Today’s Motto: ‘Let no one else define your life. Define your life Yourself’

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

On this day, 12 Aug ….

1765 – The Mughal ruler Mir Qasim (and Shah Alam II),  handed over the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa to the East India Company after the Battle of Buxor. The Treaty of Allahabad,  is considered an important event in political and constitutional history of India (pic credit-wikiwand.com).

1851 – Isaac M. Singer of New York City was granted a patent for the first sewing machine with a rocking treadle. Although a sewing machine had already been patented, Singer’s sewing machine was revolutionary, having a double 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.

1908 – Henry Ford’s company builds the first Model T car. Ford  was the  founder of Ford Motor Co. which led  the  industry  for many  decades.

1927 – “Wings“, the only silent film to win an Oscar for best picture, opens. (judged as an Outstanding Picture 1929).

1946 – Viceroy  Mountbatten announces invitation to Congress to form provisional Government, which  the latter refused and  insisted on  complete Freedom of India. Later the Muslim League  forced Congress to accept  division of India on reliegious lines, leading to formation of India and Pakistan in 1947..

1981 – IBM introduced the PC personal computer at a base price of $ 1,600. It shortly eliminated most other machines suitable for home or small business.

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

2005 – Civil unrest is provoked in the Maldives, the small  island nation, closer to India and Sri Lanka.

2016 – Cannes becomes the first French resort to ban the Burkini.

2022 – British author Salman Rushdie is attacked and repeatedly stabbed on stage before giving a lecture at Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. Radical Muslims claimed responsibility, for attack  citing opposition to his   novel ‘Satanic Verses.

Born…. 1914 – Teji Bachchan, a social worker, wife of the famous Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and mother of the famous Hindi film actor Amitabh Bachchan.  She was believed to be closer to then PM Pt. Nehru and his family (pic credit-mid-day.com).

1919 – Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, the father of Indian space technology and scientist. He wrote 86 scientific research papers and opened 40 institutes. He set up BARC and ISRO and conducted research on Space.

1995 – Sara Ali Khan, model and Bollywood actress. Grand daughter of veteran  and successful heroine Sharmila Tagore and daughter of  Amrita Singh- Saif Ali Khan. She acted in  films like Gaslight,  Antrangi Re, Kedarnath etc.She has won  a Filmfare, a Screen, IIFAaward each and  several other film awards.

RIP….30 BC – Cleopatra, the last ruler of the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty, commits suicide allegedly by inducing an asp (Egyptian cobra) to bite her (some claim it was on August 10). She was the daughter of Ptolemaic king, former General of Alexander (the Great), she was  named by her father his successor but her brother soon revolted. She was defeated and captured by Alexander  and they had a  son, whom she declared the  ruler later. Alexandria was captured by  Romans led by Julius Caeser.

Titbits…. 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 (pic credit-autoscout24es).