THOUGHT OF THE DAY
"Survival can be summed up in three words - never give up. That's the heart of it really. Just keep trying."
Bear Grylls
Events that took place on this day in history 13 December
*In 1795,
Meteorite crashes into Wold Newton in Yorkshire, England.
Major Edward Topham owned the land where the meteorite crashed. The stone fell at around 3 o'clock, on 13 December 1795, landing within a few yards of ploughman John Shipley. It created a crater approximately 1 yard (0.91 m) across, and embedded itself in the underlying chalk rock to a depth of 7 inches (180 mm), passing through 12 inches (300 mm) of topsoil. The stone initially weighed 56 pounds (25 kg).He exhibited it later, and today it is in the Natural History Museum in London.
*In 1642,
First European to Reach New Zealand
Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer and merchant, reached the coast of South Island in New Zealand, and named it Staten Landt. Tasman was also the first European in recorded history to step foot on Tasmania, an island state in Australia. Tasman claimed the island for the Dutch crown. It is named after him as well.
Famous people that have birthdays on this day in history 13 December
*In 1835,
Pathani Samanta was an Indian astronomer and scholar who measured the distance from the Earth to the Sun with a bamboo pipe, and traditional instruments.His research and observations were compiled into a book called Siddhanta Darpana, which was written in both Sanskrit and the Odia script. He earned the Mahamahopadhyaya Award in 1893, for his usage of traditional instruments for astronomical observations.
*In 1929,
Rajkamal Choudhary
was an Indian poet, short story writer, novelist, critic and thinker in Maithili, Hindi and Bengali languages. He was known as "a bold leader of new poetry" and writer who "stands out differently" from most other experimentalists.
Famous people that have death anniversaries on this day in history 13 December
*In 1969,
Sir Benegal Rama Rau, CIE, ICS was the fourth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1 July 1949 to 14 January 1957.He was educated at Presidency College, Madras, and at King's College, Cambridge. Joining the Indian Civil Service in 1919, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1930 and was knighted in 1939. He was a member of the Indian Civil Service. While he had the longest tenure as Governor of the RBI, it was cut short when he resigned just before the expiry of his second extended term, due to differences with Finance Minister.
*In 1986,
Smita Patil was an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Regarded among the finest stage and film actresses of her times and one of the greatest film actresses of all time, Smita Patil appeared in over 80 Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam and Kannada films in a career that spanned just over a decade.During her career, she received two National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. She was the recipient of the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour in 1985.
National Violin day
National Violin Day is celebrated on December 13 to celebrate the musical instrument. It recognises the impact and cultural contributions of the instrument. Arnold Rosé from Romania was the world's first violinist. The word 'violin' comes from the Medieval Latin word 'vitula', meaning stringed instrument, and graduated into the family of Viols.