Today’s Motto: ‘If you want to judge the true character of a man, give him power’

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

On this day, 11 Dec….

1769 – Venetian blinds were patented in London by Edward Bevan.

1858 – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Jadunath Bose became the first  two  graduates of arts from the University of Calcutta. BC Chattopadhyay (popularly known as Bankim Chatterjee),  was a revolutionay writer poet, philosopher, who wrote the National  Anthem song Vande Matram and  famous novel Anandmath in Sanskitised Bengali. (pics credit-Wikipedia Commons)

1911 – The Indian National Congress adopts the first stanza of India’s national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana.”

1911 – Marie Curie became the first person to be awarded a second Nobel prize. Marie and her husband Piere Curie were two  prominent Polish physicists and chemists who reserched on radioactivity of elements/metals and discovered Radium and Radioactivity,  and Polonium.

1958 – Pune born  British-Indian  Wilson Jones became India’s first individual World Champion when he won the Amateur Billiards Championship.

1967 – The Concorde, a joint British-French venture and the world’s first supersonic airliner, was unveiled in Toulouse, France.

1971 – The elite para-commandos and parachute battalions -India’s ‘Red Devils’, as they are affectionately called, have an unsurpassed ethos and elan of their own. 2 Para Battalion executed a superb airborne assault operation at Tangail in East Pakistan, which was the first of its kind in the subcontinent (pic credit-howtocrackssb.com).

1991 – The centre notifies the interim order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal directing Karnataka to release 205 tmc ft of water to Tamil Nadu.

2017 – Rahul Gandhi is elected leader of the Indian National Congress in Lok Sabha, replacing his  mother  Sonia  Gandhi.

2019 – India passes Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAA), clearing way for citizenship for immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan but not if they are Muslim.

Born…. 1882  – Subramanya Bharathy, Great  Indian poet, journalist, teacher, social reformer  and Freedom fighter. Born in Madras Presidency but considered a link between South and North  Indian culture for his service to Hindi literature. He wrote several books and novels, viz., Bharthiyar Kavidhaigal, Panjali Sabatham, Kanan Pattu Kuyyil Paatu etc. He translated Patanjli’s Yoga Sutra and Bhagwat Gita into Tamil. In 1987 a Subramanim Bharati Award was constituted  to honour his legacy and promote  literature among youth.

1922 – Dilip Kumar  (Yusuf Khan), legendary Bollywood  actor, born in Peshawar (now in Pakistan) started his filmy career with Jwar Bhata in 1944,  established himself as a great actor with Madhumati, Naya Daur,  Ganga Jumna, Devdas, Ram Aur Shyam, Saudagar, Mughal-e Azam and many successful fims. He was also known as the  Tragedy King of Hindi cinema, He marriied twice with Asma Rehman and later popular heroine Saira Banu. Dilip was honored with Dadasaheb Phalke award in  1994 and Filmfare 15 times including a Lifetime Achievement award in 1983. He was also given Padma Bhushan in  1991 and Padma Vibhushan in 2015. He died on July 7, 2021 due to old age  related  problems.

1931 – Acharya  Shree Rajneesh “Osho”, Spiritual Guru of the rich. Revered by many as Bhagwan Osho, was an Indian philosopher, spiritual godman, teacher who founded a religius movement for relieving people from worldly tensions, worries by  propagating free life, sex liberalism and discover pleasure of mind thru’ his mystic teachings.  Rich and prominent people from world over  like Maa Anand Sheela, Sawami Satyananda, Helen Byren, film celebrities  Vinod Khanna, Manoj Kumar etc.  were attracted to his philosophy, though marked as controversial by many.

 

1935 – Pranab Mukherjee, veteran Bengal politician, who served Congress Party in variuos capacities, since  1967  till 2017,  as Union Finance Minister and President of India from 2012-17. In 2004, he was a candidate for Prime Ministyer’s post but Party preferred   Man Moham Singh. He was honored with  Bharat  Ratan  in 2019.

1965 – Kimi katkar, a flameboyant. bold and romantic Bollywood actor. She acted in Adventures of  Tarzon, Mera Lahoo, Dariya Dil, Hum, Kala Bazar, Vardi,  Tezaa etc. (pic credit-Instagram)

1969 – Vishwanathan Anand, Indian chess grandmaster,  known as  “Vishy” Anand is  a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion, a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion, and a six-time Chess Oscar Winner. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and he has the eighth-highest peak FIDE rating of all time. In 2022, he was the elected Deputy President of FIDE.  He has had an important role in popularizing chess in India.

Anand defeated Alexei Shirov in a six-game match to win the 2000. FIDE World Chess Championship, a title he held until 2002. He became the undisputed world champion in 2007 and defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008, Veselin Topalov in 2010, and Boris Gelfand in 2012.  In 2013, he lost the title to  challenger Magnus Carlsen, and he lost a rematch to Carlsen in 2014 after winning the 2014 Candidates Tournament.

RIP….  1998 – Poet Pradeep (Ramchandra Narayanji  Dwivedi), best known for his patriotic song  Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo written as a tribute to the soldiers who had died defending the country during the Sino-Indian War of 1962. The song was  sung by legendary Lata Mangsehkar in National Stadium  on Jan. 27, 1963 in the prersence of PM Jawaharlal Nehru  and  large VIP audience. He became popular when he wrote Door Hato Ae Duniyawalo  in 1942 during Quit India Movement  and  Aaj Himalya Ki Choti Se Ham Ne Lalkara Hay, De Di Hamen Azaadi Bina Khadag Bina Dhaal in 1948 after Gandhi’s death. He wrote about 1700 songs mostly patriotic and  full of Nationalistic fervour.  He was  honoured with Sangeet Natak Academi award (1961), BFJA and Dadasaheb Phalke award in 1997  .

2012 – Ravi Shankar,  legendary  music composer who excelled with Sitar and is one  of the  top evergreen classical  Bhajan and vedic singers.   He sung for films as well and led many concerts world over. He was awarded Padam Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna for his contribution.

You may have known…. 1. Men are 6 times more likely to be struck by lightning than women.  (pic credit-iStock.com)                                                                                                                       2.  As of 2025, India’s male population is approximately 51.6%.                                                                                                                                   {Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}