Today’s Motto: ‘Life isn’t so much about finding yourself, as it is about creating yourself’

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

On this day, 29 Mar….
*This celestial event will be the first solar eclipse of 2025.  This happens when the moon moves between the Sun and the Earth. It  blocks the solar rays from reaching the Earth for some time. Solar Eclipse happens only in the day time!  Two drawings on the Left show  the position of Moon in Solar and Lunar Eclipses.

1561 – Akbar attacked on Malwa at Sarangpur and defeated Bajbahadar.

1849 – Britain formally annexs Punjab after defeat of Sikh armies.

1857 – Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry begins Mutiny against the East India Company’s rule in India. He  and  other Sepoys   were suspicious that rifle cartridges and grenades  used Cow  fats  which  they could not touch  with mouth  to  as part of their religious beliefs.  They were also  unhappy with the pay inequality compared to British soldiers. The sepoys’ unwillingness to serve abroad.                                                                         It inspirted the long  First  War of Independence,   across India,  termed as Sepoy Mutiny by the British.

1886 – The first batch of Coca Cola was brewed over a fire in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia. (The current formula of Coca-Cola remains a trade secret).

1903 – Regular news service began between New York and London on Marconi’s wireless. On 30 Mar 1903, The Times in London became the first newspaper to establish an ongoing arrangement with the MarconiTelegraph Company for the regular transmission of news between the United States and the UK).

1942 – Britain offered dominion status to India after the war if it cooperated with them in the WW-II, and allow Indian soldiers fight in Europe.

1970 – Union Government revises the percentage of reservation in service for SC/STs from 12.5% to 15%. Orders to be effective from 25 March.

1971 – My Lai Massacre of civilians in Viet Nam  on March 16, 1968  by American soldiers. On March 29,  1971  Lieutenant William Calley was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison (pic credit-The Washington Post).

1973 – U.S. troops leave Vietnam.

1980 – The first transplant of a human fingernail was accomplished on a 12-year-old boy’s thumb, using one of his own toenails. Dr Guy Foutcher performed the surgery in Strasbourg, France.

1999 – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes the Chamoli district in Uttar Pradesh (now in Uttrakhand), killing 103 persons  (pic credit-www.indiacontent.in).
Born….1816-The 10th Lama of Tibet, known as Panchen Lama,

second most sacred and scholarly person of Tibeten  religous system who  conducts the selection of Dalai Lama, the top Guru. Lamas are the  high preists of Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism, started in  1645.   (pic credit-tibetrightscollective.in).  

1869 – Sir Edwin Lutyens, Builder of Rashtrapati Bhavan and England’s most outstanding architect of his time. He also designed several other building in India like Basroda House, Patiala House,  Bikaner House, Hyderabad House etc. and Europe House, Peterborough Cathedral etc. in  England.

1929 – Utpal Dutt, legendary Bengali  cinema and Bollywood actor, director and theatre playwright. He  was very popular  in comical  and satirical  roles  in  films like Gol Maal, Naram Garam, Shaukeen, Rang Birangi, Saheb etc. His earlier roles in Mrinal Sen’s Bhuwan Shome, Shakti Samant’s Amaanush, Satyajit Ray’s  Agantuk  etc were  very  outstanding. He won 6 Filmfare, 2 National and 3 Bengal Film awards apart from Sangeet Natak Akademy Fellowship  in 1990. .

RIP…. 1990 – Adoor Bhasi, (K. Bhaskaran Nair) Malayalam film actor. He mostly acted in films oppositite his old friend Prem Nazir, did films like Raagam, Athirathram, Raghuvamsham etc. He acted in about 700 films and won 2  National and one Filmfare South award.

1992 – Shri Anand Rishiji Maharaj 1008 , the 2nd Acharya Samrat of ‘Jain Shraman Sangh’ from 1962 – 1993. Born as Nemichand, he took Diksha at a tender age of 13 in  Dec. 1913. He was confered the  title Rashtra Sant and a postal stamp released in his  honour (pic credit-Jain Samaj).

Titbits….1848 – Niagara Falls stops flowing for 30 hours due to an ice jam.

You may have known….

Despite budgetary constraints, India’s space programme is one of the top 5 space programs in the world and  most cost-efficient.

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