Today’s Motto: ‘Success is a journey not a destination’

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

On this day, May 19……..

1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest.

1649 – England became a Commonwealth.

1848 – 1st departmental store opens.

1885 – 1st mass production of shoes (Jan Matzeliger in Massachusetts).

1956 – The Indian govt bans six US and two British films for presenting a ‘disparaging’ impression of life in Africa, including ‘African Queen’ and ‘Mogambo’.

1961 – At Silchar Railway Station, Assam, 11 Bengalis die when police open fire on protesters demanding state recognition of Bengali language in the Bengali Language Movement (pic credit-OpIndia).

1971 – Indian Navy’s first submarine station started at ‘Veer Bahu’ in Visakhapatanam.

1987 – A patent for “keeping a head alive” was issued to Chet Fleming. A cabinet provides physical and biochemical support for an animal’s head severed from its body. Oxygenated blood and nutrients are circulated by means of tubes connected to arteries and veins that emerge from the neck. A series of processing components removes carbon dioxide and add oxygen to the blood. If desired, waste products and other metabolites may be removed from the blood, and nutrients, therapeutic or experimental drugs, anti-coagulants, and other substances may be added to the blood. After being thoroughly tested on research animals, the patent suggests it might also be used on humans suffering from various terminal illnesses.

1993 – Government decides to merge Vayudut with Indian Airlines.

2000 – A `civil coup’ in Fiji ousts the first ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Pal Choudhary. President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara proclaims a state of emergency.

2012 – Robert Spitzer, a retired American psychiatrist, claims his 2001 study was ‘fatally flawed’; the study falsely supported the myth that gay people could be ‘cured’.

2019 – Sprinter Dutee Chand comes out as India’s first openly gay professional athlete. Won Gold in Rio Games 2016. She is the current 100 M global champion. Awarded Arjuna award in 2020. (pic credit-Wikipedia)

2020 – Greenhouse gas emissions dropped 17% worldwide in April 2020 when the world was in lockdown, in study published in “Nature Climate Change”.

2022 – Mercedes confirms the sale of world’s most expensive car – a 1955 Mercedes-Benz SLR coupe for $142 million.

Born….

1910 – Nathuram Godse, assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.

1913 – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, 6th President of India (between 1977 – 1982).

1934 – Ruskin Bond, British writer, born in India and settled in Mussoourie, Uttrahand. Was awarded Sahintry Akademy award in 1992 and Padmabhushan in  2014.

1938 – Girish Karnad, popular Kannada actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright. He started the satiristic journal Tughlaq.  Won 4 Fillmfare awards, Padmashree and bestowed upon Jnanpeeth award in 1998.

RIP….

1904 – Jamshedji Nasarvanji Tata, famous industrialist and father of modern technology. He commenced cotton mills in Bombay and Nagpur and founded the Tata Iron and Steel Company, which is one of the largest integrated steel mills in the world.

1935 – Thomas Edward (T.E.) Lawrence was a British archaeological scholar, also known as “Lawrence of Arabia”. He became best known as a military strategist, and author for his legendary war activities in the Middle East during WW I, and for his account of those activities in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926).

1980 – General T. N. Raina, 9th Chief of Indian Army, between 1975-78. There-after he was appointed India’s Hgh Commissioner in Canada (pic Credit-m.Rediff.com).

2008 – Vijay Tendulkar, playwright and screenwriter. Wrote famous plays Shantatai Court Chalu Aahe, Sakhram Binder, Ghashiram Kotwal etc. Won National Film award in 1976, 3 Filmfare awards, Sangeet Natak award and Kalidas Samman.

You may have known….

The first permanent and covered shopping mall was likely built by the Romans: Trajan’s Market (Mercatus Traiani), constructed between 100 and 110 CE. Made of red brick and concrete, it had six levels that housed around 150 different shops, as well as government offices and living accommodations.

 

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