47th birthday of Guy Ritchie - an English filmmaker known for his crime films like Sherlock Holmes (2009) and its sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).

128th birth anniversary of Govind Ballabh Pant - a veteran Indian freedom fighter and politician who alongside Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru was a key figure in the movement for India's independence and subsequently was a pivotal figure in the independent Indian Government.He was the first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in Independent India. Among his achievements in that position was the abolition of the zamindari system.

day`s thought booster

12th death anniversary of Edward Teller - a Hungarian-born American theoretical physicist who, although he claimed he did not care for the title, is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb".

30th death anniversary of Paul Flory - an American chemist and Nobel laureate who was known for his work in the field of polymers, or macromolecules. He was a leading pioneer in understanding the behavior of polymers in solution, and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1974.

39th death anniversary of Mao Zedong - also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976), was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and the founding father of the People's Republic of China, which he governed as Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. His Marxist–Leninist theories, military strategies and political policies are collectively known as Marxism–Leninism–Maoism or Mao Zedong Thought.

66th birth anniversary of John Curry - was a British figure skater. He was the 1976 Olympic and World Champion. He was famous for combining ballet and modern dance influences into his skating.

125th birth anniversary of Colonel Sanders - an American businessman, best known for founding fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken(KFC) and later acting as the company's goodwill ambassador and symbol.

162nd birth anniversary of Fred Spofforth - also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century and was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a Test hat-trick in 1879.

187th birth anniversary of Leo Tolstoy - was a Russian novelist regarded as one of the greatest of all time. He is best known for War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

165th birth anniversary of Bharatendu Harishchandra - known as the father of modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre. He is considered one of the greatest Hindi writers of modern India. A recognised poet, he was a trendsetter in Hindi prose-writing.

48th birthday of Akshay Kumar – Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia better known as Akshay Kumar is an Indian actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. He has been nominated for Filmfare Awards several times, winning it two times

50th birthday of Gautam Singhania - an Indian Industrialist. He is the Chairman & Managing Director of the Raymond Group, the world's largest producer of worsted suiting fabric.

41st birth anniversary of Captain Vikram Batra - an officer of the Indian Army, posthumously awarded with the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest and prestigious award for valour, for his actions during the 1999 Kargil War in Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

day`s thought booster

30th death anniversary of John Franklin Enders - an American bio-medical scientist and Nobel laureate(1954). Enders has been called "The Father of Modern Vaccines."

32nd death anniversary of Antonin Magne - a French cyclist who won the Tour de France in 1931 and 1934. He raced as a professional from 1927 to 1939 and then became a team manager.

34th death anniversary of Hideki Yukawa - was a Japanese theoretical physicist and the first Japanese Nobel laureate

35th death anniversary

28th birthday of Alexandre Bilodeau - a retired Canadian freestyle skier from Montreal, Quebec. Bilodeau won a gold medal in the men's moguls at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, becoming the first Canadian to win a gold medal at an Olympic Games held in Canada. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, he became the first Olympian in history to defend his gold medal in any freestyle skiing event as well as the first Canadian to defend an individual title since Catriona Le May Doan at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Bilodeau is a three-time FIS World Champion in dual moguls, and is also a two-time Worlds silver medalist in moguls. He was the FIS World Cup champion for the 2008–09 season winning the moguls and overall freestyle skiing title that season. In his final World Cup race, he retired with a win, and in doing so, surpassed Jean-Luc Brassard for the most World Cup medals by a Canadian.

45th death anniversary of Percy Spencer - an American engineer and inventor. He became known as the inventor of the microwave oven.

80th death anniversary of Edward L. Doheny - a Californian oil tycoon who, in 1892, drilled the first successful oil well in the Los Angeles City Oil Field.

85th birthday of Jeannette Altwegg - a British former figure skater. She is the 1952 Olympic champion in ladies' singles, the 1948 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1951 World champion, and the 1951 & 1952 European champion.

