Today’s Motto: ‘Unless we take action based on them, our faith, beliefs and convictions remain hollow’

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

On this day,  Nov.15…….

1492 – Christopher Columbus notes 1st recorded reference to tobacco.

1837 – Isaac Pitman introduces his steno system, the most widely used system of shorthand, known now as Pitman shorthand.

1883 – Thomas Edison received a patent for his two-element vacuum tube, the forerunner of the vacuum tube rectifier.

1887 – German scientist, Dr. Carl Gassner, was issued a U.S. patent, the first in the U.S. for a “dry” cell.

1896 – The first long-distance transmission of hydroelectricity from the Niagara Falls Power Company flowed to Buffalo, N.Y., 26 miles away.

1899 – Morning Post reporter Winston Churchill captured by Boers in Natal.

1904 – King Camp Gillette was issued a U.S. patent for his invention of a safety razor using disposable blades. The blade was made from very thin sheet-steel – 0.006 in. Further, their low cost enabled the user to buy them in quantity and simply throw them away when dull. Two sides were finished with cutting edges thus doubling their life.

1948 – The first gas-turbine electric locomotive in the U.S. was track-tested in Erie, Pensylvania.

1989 – Test debut of Sachin Tendulkar and Waqar Yunus at Karachi.

1991 – Import curbs on capital goods relaxed in India.

2000 – Jharkhand was formed as a new State of India.

2011 – In Tibet, several acts of self-immolation prompt exiled Tibetans in India to urge the Chinese government to end its repressive policies restricting the Tibetan’s religious freedom.

2013 – Sony launches the Playstation Four, selling one million units on the first day.

2018 – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirms more than 28,000 of the country’s military and police have been killed since 2015.

2020 – SpaceX Falcon 9 launches first regular flight to International Space Station with four astronauts, three from NASA, one Japanese.

2022 – World’s population reaches 8 billion, just 11 years after passing 7 billion, though now slowing down (9 billion expected in about 2037), according to the UN.

Born….

1932 – Air Chief Marshal Surinder Kumar Mehra, former Chief of Indian Air Force, from  July 31, 1988 to July 31, 1991 (Photo credit -Bharat Rakshak)

1947 – Vidya Sinha, Bollywood actor.

1986 – Sania Mirza, ace Indian tennis player.

RIP….

1937 – Jayshankar Prasad, famous Hindi writer. His works include the epics (mahakavyas) “Kamayanee” and play ‘Chandra Gupt’ (photo credit – Wikimedia).

1949 – Nathuram Godse. He was a right-wing advocate of Hindu nationalism who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. After a trial that lasted over a year, Godse was sentenced to death on 8 November 1949. Although pleas for commutation were made by Gandhi’s two sons, Godse was hanged in the Ambala jail on 15 November 1949.

1982 – Acharya Vinoba Bhave, great freedom fighter and social reformer, known for Bhoodan Andolan (pic credit- X.com)

You may have known….

Embryos develop fingerprints three months after conception.

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