Today’s Motto: ‘The best way to change the world is by being yourself’

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

On this day, 24 Mar….
(National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day: A fun and delicious day to celebrate the combination of chocolate and raisins, enjoyed by many).

1855 – Long-distance telegraph message was sent from Calcutta to Agra for the first time in India.

1649 – Hans Hautsch of Nuremberg made the first  automobile, a 3-wheel  carriage  vehicle,   though a steam engine powered car was made byn  Ferdinand Verbiest in 1672.  Later car makers were Carl Benz and Gottlieb Dalmier in 1883-86.

1906 – “Census of the British Empire” shows England rules 1/5 of the world.                                                                                                      1930 – Planet Pluto, the 9th  Planet in the Solar System  was named. Because of its small size it’s  also  named  as  Dwarf  Planet  in 2006.

1977 – Morarji Desai elected leader of Janata Party and sworn-in as the Prime Minister. This was first non-Congress Government in India. Though many of the ministers  and Party MPs  were former Congress  members  including  Desai,  Chaudhary  Charan Singh  and  Jagjivan Ram.

1990 – Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was withdrawn in toto from the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. PM Rajiv Gandhi had  sent Indian  army units  as IPKF  to Stri Lanka to control  Tamil Elam leader V Prabhjakaran. The mission was a failure and  even led to assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

1993 – Six of Memon family escape to Karachi.  Memons and Dawood Ibrahim  gang militants  had organised serial Bomb explosions at  12 places in  Mumbai on March 12, 1993, killing over 257 innocent citizens and injuring  many more.

2008 – Bhutan holds it’s first public election. Jigme Thinley led Druk Pheunsum Thshoga  (DPT)  party won 45 of the 47 seats and he became the first Prime Minister of the Himalayan kingdom. People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Sangay  Ngedup won 2 seats. (The Bhutanese monarchy was established in 1907, unifying the country under the control of the Wangchuk family, hereditary penlops {governors).                                                                                                                           Candidates were required to be  Citizens, registered to vote in the Constituency, hold at least a Bachelor’s degree, and  between  25 and 65 years old , not working for the civil service and not be receiving any  foreign assistance. (pic credit-ONU Brasil and  the landofsnows.com)

Born…. 1874 – Harry Houdini [Erich Weiss], Famous Hungarian-American  magician and escape artist, illusion master. Popular as Handcuff Houdini for his escape stunts and exhibited his feats at several  showsw world over including Moscow, Berlin and  Chacago.

1965 -The Undertaker (Mark William Calaway). American professional freestyle wrestler, also known as The Ring Man, ruled the WWF arena for several decades and won the title 4 times starting 1989. Won WWE’s -WrestleMania awards 25 times out of 27 bouts and many other chamiponships.  Also appeared in many films and videos. His net worth is estimated at $40 million.  (pic credit-wrestlemaniaXVIII).

1979 – Emraan Hashmi, Bollywood  actor belonging to Bhatt clan of Kashmir, who appeared in some  horror films Raaz,EkThi Daayan, Shanghai, The Dirty Picture,  Gangster, Why Cheat India, Once Upon A Time in Mumbai etc.He was nominated to Filmfare  award  4 times.

1991 – Krunal Himanshu Pandya. Indian all rounder cricketer, earliert captained Lucknow Super Giants  and is now with RC Bengalore in 2025 IPL season. He scalpedv 3/25 in the opening game. He is the elder brother of Hardik Pandya (pic credit-PTI).

RIP..…. 1774 – John  Harrison. English clock-maker who designed a  Marine Chronometer  for  ships going  on voyages, to guide them about location thru’  longitude, latitude etc. (pic credit-geo.de).                         Titbits…. 1958 – Famous US singer, pop-dancer and actor  Elvis Presley joined the army. He had  served two years in the army. Most popular American pop-icon and sexually provocative  stylish ‘King of Pop’  sold 146.5 million  music albums (101 Gold  albums)  in 2023 and  had an estimated  net worth of $ 500 millions.

You may have known….

The largest religious complex in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century. There are  about  15 ancient Temples  made on  Mountain Meru during the 9th to 13th  century  by  Mahayana Buddhist Kings – Jayavarman VII and  his  predecessors.  These are  Global heritage monuments and  attract  lakhs of touris to Cambodia every year. 

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