deshdrohi, Tevar, Ungli, Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge etc. He was honored with Padam Shri, 3 Filmfare and several other awards. He died in Missisuaga, Canada  while gettig treatment for breathlessness (pic credit-IMDb.com).

1988 – Parineeti Chopra, Bollywood actor. Sister of popular heroine Priyanka Chopra. Has acted in Unchaai, Ishqzade, Tiranga, Saina, Mission Raniganj etc. She married AAP Rajya Sabha Member Raghav Chadha  in 2023.  Has won 1 Filmfare, Zee Cine, IIFA and several other awards.

RIP....1933 – Vithalbhai Patel, great freedom fighter, social worker, lawyer, politician, President of Central  Legislative  Assembly in 1924 and later became its President. He was the elder  brother  of Sadar Patel.

1998 –  Ajit alias Hamid Ali Khan, veteran Hindi film actor. Coming from Pashtoon ancestors in Kandhaar,  Kabul and  sttled in Hyderabad, his father was a driver of  Nizam Mir Osman Ali.   Known for many supporting actor or villain  roles in films like Naya Daur, Awara, Badal,  Beqasoor,  Zanjeer, Sharif Badmash, Nastik, Razia Sultan, Mangal Pandey, Kallicharan, Yaadon Ki Baraat, Tower House, Shikari, Kabli Khan etc.

You may have known…. 1.  India’s National Family Health Survey-5 reported that 6.8% of women aged 15-19 years were pregnant or had already given birth during the 2019-2021 survey period. More recently, official government data indicates fluctuations in reported cases, with the number of reported pregnancies decreasing from 13,198 in 2022-23 to 8,631 in 2023-24. (Globally, approximately 11 % of all births are to teenage mothers.                                               

2.   This idiom ‘with flying colours’ dates back to the Age of Exploration, the period when European explorers first set off across the seas. If a captain had been successful in his venture, he would order the crew to fly their country’s flag (or “colors”) to announce their victory before arriving back at the home port. Originally, the phrase “with flying colors” simply meant that a mission had been completed without disaster, but over the centuries the idiom came to signify great success (pic credit-storage.googleapis.com).                                                                                                                                                                                            {Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}