Today’s Motto: ‘Politeness is to talk to people about what they are interested in’

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

On this day, 14 Apr….

1611 – The word “Telescope” was first used in public by Prince Federico Cesi at a banquet held to honour Galileo, on a grand hillside estate. Although the name was announced by Cesi to Christen Galileo’s instrument, the word telescopio (in Italian) was perhaps devised from Greek words, by a Greek poet-theologian, who happened to be present.

1659 – Aurangzeb defeated his brother Dara Shukoh to capture the throne of Delhi. He then got Shikoh killed by his men.

1865 – President Lincoln  (16th US Prez) is shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth while attending the comedy “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. He died the next day.

1912 – David Sarnoff, 21-year old telegraph operator, picked up a message of distress call of the Titanic relayed from ships at sea: “S.S. Titanic ran into iceberg, sinking fast.” He stayed at his post for 72 hours, receiving and transmitting the first authentic information on the disaster. (The RMS Titanic had an estimated 2,224 people on board when she struck an iceberg at around 23:40 on Sunday 14 April 1912. Her sinking two hours and forty minutes later resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, which made it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history).

1914 – The first U.S. patent for a non-skid tyre pattern was issued to Stacy G. Carkhuff of the Firestone Rubber Co. of Akron Ohio.

1956 – The first practical commercial black-and-white video recorder was demonstrated in Chicago. It was the size of a deep-freeze with an additional five 6-foot racks of circuitry. (One reel of tape cost $300, and a recorder cost about $75,000 to $100,000, about a half a million dollars today).

2005 – India and America made a historic agreement to open their respective flight areas to each other’s airlines.

2014 – The Netherlands introduced glowing paint in the dark road markings on a small stretch of highway in the country to test the concept. The markings are made with a glow in the dark paint that charges during the day and glows at night. It was done as an effort to replace streetlights and save energy in the country (pic credit-vivacitygm.com.au).

2018 – National Gardening Day, since 2018.

2022 – Russian ship Moskva, flagship of its Black Sea fleet, sinks in the Black Sea during the invasion of Ukraine amid conflicting accounts.

Born…. 1469 -Guru Nanak Dev, the first of the ten Sikh  Gurus, was born on Baisakhi. he was a spitirual  teacher, poet, ascetic and  philonthropist. Born to  Mehta Kalu (Bedi) and Mata Tripta in Rao  Bhaoi ki Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib (in Pakistan) on Baisakh Purnima,  he preached  love among all religious communitites in the face of  Moughal tyranny of  converting Hindus to Islam. Ek Omkar,  Sargun/Nirgun Bhakti and social homgeniety were his teachings. He is believed to have visited Tibet,  Benaras, Mecca, Beghdad,  Jerusalem, Vetican and many religious places and wrote 974 verses/hymes taking  virtues from all  Saints and spiritual teachers. His verses were compiled later Bhai Assa and Guru Arjan Dev  in  Guru Granth Sahib, which is now  worshipped as a final and   perpetual   Guru, after 10th Guru Gobind Singh’s command to  his followers and Khalsa Panth.

1891 – Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement and campaigned against social discrimination against Untouchables (Dalits), while also supporting the rights of women and labour. He is credited with finalising Indian Constition and presenting to the Constituent Assembly on Nov. 26, 1949, alongwith Sir B. N Rau and other legal experts.

1919 – Shamshad Begum, singer. Born in Amritsar she was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. She sang  many  memorable songs for Bollywood films including Mother India, Baiju Bawra, Awara, Shree 420,  Patanga,  Babul, Kismat etc.   industry. She married a Hindu Ganpat Lal Batto inspite of opposition from family  (at 15). She was awarded Padam Bhushan in 2009. (film video credit-Shemaroo)

1922 – Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. He was a musician and Sarod player. Ustad Khan was expert in presenting Indian music to Western audiences. His music was rooted in the Hindustani (Northern) tradition. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1971 and  Padma Vibhushan in 1988 by the Government of India and has kept the Indian classical music flag flying high in the world for the past five decades (pic credit-indianmusiclegends.blogspot.com).

1941 – Julie Christie, actress (Dr Zhivago), was born in Assam. Also known for her roles in Darling, Heaven Can Wait, Far From the Maddling Crowd, Don’t Look Now etc. She won  Academy, Golden Globe and several other awards.

1957 – K  Sivan  (Kailasavadivu) is an Indian aerospace engineer, also known as Rocket Man,  who served as the Secretary of the Department of Space and Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation and Space Commission (ISRO) from January 20148 to January 2022. He commissioned world class simulation facility for mission synthesis and analysis which is used for mission design, sub-system level validation and integrated validation of avionics systems in all ISRO launch vehicles. He was honoured with Ftr. APJ Kalam arad in 2019. (Sivan being  consoled by PM Modi when he  cried over  failure of Chandrayan -2 Mission, as its Vikram Lander crashed just 2.1 km  ahead of Luner surface on July 22, 2019.) 

1974 – Rajeshwari Sachdev. Indian actress known for her role as Sardari Beghan in Shyam Benegal’s film, which also got her National Film award. She also acted in Dil Hi To Hai, Peshwa Bajirao, Firebrand, Welcome Zindgi, Ayatya Gharat  Gharoba  etc.

Titbits….  2011 – Rejean Hinse, a Quebec man wrongly convicted of a crime in the 1960s and acquitted 30 years later,  receives $13.1 million in compensation (pic credit-www.cbc.ca).

RIP….  1859 – Jamshedji Jijabhai Tata,  a very wealthy philanthropist from his business. Jamshed ji Jijabhai’s name is mostly because of his charity.

You may have known….  With over 2,000 films annually, India is globally the world’s largest producer of films. India produces films in over 20 languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, and Punjabi, making it one of the most diverse film industries in the world. 
India has a bigger movie market that America and Canada combined. 

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