Today’s Motto: ‘Whatever your mind can conceive, you can achieve’

On this day, 24 Sep ….

622 – Muhammad and his followers completed their Hijra from Mecca to Medina to escape religious persecution.

1852 – A new invention, the dirigible – a semi-rigid airship – was demonstrated in a flight from Paris to Trappe.

1853 – 1st round-the-world trip by yacht  by  viyager Cornelius Vanderbilt, also called Commodore  (pic credit-britannica.com).

1873 – Establishment of “Satyashodhak Samaj”, (Truth-seeker Movement) at Pune, Maharashtra, India by Mahatma Jyotirao Phule.

1889 – Alexander Dey patented the dial time recorder. This style of time clock was first manufactured by the Dey Company and then as Industrial Time Recorders (ITR) after 1907. It used a dial that employees were required to point to their assigned number, and press to record the time of arrival and departure. The numbers of the employees and times were recorded on a sheet of paper wrapped around a drum.

1932 – Gandhi and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar agree to the Poona Pact, which reserved seats in the Indian provincial legislatures for the “Depressed Classes” (Untouchables).

1932 – Preetilata Waddedara, the first armed woman revolutionary, was hanged for “Chatgaon Ammunitions plot”.

1947 – Pakistani army  raiders invade Kashmir in the garb of  Pashtun mujahideen  and occupy large areas  of Jammu &  Kashmir (called POK).

1960 – The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, was launched in Newport, Virginia.

1997 – I. K. Gujral, Prime Minister, formally stated India’s claim to Permanent Membership of Security Council with Veto power,  at the U.N. General Assembly Annual  meeting.

1999 – The Chief Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) was renamed as the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions), Allahabad.
2014 – India  successfully launched a space probe into orbit around Mars on its maiden attempt, making it the first Asian country to orbit the planet; at $74 million, the spacecraft cost about 11% of the U.S. Maven, which reached Mars orbit two days prior (pic credit-Indian Space Research Organisation). 

Born….  1629 – Raj Singh I, the Maharana  of Mewar  (1652-1680),  the 2nd son of Maharana Pratap Singh I, from Sisodiya  dynasty. He faught against Mughals and defeated Aurangzeb’s army  several times.

1861 – Madame Bhikaji Rustom Cama, called the mother of the Indian Revolution. From an early age she took interest in social and political  movements (pic credit-moneycontrol.com).

1880 –  Sarah Knauss,  the 3rd longest living American  born in Hollywood  Pennsylvania. she lived 119 years 320 days until Dec. 31, 1999.  When asked about secret of her logivity, Knauss responded,  “keep yourself busy, work hard, and not worry about how old you are.”  She was a non-smoker and was never considered obese at any point in her life. She did have a fondness for sweets, however, and her great-granddaughter claimed that Knauss “hated vegetables”. A member of the staff at Knauss’ nursing home claimed that she was the friendliest of all residents at the home, and  never  in her life , had she scolded anyone or even appeared stressed.

1911 – Konsten Chernenko. General Secretary of  Soviet  Union in 1984-85 after Leonid Brezhnev. He was awarded Hero of  Socialist  Labour 3 times and Order of Lenin 4 times.

1950 – Mohinder Amarnath, cricketer, coach, and sports broadcaster.  Also called  as Jummy,  he was the 2nd son of legendary Lala Amarnath who was First Indian opener to score a century in 1932  and captained Indian Test team during  India-Pak series in 1952  post indipendence.  Mohinder was an all-rounder playing at No. 3 position. He was member of victor   Indian squad in 1983 Cricket  World Cup and 1985 World Chamionship. He also appeared in 3 films  on cricketing theme, playing his own role and his father’s  role. He has won several  awards and coached Indian team during late 1980s and 1990s (pic credit-sportskeeda.com).

RIP…  1959 – Nana Saheb, alias Dhundu Pant, one of the top leaders of Sepoy Mutiny.  He was hiding in Nepal  (near Kathmandu)  and  is reported to have died of maleria..

You may have known….  There are 34,908 colleges in India. Bangalore district tops in terms of number of colleges with 924 colleges .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      {Compiled by Lt. Gen. (R)  Raj Kadyan}