Today’s Motto: ‘The higher we soar, the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly’

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

On this day, 28 Aug ….

1565 – Oldest city in the U.S., St. Augustine Florida, established. It is about 40 miles south of North Eastern  Coast  of  Atlantic Ocean.

1600 – Mughals capture Ahmednagar. Founded by Ahmed  Nizam Shah -I, in 1494, it was captured by  Deccan Sultans until 1600 when  Mughals gained control and ruled  it  until 1759 when Peshwas/Scindhias  (Marathas) took over and ruled  upto 1817.

1830 – “Tom Thumb,” the first locomotive built in America, ran from Baltimore to Ellicotts Mill.

1837 – Pharmacists John Lea and William Perrins of Worcester, England began the manufacture of Worcester Sauce. Its origin was accidental. The two Worcestershire chemists (pharmacists) who’s names are on the bottle were asked to make a sauce using a recipe Lord Marcus Sandys, governor of Bengal, had brought from India. The result had a harsh, unpalatable taste. The batch was stored in their cellar, forgotten for a year. At that time, after an aging process, a chance tasting for the sauce was now tasty. Upon selling the new savory sauce,they found a sustained demand, and by 1843 they sold 14,500 per year. The exact ingredients remain a trade secret, but are known to include molasses, tamarins, onions, cloves, chillies and shallots from various countries around the world (pic credit-museumofroyalworcester.org).

1802- The first issue of the Scientific American was planned  in August 1801 but  published by Rufus Porter, a versatile, if eccentric Yankee, who was by turns a portrait-painter, schoolmaster, inventor and editor.  Today, Scientific American publishes 18 foreign-language editions around the globe. He married twice and had 10 children.  (pic-credit-themagazineantiques.com).

1883 – The first controlled flight in a glider was made by John J. Montgomery at Wheeler Hill, California. He sailed a distance of 603 feet at a height of about 15 feet.

1963 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his famous “I have a dream speech”  addressing civil rights march at Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.

1972 – General Insurance Business in India was nationalised.

1973 – India and Pakistan sign POW accord paving the way for return of over 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war..

1981 – Legendary  sprinter Sebastian Coe of U.K. sets 1-mile  record of 3:47.33 (since broken).

1997 – Election Commission orders that no convicted person will be allowed to contest elections even if an appeal against the conviction was pending in a higher court.

1998 – India and Pakistan clash at the Security Council after New Delhi denounced the running of terrorist training camps in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Afghanistan.

2008 – The internationally renowned magazine Forbes included Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati among the 100 most powerful women in the world.

2011 – Lokpal Movement: Anna Hazare announced the suspension of his 13-day fast at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan after the Indian Parliament passed a resolution in support of the 3 demands.

2017 – PV Sindhu won silver at the Badminton World Championships.

Born…. 1896 – Firaq Gorakhpuri (Raghupati Sahai),  was a popular poet, Urdu Shayar and  lecturer. His collections Gul-e-Nagma,  Gul-e-Ra’naa,  Mash’aal,  Rooh-e-Kaynaat,  Sargam,  Bazm-e-Zindgi:  Rang-e-Shayri were  some  of  his  famous works. He was honoured with Jnanpeeth award and Sahitya Akademi awad in Urdu in 1960.

1905 – Major Dhyanchand, remembered as, Hockey Ka Jadoogar. He represented India in  1928, -32. -36b Olympics and is credited to have  trained hundreds of young players until 1964. He scored over 1000 hockey international goals during his playig  tenure.  He was offered German citizenship  by Chancellor  Adolf Hitler in  1936 for having scored  4 out of 8 goals in Olypic Final, defeatimg German team 8-1.  He was offered Colonel’s rank but he refused politely, saying  “I am Proud of being an Indian!’  He was head coach in National Institue of Sports, Patiala and was awarded Padma Bhushan;  his birthday being called National Sports Day and  Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award instituted to pay tribute to the Mohammed Ali of Hockey (as called by BBC).

1928 – Ustad Vilayat Khan, veteran Sarod player,  one of the greatest  classical  music  composer, who described music as Connect with God. He was decorated with Bharat Sitar Samrat honour but he refused to accept  Padma awards calling the committees incompetent to judge his music (pic credit-Getty images). 

1966 – Priya Dutt, social worker and politician.  Daughter of  popular  hero  Sunil Dutt and iconic heroine Nargis Dutt. Sister of famous actor   Sanjay Dutt,  she is a  social worker and politician. She represented  Mumbai North West in the Lok Sabha for Congress Party in 2005, 2009 but was defeated by Poonam Mahajan in 2019.

1975 – Ejaz Khan, popular  Bollywood  and TV serial  actor playing  investigative supercop roles (pc credit-thepersonage.com).

You may have known…. A  2025 FLAME University report estimates 29,000 Centenarians as of 2020, who have Celebrated   100 years of Life)  and projects it will double by 2030.                                                                                                                                                                 {Compiled by  Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}