Today’s Motto: ‘Patience as a tree has bitter roots but sweet fruit’

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

On this day, 09 Jul….

1401 – Turko-Mongol ruler Tamerlane (Timur) destroys Baghdad, killing 20,000 civilians and army   personnel.

1746 – French sailor’s fleet reached at the bank of Pondichery.

1776 – US Declaration of Independence is read to George Washington’s troops in New York. A military General, he became the first President of  Independent America.

1815 – 1st natural gas well in US is discovered.

1875 – The Bombay Stock Exchange is formed.  Now,  it is the 6th largest stock exchange in the world by total market capitalisation, exceeding $5 trillion in a month.

1877 – First ever Wimbledon tennis championship begins – first offical lawn tennis tournament was  – men’s singles only.  It is regarded by many as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts.  It is now also known for World’s premier  Badminton tournament.

1893 – Daniel Williams performs 1st successful open heart surgery without anesthesia, a daring procedure for the time.He also  set-up  a  Black  hospital in the US.

1969 – Govt. of  India accepted ‘Royal Bengal Tiger’  as its National Animal, as recommended by the Indian Wild life Board. This Tiger is also known as the majestic tiger – panthere tigris.

1947 – First female army officer is appointed. In a ceremony held at the Pentagon, General Dwight D. Eisenhower appoints Florence Blanchfield to be a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, making her the first woman in U.S. history to hold permanent military rank.

1997 – Mike Tyson is banned from boxing for biting parking assistant  Evander Holyfield’s ear.  2017 – Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi proclaims victory over Islamic State forces in Mosul.

2018 – US coffee company Starbucks announces it will stop using plastic straws by 2020, reducing use of more than 1 billion straws a year.

2019 – Indian restaurateur “Dosa King”  – P. Rajagopal finally begins his life sentence for organizing a murder, 15 years after he was convicted.

2021 – Death Valley, California in the United States, hits a temperature of 130 degrees F (54.4 C), one of the highest temperatures ever recorded on earth (pic credit-usatoday.com).

2022 – Thousands of Sri Lankan protesters storm the Presidential Palace and set the PM’s house on fire in Colombo, leading to promises both will resign amid continuing economic turmoil (pic credit-in.mashabe.com).

Born…. 1925 – Guru Dutt, born as Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone, was an iconic Indian film director, producer, and actor. One of the most popular film maker, director, actor, choreographer  and writer of 1940s to 60s. He directed produced many  jubilee-making films like Baazi, CID, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Mr. & Mrs 55, Sailab,  Aar Paar, Chaudhvin Ka Chaand, Saheb Bibi Aur Ghulam, Pyaasa, Saanjh Aur Savera etc. His death left many films incomplete and had to finished with Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra and new directors. He was awarded a National Film award, a Filmfare and a BFJA award (pic credit-news24online.com).

1938 – Sanjeev Kumar was a renowned Indian actor who is considered one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema. He was born as Haribhai Jariwala in Surat, Gujarat.  Known for very creative and successful  fims like Angoor, Koshish, Nau Din Nau Raat, Masoom, Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Aandhi, Pati Patni Aur Woh,  Manchali, Naukar Biwi Ka, Trishool,  Devta, Kora Kaagaz, Sholey etc.  He won 2 National Film awards, 4 Filmfare and several other accolades.

1962 -Sukhbir Badal. Current President of Shiromani Akali Dal, son of former CM  Prakash Singh Badal and was Dy CM in 2009-17. Lost majority 2017  Assembly elections,  got elected to Lok Sabha from Ferozepur. He was recently declared Tankhaiya by Akal Takhat and did Atonement (Sewa) and Harmandir Sahib for getting pardon.  He is believed to have lot of properties, businesses in America and Canada apart from a domestyic transport company and  large foodgrain storage facilities.

1960 – Sangita Bijlani. popular Sindhi model, actor.  Acted in films like Tridev, Hatim Tai, Yugandhar, Yodha, Jurm, Izzat etc, Won Miss Universe Award in 1980 and several other honours.

1975 – Jack White. German Musician famous for Pop, Genre and German ethnic music. Producer/singer. Won Detroit, The White Stripes awards and nominations. (pic credit-yahoo.com).

RIP…. 1932 – King Camp Gillette, who invented and manufactured the safety razor with disposable blades.

You may have known…. Going by a headcount of soldiers who are trained, paid and ready to move today, China’s People’s Liberation Army sits on top, with  roughly 2.04 Million active personnel. India is a distant second with about 1.48 million.

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