1246
Allauddin Masood Shah, Sultan of Dehli, was thrown off the throne.
1752
On this day in 1752, Benjamin Franklin flied a kite during a thunderstorm and collected a charge in a Leyden jar when the kite got struck by lightning, enabled him to demonstrate the electrical nature of lightning. Franklin became interested in electricity in the mid-1740s, a time when much was still unknown on the topic, and spent almost a decade conducting electrical experiments. He coined a number of terms used today, including battery, conductor and electrician. He also invented the lightning rod, used to protect buildings and ships.
1833
Azad Muhammad Jussain, Urdu poet and educationalist, was born.
1888
Balraj Bhalla, revolutionary, was born.
1890
Sunday introduced as a weekly holiday.
1891
Gandhiji was called to the Bar.
1900
Jayantnath Chaudhary, former General of Indian Army General, was born.
1942
77 Mountain Brigade was raised at Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.
1946
Gandhiji refused to enthuse over allied victory as it was not a “victory of truth”.
1955
Prakash Padukone, internationally famous Badminton player, was born.
1957
Bhai Vir Singh, great Punjabi poet, novelist, social reformer, musician, humanitarian and Padma Bhushan awardee, died
1966
MIG aeroplanes were designed at Nashik.
1980
In South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) made public a statement by Nelson Mandela, the long imprisoned leader of the anti-apartheid movement. The message, smuggled out of Robben Island prison under great risk, read, “UNITE! MOBILISE! FIGHT ON! BETWEEN THE ANVIL OF UNITED MASS ACTION AND THE HAMMER OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE WE SHALL CRUSH APARTHEID!”
1991
On this day in 1991 at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, 14,500 personnel were evacuated in anticipation of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. Over the next several days, the eruptions killed hundreds of people and sent tons of ash and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere.
1997
Three Indians – Kumaramangalam Birla, Ratan Tata and Dhirubhai Ambani – figure in the list of Asia’s top 100 super rich.
Related Articles: