Today’s Motto: ‘Real happiness comes from within, not from without’

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

On this day, 06 Apr….

648 BC – The earliest total solar eclipse chronicled by Greeks was observed on this day.

1859 – Realising that milk from the poor, thin cows kept in insanitary conditionsand fed on distillery refuse, was a serious public health hazard, milk inspectors were appointed in US. They were authorised to enter the premises of milk handlers and take specimens for analysis. A ten dollar fine was prescribed for sale of ‘swill milk’. Also, milk vendors had to register at his office (A lactometer/hydrometer,  is used for testing purity of milk).

1868 – Brigham Young, American religious leader(2nd  president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877),  and politician, marries his 27th wife. By the time of his death, the most famous polygamist had married 55 wives, had 59 children by 16 of his wives; 46 of his children reached adulthood. However, it is suspected that not all of the 55 marriages were conjugal. (Ann Eliza Young was one of his fifty-five wives and later a critic of polygamy. She spoke out against the suppression of women and was an advocate for women’s rights during the 19th century).

1869 – Isaac Hodgson received a U.S. patent for his “roller-skate,” with a padded shoe attached to the skate frame.

1889 – The Kodak Camera was placed on sale by George Eastman.                                        1912 – The electric starter first appeared in cars.

1919 – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi orders a General Strike against the Rowlatt Act across India.

1938 – Du Pont researcher Roy J. Plunkett and his technician Jack Rebok accidentally discovered the chemical compound polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), later marketed as Teflon. It was patented later, on 4 Feb 1941. (Teflon is also a nickname given to persons, particularly in politics, to whom criticism does not seem to stick).

1966 – Mihir Sen swims Palk Strait between Sri Lanka and India. (He was the first Indian to conquer the English Channel in 1958 and the only man to earn the distinction of swimming the Oceans of the five continents in one calendar year, 1966).

1980 – PIN  – Post It Notes (or Postal Index No.)  introduced in India. It gives the area location of an Address in India. Now India  Post has introduced a  DIGIPIN, a 10 digit No. which  gives  Geo-Coded address system  and divides  India into 4m  x 4m  grids, based on Longitude and Latitue coordinates  of a place  and helps improve logistic and emergency services more efficiently.

1993 – In Russia, a huge radioactive cloud was released from an explosion of a tank of radioactive waste at the secret military facility at Tomsk 7. Located in the Russian wilderness, 1700 miles east of Moscow, it was the worse nuclear accident, though not the only one, since the incident at Chernobyl on 26 Apr 1986. A week later, delegates at a meeting in Tokyo from the world’s richest nations, agreed to give urgent help to Russia for problems with nuclear waste, obsolete nuclear missile warheads, and aging nuclear reactors.

1998 – Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of hitting India.

2000 – The Government of India  introduces  use of LPG  (Liquid Petroleum Gas)  as auto fuel.

2016 – First baby born with DNA from three parents through mitochondrial transfer in Mexico (pic credit-www.magster.com

Born…. 1931 – Suchitra Sen, film actress who worked in Bengali and Hindi cinema. Reverred  as Mahanayika for her acting in many classic Bengali films opposite  Mahanayak  Uttam Kumar  viz., Sharey Chuattor, Ora Thake Odhare, Maraner Pare, Sadanander Mela, Agnipariksha, Sagarika, Ekti Raat, Saptapadi etc. and her many celebrated films like Bombai Ka Babu,  Mamta, Bipasha, Aandhi, etc.  Sen was the second Indian actress to receive an award at an international film festival when, at the 1963 Moscow International Film Festival, she won the Silver Prize for Best Actress for film  Saat Pake Bandha. She was awarded Padma Shri, 5 BFJA Awards, 4 Filmfare and many accolades.

1956 – Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar, popular  as a  Colonel,  prolofic opening Indian  batsman.  He played 116 Tests, 129 ODIs scoring 6,868 runs and 19 centuries. He also captained Indian team and was chief selector for some period. Was awarded with Lifetime Acheivement award in 2024 by Mumbai Cricket Association.

RIP…. 1664 – Harkishan Singh,  8th Sikh Guru. He was also called the Bal Guru, because he succeded his father at a tender age Five only,  on his martyrdom.  He contracted smallpox  while  attending to his ailing followers in Delhi. He was just short of  8 years. He indicated to his followers  that his grand-uncle Guru Teg Bahadur should  be the next Guru of Sikhs.

1983 – General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri, 6th Chief of Army Staff from 1962 to 1966 and the Military Governor of Hyderabad State from 1948 to 1949.

1993 – Divya Bharati, famous Hindi film actress. (Bharti died at the age of 19 after falling off the balcony of her five-story apartment in Versova. Her cause of falling was never officially confirmed). She acted in Telugu and Hindi films like Bobbili Raja, Assembly Rowdy, Rowdy Alludu, Vishwatma, Shola Aur Shabnam, Deewana  etc. She was awarded Filmfare award  Best Debutent,

You may have known…. Indians invented cataract surgery.( In the 5th century BC, ancient Indian physicians practised a technique known as ‘couching’ to address cataracts. In this method, the skilled surgeon dislodged the cataractous lens into the back of the eye, allowing light to enter and restore limited but unfocused vision. This early innovation paved the way for similar methods like ‘needling’ employed by the Greeks and Egyptians, where the cataract was sliced into particles that the body could absorb. Though not perfect, these techniques marked a crucial step in treating cataracts and preserving vision).

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