INDIA'S FIRST NEWS PAPER

BENGAL GAZETTE

       In 1780 Hicky's Bengal Gazette was published today in Calcutta,India. It was established by the Irishman James Augustus Hicky and is the first major English newspaper published India. The English lawyer William Hickey, no relation to the aforementioned Irishman, commented on the newspaper and its creator, saying: "There never having been a press in Calcutta.... it occurred to Hicky that great benefit might arise from setting on foot a public newspaper, nothing of that kind ever having appeared... every person read it, and was delighted. Possessing a fund of low wit, his paper abounded with proof of that talent. He had also a happy knack at applying appropriate nicknames and relating satirical anecdotes.''

IMAGE WAS SENT TO A SMALL SCREEN

FLICKERING THREAT TO SMALL SCREEN

  In 1926 Members of the Royal Institution in London today peered at crude and flickering images of a ventriloquist's doll as electrical engineer and inventor John Logic Bird's unveiled his new ''television''  machine. Baird's home-made equipment successfully transmitted a radio signal from a camera that is partly mechanical and partly electrical. The resulting image was sent electrically to a small screen. Two years ago Baird was able to transmit the outline of shapes, and he has progressed from there. The Scottish inventor's far-fetched idea is that his device could one day provide every home with a substitute for the cinema.

BIRTH OF THE INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC OF INDIA

BIRTH OF THE INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC OF INDIA

1950 200 years of British rule has officially come to an end, with the birth of the independent republic of India. A public holiday was declared across the nation and millions of people flocked to the streets celebrating with processions and ceremonies to hoist the new flag of India for the first time. Though the Government of India has been handling its own affairs since 15 August 1947, today's ceremonies mark the severing of India's last ties with Britain. India's first president, Dr Rajendra Prasad, has been officially sworn in and the new Constitution of India has been ratified.

THE DEATH DAY OF BADSHAH SHAH JAHAN , The great Mughal Emperor

THE DEATH DAY OF BADSHAH SHAH JAHAN
         On this day in 1966 Shah Jahan, the mighty Mughal Emperor of India who built the Taj Mahal  as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, died today in the fort where his son, Aurangzeb, imprisoned him eight years ago. he was 74.
He is to be entombed in the Taj Mahal beside his wife. Aurangzeb had fought and killed his brothers to seize the throne, as Shah Jahan had done before him in 1628. Aurangzeb confined his father to his harem in the fort at Agra, from where the old man could gaze at the magnificent white marble mausoleum in which his empress lay. He was a direct descendant of both Genghis Khan and Timur. 

INDIA'S FIRST WOMAN PM

INDIA'S FIRST WOMAN PM
      In 1966 Today, Indira Gandhi become India's first woman Prime Minister. She follows in the footsteps of her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was India's first Prime Minister . Mrs Gandhi, a widow, is not related to Mahatma Gandhi. She was sworn into power today following the sudden death last week of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri  as he was signing a peace pact with Pakistan. She has been president of the ruling National Congress Party since 1959. She follow's Sri Lanka's Mrs Srimavo Bandaranaike, who took office as the world's first woman Prime Minister in 1960.

ISLANDS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN

ISLANDS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN
     On this day in 1778 The English navigator James Cook has discovered a new group of islands in the Pacific Ocean on his 3rd voyage of discovery aboard his ship Resolution. The islands, inhabited by a powerful race of Polynesians, are called Hawaii in the local tongue, but Captain Cook today claimed the territory for the Crown and name them the Sandwich Islands.

      In his attempt to discover a northwest passage from Europe to the Orient from the Pacific side, Captain Cook sailed from the Cap of Good Hope in 1776 to meet the survey vessel Discovery; and then onward to the North American coast via the  Pacific. His plan is to force a passage through Bering Straits into the Arctic Ocean, and return to Europe this way. If no such passage exists, then the Resolution can return the way it came. Cook aims to use the newly-discovered islands as ports of call. However, the islands inhabitants have shown some animosity toward their first European visitors.

THE FAMOUS SIAMESE TWINS

CHANG & ENG, the famous Siamese twins. 

     In 1874 Chang & Eng, the famous Siamese twines, have died within three hours of each-other aged 62. They were joined at the hip, cheats, abdomen, and head, and even shared some organs. Chang & Eng mean ''left'' & ''right'' in Thailand, where they were born. Interestingly They married sisters and fathered 10 and 12 children respectively.

400 MISSIONS AGAINST 60 TARGETS IN IRAQ

BOMBS ON BAGHDAD
     1991 allied jets bombed Baghdad as war broke out early today. In spite of desperate last-minute peach efforts, the UN deadline for Iraq's Saddam Hussein to  withdraw his troop from Kuwait expired at midnight without an Iraqi response. The action started when US warship in the Gulf launched Cruise missiles at Iraqi targets. In the next four hours allied aircraft flew 400 missions against 60 targets in Iraq. UN Secretary General Perez de Cuellar, President Mubarak of Egypt and King Fahad of Saudi Arabia all sent urgent appeals to Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein yesterday. Perez de Cuellar promised that if the present crisis was averted concrete progress immediately be made on the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Palestinian question, which Saddam consistently linked to his invasion of Kuwait. The appeals were fruitless.

BOMBING OF VIETNAM

NIXON HALTS US BOMBING OF VIETNAM
     1973 US President Nixon today ordered a halt to all bombing of Vietnam by American warplanes, less than a month after the massive US ''Christmas bombing'' raids hit North Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. This initiative comes as the Paris peace conference opens, with a cease-fire to end the conflict believed to be imminent. The Christmas bombing was planed by White House strategists as a means of forcing Viet Cong leaders to moderate their demands at the Paris negotiating table. Women and children were evacuated as Hanoi Hospital was hit by bombs, and 1600 civilians killed when more than 36,000 tons of bombs fell on the city over 12 days, leaving Hanoi a wasteland. In Washington a hostile congress had signaled its intention to limit Nixon's power to wage war if bombing continued.

A SAFE LANDING ON THE SURFACE OF AN OBJECT IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM.

SATURN IS WITHIN OUR REACH
      2005 Launched in October 1997, The Cassini-Huygens is a Flagship-Class NASA-ESA-ASI  robotic spacecraft sent on a mission to study Saturn. The name Huygens is derived from the Huygens atmospheric entry probe sent along with the spacecraft. It was supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA) and named after the dutch 17th century astronomer Christian Huygens. Today, the probe has successfully landed on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. It is the first probe to accomplish a safe landing on the surface of an object in the outer Solar System. In the meantime, the spacecraft has been studying Saturn and its many natural satellites since arriving at the planet in 2004. It has also been observing Jupiter, the heliosphere, and testing the theory of relativity. 

THE BIGGEST WRONG DECISION BY MUGHAL EMPEROR JAHANGIR

TRADERS FROM WEST
      On this day 11th January 1615 Mughal Emperor Jahangir has granted permission(farman) to the new traders, who call themselves The East India Company, to establish factories in Surat. in exchange for this permission, the Emperor is expecting an assortment of English products to be sent his way. These English traders come seeking a variety of Indian goods such as cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpeter and tea. Much conflict is expected from their Dutch and Portuguese counterparts, not to forget the French who seem to have established a strong foothold in India. But are they strong enough enough to hold their ground? Only time will tell.