Today’s Motto: ‘Life is about enjoying the rain, and not about waiting for the storm to pass’

On this day, 25 May….

1895 – The playwright, poet, and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of “committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons” and sentenced to serve two years in prison (pic credit-www.fity.club).

1935 – Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks three world records and ties a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

1940 – In one of the most famous animal tests in medical history, eight mice were inoculated with a lethal dose of streptococci and then four of them were injected with penicillin. Next day the four mice given streptococci alone were dead, the four with penicillin were healthy.

1953 – The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting from the campus of the University of Houston.

1961 – The formal announcement of an American lunar landing was made by President John F. Kennedy.

1999 – The Prime Minister Vajpayee  declares the Centre will take all possible steps to push back infiltrators in Kargil (a peak in Ladakh Distt. of Jammu & Kashmir at 5000 m to 5,500 m  ht.). Pakistani army incursions were reported by locals on May 02, Indian forces started Operation Vijay on  May 25 and all peaks were captured back by July 07, when truce was requesyed by Pak PM Nawaj Shariff thru’ US President Clinton.

2000 – Liberation Day of Lebanon. Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978.

2011 – Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her twenty five year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

2023 – US population aged at its fastest rate for 130 years, over 65 years olds grew by a third (2010 – 2020), median age of an American jumps from 37.2 to 38.8, according to new census figures.

Born…. 1886 – Rash Behari Basu, great revolutionary, freedom fighter, social reformer and leader.

1889 Igor Sikorsky, Russian-American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, born in Kiev, Ukraine.

1936 – Rusi Framroz Surti,  Parsi Indian  cricketer (Indian slow lefty, bowled a  hat-trick in 1969). He played for Rajasthan in Ranji Trophy and scored highest 246 in a match.  He was the first to have been out at 99 in  an Auckland  Test  (his Highest Test score). He played in 26 Tests scoring abour 967 runs and took 42 wkts.  He also played for Lancashaire League in England  and Queensland in Australia. He settled in  Australia and  was also their coach for 35 years.

1983 – Kunal Khemu, (from Srinagar) Popular Bollywood actor acted in Raja Hindustani, Go Go Goa, Kalyug, Golmaal Again etc. Won Stardust award. (pic credit-mRediff.com).

RIP….1606 – Guru Arjun Dev, spiritual leader of Sikhs and Hindus between 1581-1606. The 6th Guru  who compiled the Adi Granth or  Guru Granth Saheb, later worshipped as  living Guru, on instructions of 10th  Guru  Gobind Saheb.  He was massacred at the instruction of mughal emperor Jahangir on May 30, 1606.

2005 – Sunil Dutt, popular Bollywood actor & politician. He acted in films like Ek Hi Raasta, Mother India, Raaj Tilak, Waqt, Reshma Aur Shera, Watan Ke Rakhwale, Mujhe Jeene Do, Kshatriya, Parampara and Munna Bhai. He won 3 Filmfares and  one National Film award. (pic credit-BookMyShow)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               You may have known…. 1.  Between the 1930s and 1950s show fitting fluoroscopes – essentially X Rays – were used to measure shoe size.

2.  The state of Meghalaya is the wettiest inhabited place of earth. The hjill station Chirrapunji gets over  11,777 mm of rain in a year and is a big tourist destination. 

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