Today’s Motto: ‘Stretch yourself to live beyond what you are capable of’

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

On this day, 13 Jul….

1803 – Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Alexander Duff started the Scottish Church College with five students.

1837 – Queen Victoria is 1st monarch to live in present Buckingham Palace.  The palace built by Duke of Buckingham in about 4 acre (1.6 ha)  plot  and Normanby in 1703 and aquired by George III in 1761 for Queen Charlotte where 14 of her 15 children were born.  The present King Charles III lives here with his 2nd wife and elder son Prince Williams.  (pic credit-huffingtonpost.com).

1905 – The burning of Holi of British goods was suggested for the first time by the Bengali weekly Sanjeevani.

1919 – The first lighter-than-air transatlantic flight was completed.

1947 – An Indian Independence Bill was moved in the British Parliament on 4th July 1947 which became an ‘act’ on 13th July 1947. Two Boundary Commissions under Sir Cyril Radcliff were appointed to demarcate the boundaries of Punjab and Bengal.

1963 – Indian government announces it will cut last remaining links with South Africa by refusing landing facilities to South African aircraft. The primary  reason was the Whites dominance in Governance of South Africa, whereas majority  citizens  were local ethnic African tribes. Nelson Mandela, the leader of ethnic Blacks was imprisoned by the English rulers led by President  Charles Robberts Swart and  Prime Minister: Hendrik Verwoerd.

1974 – India plays its  1st one-day international (v England).

1998 – The AB Vajpayee Government is prevented from tabling the Women’s Reservation Bill by the Opposition in Lok Sabha, due to lack of  two-thirds majority.
2011 Mumbai is rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 and injuring 130. These blasts took place in Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar.

2024 –  US presidential candidate  Donald Trump survives an assassination attempt at an outdoor campaign rally in rural Butler, Pennsylvania; the  gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks fires 6 to 8 shots killing one spectator, critically wounding two, and hits Trump in the ear with a bullet,  before being killed by a Secret Service sniper.

Born….  100 BC – Julius Caesar, Roman military and political leader.He became a Priest, then the General and later a dictator  of ancient Rome.  He attacked Egypt,  defeated  his opponent Pompey, and  took away the beautiful Queen Cleopatra.  He captured large parts of Europe including Germany, Spain etc.  Now Caesar wanted to bring in some reforms  in Rome  through Senate resolutions  but was  assassinated by his own Senators Cassius and Brutus in 44 BC. Legendary  novelist and  drama  writer  William  Shakespeare wrote an epic on Julius Caesar and his assissnation, which is  considered  as one of the  greatest  Drama  stories.

1916 – Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Many called her the Lady Death. To the Adolf Hitler’s men, she was “the Russian  bitch from the Hell”. She was the most successful female sniper in history and in the Red Army, having killed 309 German soldiers during the   World War-II (pic credit-women-at-war.blogspot.com)

  1932 – Bina Rai,  legendary Bollywood actress in Hindi films. Her real name was ‘Krishna Sarin’ born in Lahore (now in Pakstan).  Known for her  outstanding acting  in epic  roles in  Kali Ghata (1951), Aurat, Anarkali (1953),  Taj Mahal (1963), Ghunghat,  Shagoofa, Ram Rajya, Chagez Khan  etc. She was one of the finest actresses of the 1950-60s. She was married to veteran actor Prem Nath and her son Prem Kishen also acted in some films.  She was awarded Filmfare in 1961.

RIP…. 1990 – ‘Boby’  A.F.S.  Talyarkhan, famous sports critic and author. A erudite cricket commentator of  20th century, who is remebered for his ball-to-ball accounts of the games, (cricket, hockey and football).  His incumbent radio commentators Surita Pearson,  Balu Alanganan and Anant Setalwad, Bally Sarvadhikari, Dickey Rutnagur and Kishore Bhimani brought crowds to the Stadium and  popularised sports  radio channels (pic credit-theSiasatDaily.com).  

You may have known…. As of October 2025, approximately 99.1% of the broad-gauge railway network in India is electrified.  Indian Railways operates approximately 13,198 passenger trains and 11,724 freight trains daily, totaling 24,922 trains. This includes various classes of express, passenger, and suburban trains.                                                                                                          {Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}