Today’s Motto: ‘For a good leader, every possibility is a probability’

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

On this day, 19 Dec….

1863 -Linoleum was developed by Frederick Walton of England.  The name linoleum is formed from two Latin words for linen and oil (pic credit-Wikipedia).

1910 – Rayon was first commercially produced. At the time, it was known by the name of artificial silk or a similar name. It was not until 1924 that the term rayon was adopted.

1927 – Freedom fighters Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, and Thakur Roshan Singh were executed by the British for their role in the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA)  activities and the Kakori Train Robbery. Their sacrifice infuriated lakhs  of Indian  leaders and youth like Bhagat Singh to join  HRA and take revenge on the British rulers.

1950 – Rose Marie Reid of Los Angeles, California, received a U.S. patent for a one-piece bathing suit “embodying a novel construction for causing it to snugly fit the body of a wearer in a flattering manner,” using elastic fabric.

1952 – Nehru announces the Government’s decision for establishing an Andhra State, constituting Telugu speaking areas of the State of Madras, excluding the city. Andhra has been  split into 2 states Andhra and  Telangana in June 2014, following long agitations by TRS leader KC Rao and others.

1958 – The first known radio broadcast from outer space was transmitted.

1961- Indian Armed Forces concluded ‘Operation Vijay‘, ending 450 years of Portuguese colonial rule in Goa, Daman & Diu.

1978 – The Lok Sabha expels Indira Gandhi from the House and sentences her to imprisonment for a term lasting its prorogation. She was released from jail on December 26.

1995 – Unidentified aircraft drops a heap of sophisticated arms and ammunition, including AK-47 rifles, rocket launchers and anti-tank grenades in Purulia district in West Bengal. These were dropped by a Danish national working for Ananda Marg   outfit for terror acts and creating instability. ( pic credit-thequint.com).

2000 – The Government suffers an embarrassing defeat with the Rajya Sabha adopting a motion recording its “disagreement” with the Prime Minister for defending three of his Cabinet colleagues charged in the Babri Masjid demolition case”.

2008 – Chanda Kochhar is named as the successor of K. V. Kamath to the post of CEO and Managing Director of ICICI Bank.  She was later charged with favouring  her husband’s firms  indirectly, by sanctioning (bad) loans to a Ruia group company and was removed (pic credit-livelaw.in).

2008 – The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired, in a vertical-launch configuration for the first time from a ship.

2023 – 141 Indian opposition MPs are suspended for protesting a security breach, when two intruders sprayed glass inside Parliament.

Born…. 1934 – Ms Pratibha Patil,  former President of India between 2007-12. She was an educationist, lawyer,  politician, Member of Lok Sabha,  Rajya Sabha  and former Governor of Rajasthan.

1969 – Nayan Ramlal Mongia, cricketer and coach. (Test batsman-wicketkeeper). He played for India 44 Tests and 140 ODIs  between 1990 and 2001. He waas accused of joining Match-fixing group alongwith former captain Mohd. Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja in 2000. 

1975 – Mahi Gill,  Chandigarh born model and Bollywood actor.  Mahi  has acted in Dev.D, Saheb Biwi aur Gangster, Paan Singh Tomar, Posham Paa, Carry On Jatta, Shareek etc.  She has won Film Critics award on debut  and IIFA award for her roles.

RIP…. 1915 – Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist who recognised the disease named after him.

1994 – K. A. P. Vishwanathan, famous Tamil author, scholar, businessman and politician. He wrote Tamil literature and helped set up a  Tamil  University in Thanjavur. He practised  Siddha medicine and did tobacco business. Later he became General Secretary of Justice Party and  joined anti-Hindi agitations. After he developed differences with Periyar EVS Ramaswamy, he left it leaving  CN Annadurai to take over.

You may have known….  India has 7,414 towed artillery guns against China’s 6,246.  India’s 

larger number is because of India’s focus on diverse terrains with traditional artillery. China possesses significant  modern self-propelled systems, with both nations modernizing their arsenals. 

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