Today’s Motto: Life is too short to waste time on wondering, what other people think about you’

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

On this day, 13 Aug ….

1784 – British parliament accepts East India Company Act 1784, bringing the East India Company’s rule in India under the control of the British Government. (The Act is also known as Pitt’s India Act).

1889 – William Gray of Hartford, Connecticut, received a patent for a coin-operated telephone.

1913 – The first true stainless steel was cast in Sheffield, England. Metallurgist, Harry Brearley was developing a more erosion-resistant steel for rifle barrels. In order to examine the grain structure of the steel he needed to etch samples with acid before examining them under the microscope. The etching reagents he used were based on nitric acid, and he found that this new steel strongly resisted chemical attack. He then exposed samples to vinegar and other food acids such as lemon juice and found the same result. Brearley realized that this new steel could also revolutionise the cutlery industry (pic credeit-imcteddy.com).

1919 – British troops open fire on demonstrators in Amritsar, killing 350.

1951 – Hindustan Trainer 2, the first aircraft manufactured in India, made its first flight.

1956 – National Highways Act was approved by the Parliament of India.

1960 – The first two-way telephone conversation by satellite took place with the help of Echo 1, a balloon satellite.

1985 – Jamie Gavin, age 3, of Dublin, Ireland, became the world’s youngest heart and lung transplant patient (pic credit-ukhealthcare.uky.edu).

1997 – The contentious women’s reservation bill put on the back burner with PM Gujral saying govt. would not push through such a major social legislation until there was a consensus on it.

2008 – India successfully test-fired the Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) Weapon System Pinaka.

2015 – Swedish Prosecutors announce they are dropping allegations against Wikileaks founderJulian Assange of sexual molestation and coercion.

2017 – More than 60 children are reported to have died at Gorakhpur Hospital.

Born…. 1936 – Vyjayathimala Bali.  Having debuted in  South India with  Vazhkai under AVZM Productions in 1949,  she is the first successful South  actress in Hindi cinema. who performed scores of Jubilee making films like Sangam, Ganga Jamuna with Raj Kapoor/Rajendra Kumar)  Devdas, Naya Daur, New Delhi with Dilip Kumar)  and more like Madhumati, Saadhna, Ganwar,  Devta, Patrani, Kudrat,  Chandramukhi, Aasha, Aamrapali, Vaishali, Suraj, Jewel Thief  etc.  She was awarded Sangeet Kala Akademy honour, Padma Vibhushan, 4 Filmfare and Lifetime Achievement and several national/international  dance, art  and  film awards.   She won a Lok Sabha election in 1984  and was later nominated to Rajya Sabha in 1993. She made the heroine’s dance important in Hindi films. Her pairing with veteran cine actor Dilip Kumar was quite popular (pic credit-fity.club.).

1952 – Yogeeta Bali, Bollywood actress. A distant relative of Geeta Bali and cousin of film maker Abrar Alvi,  she acted in films like Nagin, Be-Shaque, Zamin Aasman, Biwi-o-Biwi, Parwana, Ganga Tera Pani Amrit, Mem Saheb, Buniyad, Raaj Tilak, Jheel ke Us Paar  etc. She married  legendary Kishore Kumar(1976-78)  and then Mithun Chakraborty.

1963 – Sridevi Kapoor, the bubby, sparking  South Indian  actress who apart  from Hindi films, also worked in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada films. She got the right recognition in Bollywood with the film ‘Himmatwala’. After this film, she became one of the superstar actresses of Hindi cinema  who  did Tamil, Telugu, Hindi films like Mom,  Nagina, Mr. India,  Lamhe, Judai, Ladla,  Sadma, Chaandni. English-Vinglish etc. She won several Kerala State Film awards, Filmfare, StarDust and Nandi awards. Was also awarded Padma Shri by Govt. of India in 2013. She married  producer  Bonie Kapoor, the  elder brother  of Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor and is the father of popular actresses  Janhvi, Khushi Kapoor.

RIP….1795 – Ahilyabai Holkar, the Holkar Queen of the Maratha ruled Malwa kingdom. {Her husband Khanderao Holkar was killed in the battle of Kumbher in 1754. Twelve years later, her father-in-law, Malhar Rao Holkar, died. A year after that she was crowned as the queen of the Malwa kingdom. She tried to protect her kingdom from plundering Muslim invaders. She personally led armies into battle. She was a great builder and patron of many Hindu temples which embellished Maheshwar and Indore. She also built temples and Dharmshala (free lodging) at sacred sites outside her kingdom, at prominent religious places like Dwarka in Gujarat east to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple at Varanasi on the Ganges, Ujjain, Nasik, Vishnupad Mandir, Gaya and Parali Baijnath in Maharashtra}.

1910 – Florence Nightingale, the English nurse and statistician, “The Lady With The Lamp,” who established modern nursing practice by  caring  thousands of wounded soldiers in the  Wars.

1936 – Bhikaji Rustom Cama or ‘Madame Cama’, revolutionary, Her brilliant writings and speeches became a source of great inspiration for the revolutionariesShe is best known for hoisting the tricolour at the Seventh International Congress held on 22 August 1907 in Stuttgart, Germany.

You may have known…. India’s projected population in 2060 is 170, 09, 51,714    by UNO  projections.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     {Compiled  by Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj  Kadyan}