Today’s Motto: ‘To Succeed it is Essential to be Excited with What You are Doing’

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

On this day, 25 Apr….
1684 – Patent granted for thimble. (The Old English word þȳmel, the ancestor of thimble, is derived from Old English þūma, the ancestor of our word thumb).

1792 – In Paris, the Guillotine was used for the first time on a human, highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier, after having been tested on corpses and sheep. The severed head fell into a wicker basket; sawdust absorbed the blood. According to the Chronique de Paris, “The people were not satisfied at all. … Everything happened too fast. They dispersed with disappointment,” wanting the gallows back, with more spectacle.

1809 – Amritsar Agreement between Maharaja  Ranjit Singh and British East India Company. His Sikh empire flourished under  him  between 1801-1839, when he died and his successors could not stand the English army power.  He was crowned Maharaja of Punjab  (capital in Lahore) at an age of 21.

1859 – Work began on the 100-mile Suez Canal in Egypt, to link the Mediterranean and the Red Seas. It provided a direct transportation route for trade between Europe and Asia. (The first blow of the pickax was given by its French engineer, Ferdinand vicomte de Lesseps at Port Said. He initiated and supervised the project to link the Mediterranean and the Red Seas. The 100-mile long canal provides a direct transportation route for trade between Europe and Asia).

1901 – New York became the first state to require automobile license  (No. plates).

1915 – The German High Command admitted that chlorine gas bombs and shells had been used in the attack on the French front at Ypres three days earlier. The effect of the gas attack was to open a four-mile gap in the Allied line. The Canadian troops on one flank held against German attacks, and British and Indian forces filled the breach. Fortunately for the Allies, the Germans had no reserve forces available to push into the breach. No tactical advantage was won by this first use of the new weapon. The Germans promised, however, that “more effective substances can be expected.” Meanwhile, they were condemned for the use of this novel weapon.

1938 – 1st use of seeing eye dog (a dog that leads blind people). .

1959 – The earliest known case of AIDS was admitted in the Royal Manchester Infirmary in England. He died 4 1/2 months later.

1961 – The integrated circuit was patented by Robert Noyce. He also co-founded Intel Corpn.  in 1968. He was the co-founder of Microchip, Fairchild  Semiconductors and had over a dozen Patents in computer gadgets and ideas. The co-inventor of Microchip  Jack Kilby was awarded Nobel in 2000 while Noyce was dead. Though he was awarded ‘Nobel Prize ‘for Engineering by the American Assocviation of Engineering Schools (pic credit-ar.inspiredpencil.com).

1982 – India’s first telecast colour broadcasting started on Dordarshan, to  facilitate Delhites  watch Asiad-82 Games.  Appu, the games mascot got an instant  popularity.

1986 – The Chernobyl nuclear accident, a devastating environmental catastrophe, occurred in Ukraine ( a state of earstwhile USSR),  releasing large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere, according to Britannica.

1993 – Indian Airlines plane hijacker shot dead by commandoes. All 141 persons rescued.

1998 – India protests against Pakistan raising the Kashmir issue at the first SAARC Information Ministers conference in Dhaka.

2015 – A 7.9-magnitude earthquake hits Nepal, causing over 2,400 deaths, fatal avalanches on Mt. Everest, and destruction of historic sites such as the Dharahara tower.

2018 – Religious leader Asaram Bapu is sentenced to life for raping a 16-year old girl. He and his son are still in jail facing  prosecution due to   various  convictions.

2019 – Microsoft becomes the third US firm to be listed with a market worth of 1 trillion, after Apple and Amazon.

2023 – Japanese M1 spacecraft crashes on the moon, in its attempt to become the first privately-owned spacecraft to land on the Moon.

Born….  1989 – Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, 11th Panchen Lama, born in Lhari County, Tibet. He was recognized as the 11th Panchen Lama by the 14th Dalai Lama on May 14, m1995 but  the Chinese government did not recognise him. He was kidnapped 3 days later (allegedly  on Chinese Communist Party  orders)  and  is still not traceable.

RIP…. 2005 – Swami Ranganathananda, monk at Belur Math (West Bengal), the headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission.  He was a great  Vedanta  scholar,  the 13th  President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. Indian govt. issued a Rs 5  postal stamp in 2008,  as a tribute to his  contribution to social  and intellectual  contributions (pic credit-rammadhav.com).

You may have known….  1.  As early as in the 1880s families could buy foldaway bathtubs, and tubs that doubled as sofas.

2.  Lonar Lake, a saltwater lake in Maharashtra, was created by a meteor hitting the earth and is one of its kind in India.                                                                                                        {Compiled by  Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}