Today’s Motto: ‘The best way to predict the future is to create it’

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

On this day, 15 Aug ….

1784 – The first successful balloon ascent to be made in England was demonstrated by an Italian, Vincenzo Lunardi before a crowd of onlookers in London that included the Prince of Wales and other eminent statesmen (pic credit-www.gsnsp.com).

1817 – The first U.S. mill to roll and puddle iron was opened. (A puddling furnace reduces the carbon content in cast iron to produce malleable iron).

1830 – William Huskisson, a British statesman became the first railway fatality while observing the ceremonial procession of locomotives at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester railway.

1854 – The East India Railway ran the first passenger train from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Hooghly (pic credit-telegraphindia.com).

1857 – A U.S. patent was issued for the design of a typesetting machine invented by Timothy Alden of New York. This is the first such machine that actually operated.

1885 – A U.S. patent was issued for saccharine, the artificial sweetener discovered by Constantin Fahlberg.  He described mixing 2-lb of the chemical compound with 1-ton of grape sugar, by solution and evaporation. Taking advantage of the lower cost of grape sugar, this was cheaper than cane-sugar.

1907 – Indian Bank – was established on 15 August in Madras,  by Indian freedom-fighter,  businessman, politician  M Ramaswamy Chettiar,  as part of the Swadeshi Movement.  Though the oldest bank in India is The Madras Bank (1683), followed by the Bank of Bombay, founded in 1720, which is then followed by the Bank of Hindustan, founded in 1770.

1918 – 1st full length cartoon (Sinking of Lusitania)

1947 – India declares independence from UK: Islamic part becomes Pakistan. (The British ruled India first  from 1757 – 1858) through East India Company and from 1858 to 1947 through Crown or direct rule. This system of governance was instituted on 28 June 1858, when, after the failed war of independence of 1857, the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria who, in 1876, was proclaimed Empress of India. The Independence Movement, that lasted 190 years, was first started in Bengal. Moderate leaders sought only their basic right to appear for Indian Civil Service examinations, as well as more rights, economic in nature. The early part of the 20th century saw a more radical approach towards political self-rule proposed by leaders such as Lal, Bal, Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh. The last stages of the self-rule struggle from the 1920s onwards saw Congress adopt Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s policy of nonviolence and civil resistance. Activists Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh preached armed revolution to achieve self-rule. Feminists such as Sarojini Naidu and Begum Rokeya promoted the emancipation of Indian women and their participation in national politics. Babasaheb Ambedkar championed the cause of the disadvantaged sections of Indian society within the larger self-rule movement. The period of the Second World War saw the peak of the campaigns by the Quit India movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Army movement led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose  (pics credit-Google Gemini and HT Media).

1947 – Defence Gallantry Awards (6) – Param Vir Chakra,  Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra,  and Shaurya Chakra  were instituted to honour  extraordinary  valour, courage and sacrifice by our Defence personnel. More  Gallantry awasrds were added later.

1949 – Chandernagore (Bengal)  joins the Indian Union.

1949 – Panchayati Raj inaugurated in 114,000 villages.

1954 – Satyagrah led by  freedom fighters  Shivaji Rao Desai, Narayan Patekar, Madhu Limaye,  Ram Manohar Lohia, etc.   started for the freedom of Goa.

1962  – Indian National Committe for Space Research  was formed   PM Nehru on the recommendation of space scientist  Vikram Sarabhai. It was renasmed as  ISRO ( Indian Space Research Organisation in 1969.

1972 – Postal Index Number (PIN Code) of 6-digits was introduced.

1975 – Army officers in Bangladesh stage a military coup d’état, assassinate their  first elected President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most members of his family, and install Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad as President.

1982 – The national program of nationwide colour broadcasting and TV was inaugurated in Delhi, coinciding with Asian Games 1982.

2008 – On the occasion of Independence Day, President Pratibha Patil unveiled the statue of freedom fighter Shaheed Bhagat Singh in Parliament House Complex.

1990 – GOI declares Prophet Mohammed’s birthday a national holiday.

Born….  1872 – Sri Aurobindo -Maharishi, Yogi,  nationalist freedopm fighter. He co-founded and edited  the newspaper Bande Matram alongwith Bipin Chandra Pal in 1905. He wrote several books on Hindu Dharma, Culture and Indian Way of Life. He visited Europe and had several foreign followers visiting him in his Ashram later.

1912 – Ustad Amir Khan, famous Indian classical music singer who established  Indore Gharana.

1947 – Raakhee Gulzar, film actress. and Bollywood  film actress. She debuted in film industry through Badhu Bharan, a Bengali film and the Jeevan Mrityu in Hindi.  Her sucessful films are Kabhie Kabhie, Daag, Ankhon Ankhon Mein, Kaala Pather, Trishna, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Ram Lakhan, Tapasya, Baazigar, Shakti, Barsat Ki Ek Raat, Border, Karan Arjun  etc. She won 2 National Film and 3 Filmfare awards apart from Bengal Film Journalists’ Award and Padma Shri in 2003. She married veteran poet,  lyricist Gulzar and has a film producer Meghna Gulzar aas their daughter.

1971 – Adnan Sami, is an Indian  singer,  composer and actor who sings in Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam. He has married Four times and has a son. He worked in My Name is Khan, Koi Mil Gaya,  Ajnabi, Bajrangi Bhaijan. He was awarded Padma Shri and his net worth is about $ 50 million

RIP…. 1950 – 8.6 earthquake in India kills 20,000 to 30,000 in Assam.

You may have known….India is on track to increase its workforce to 457.62 million by 2028. According to the report this surge in demand presents retail professionals with a valuable opportunity to upskill in areas like Software Application Development and Data Engineering, equipping them for a tech-driven landscape. This is followed by manufacturing (1.50 million jobs), education (0.84 million jobs), and healthcare (0.80 million jobs).

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