121st death anniversary of Hermann von Helmholtz - a German physician and physicist who made significant contributions to several widely varied areas of modern science. In physiology and psychology, he is known for his mathematics of the eye, theories of vision, ideas on the visual perception of space, color vision research, and on the sensation of tone, perception of sound, and empiricism. In physics, he is known for his theories on the conservation of energy, work in electrodynamics, chemical thermodynamics, and on a mechanical foundation of thermodynamics. As a philosopher, he is known for his philosophy of science, ideas on the relation between the laws of perception and the laws of nature, the science of aesthetics, and ideas on the civilizing power of science. The largest German association of research institutions, the Helmholtz Association, is named after him.

36th birthday of Pink - Alecia Beth Hart, better known by her stage name Pink, is an American singer and songwriter. Originally a member of the girl group Choice, she rose to fame as an R&B artist with her debut solo album, Can't Take Me Home.

33rd death anniversary of Sheikh Abdullah - was an Indian statesman who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost Indian state. The self-styled "Sher-e-Kashmir" (Lion of Kashmir), Abdullah was the founding leader of the National Conference and thrice served as the head of government in Kashmir.

55th birth anniversary of Feroze Gandhi - an Indian politician and journalist. He served as the publisher of the The National Herald and The Navjivan newspapers from Lucknow. He was the husband of Indira Gandhi and the son-in-law to Jawaharlal Nehru.

89th birth anniversary of Bhupen Hazarika - an Indian lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam. His songs, written and sung mainly in the Assamese language by himself, are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood.

82nd birthday of Asha Bhosle - commonly referred to as Ashaji, is an Indian singer. She is best known as a playback singer in Hindi cinema, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades.

Celebrating International Literacy Day 2015: Literacy and Sustainable Societies

day`s thought booster

103rd birth anniversary of David Packard - a co-founder, with William Hewlett, of Hewlett-Packard, serving as president, CEO, and Chairman of the Board. He served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1969–1971 during the Nixon administration

92nd birth anniversary of Louise Suggs - an American professional golfer, one of the founders of the LPGA Tour and thus modern ladies' golf.

98th birth anniversary of John Cornforth - an Australian–British chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975 for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalysed reactions,becoming the only Nobel laureate born in New South Wales.

59th death anniversary of Charles Burgess Fry - known as C. B. Fry, was an English polymath; an outstanding sportsman, politician, diplomat, academic, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer.

42nd birthday of Shannon Elizabeth - an American actress and former fashion model. Elizabeth is well known for her roles in comedy films such as American Pie, Scary Movie and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back.

52nd birth anniversary of Neerja Bhanot - was a flight attendant for Pan Am, based in Mumbai, India, who was murdered while saving passengers from terrorists on board the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 on 5 September 1986.

38th birthday of Sachin Pilot - a politician and a member of the Indian National Congress. He represented Ajmer constituency of Rajasthan as a member of Indian Parliament in the 15th Lok Sabha.

day`s thought booster

123rd birth anniversary of Edward Victor Appleton - was an English physicist. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1947 for his seminal work proving the existence of the ionosphere during experiments carried out in 1924.

109th birth anniversary of Luis Federico Leloir - an Argentine physician and biochemist who received the 1970 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

108th death anniversary of Sully Prudhomme - a French poet and essayist, and was the first ever winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1901.

43rd death anniversary of Ustad Allauddin Khan - a Bengali shorodi and multi-instrumentalist, composer and one of the most renowned music teachers of the 20th century in Indian classical music.

58th birthday of Jeff Foxworthy - an American stand-up comedian, actor, television and radio personality, author, and voice artist.

77th birthday of Susumu Tonegawa - a Japanese scientist who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his discovery of the genetic mechanism that produces antibody diversity.

155th birth anniversary of Jane Addams - a pioneer American settlement social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women's suffrage and world peace. In 1931 she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States.

249th birth anniversary of John Dalton - an English chemist, physicist, and meteorologist. He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of modern atomic theory; and his research into colour blindness, sometimes referred to as Daltonism, in his honour.

86th birth anniversary of Yash Johar - an Indian Bollywood film producer. He founded Dharma Productions in 1976 and made Hindi films that were noted for featuring lavish sets and exotic locations, but upheld Indian traditions and family values.

67th birthday of Rakesh Roshan - an Indian producer, director and former actor in Bollywood films. He is known for having the greatest hero roles in many films in the period 1970-1990.

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