Today’s Motto: ‘Good leaders are always great simplifiers’

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

On this day,  Aug.  12…….

1851 – Isaac M. Singer of New York City was granted a patent for the first sewing machine with a rocking treadle.

1865 – Dr. Joseph Lister became the first surgeon perform an antiseptic operation by liberal use of carbolic acid (phenol) as a disinfectant.

1877 – Thomas Edison invents Edisonphone, a sound recording device.

1888 – Bertha Benz, wife of inventor Karl Benz, made the first motor tour. Without her husband’s knowledge, she borrowed one of his cars and with their teenage sons travelled 180 km to visit relatives for 5 days.

1908 – Henry Ford’s company builds the first Model T car.

1927 – “Wings”, the only silent film to win an Oscar for best picture, opens. Outstanding Picture 1929. (pic credit-Variety).

1946 – Viceroy announces invitation to Congress to form provisional Government.

1981 – IBM introduced the PC personal computer for $1,600 base price. It shortly eliminated most other machines suitable for home or small business. The PC was developed in less than a year at IBM’s Florida facility by using existing off-the-shelf components. The IBM-PC established the dominance of the Microsoft operating system.

1996 – Supreme Court stays further proceedings against Narasimha Rao in Chandraswami-Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case.

2021 – US Census reveal country grown more diverse, growth in Hispanic (+23%) and Asian (+36%) populations, 1st ever decline in white population (-2.6%).

Born….

1817 – Henry David Thoreau. US author, naturalist, poet and philosopher. Promoted idea of Civil Disobedience in America. Wrote Life Without Discipline, Walking, Weldon and Solitude etc.

1919 – Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, called  father of Indian space technology and scientist. He was a physicist, astronomer who intiated nuclear reserch in India and established BARC Tombay. Was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1966. (pic credit-Master Control Facvility)

1952 – Sitaram Yechuri,  Communist Party politician and former MP Rajya Sabha. Prsently General Secretary of CPI(M).

1983 – Munaf Patel. West Zone and Indian team member of 2011 team that won Cricket World Cup.

RIP….

30 BC – Cleopatra, the last ruler of the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty.  Famous in history and drama as the lover of Julius Caesar. Commits suicide allegedly by inducing an asp (Egyptian cobra) to  bite her (pic credit-National Geographic).

1997 – Gulshan Kumar. Who revolutionised music industry by starting T-Series (Super Cassetts Industries Ltd.)  in 1983. Also produced films like DilHai ki Maanta Nahin, Bewafa Sanam,  etc. He was assasinated by his business rivals in 1997.

You may have known….

Cow Trampling Ritual – Govardhan Puja, Madhya Pradesh: Cows are sacred to the Hindus. This devotion is taken to a whole new level at Bhiwdawad village, in Maharashtra. The Govardhan festival is celebrated on the occasion of Enadakshi, a day after Diwali. Villagers decorate their cattle with flowers, colours and henna, and lay down on the ground letting allowing cows to trample over them! This ritual takes place after a five day fast. The whole village fathers to witness this spectacle, which they believe will move the gods into answering their prayers.                                                                                                                                (Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R) Raj Kadyan}