Feb 14 Isn’t Just Valentine’s Day, It’s Historic In Many Other Ways
ITS ABOUT STOLEN ARTICLES...(oops .. ok read on)
Reshmi R Dasgupta NEW DELHI 13 FEBRUARY
WHY think only of Cupid or Kamadev today? Plenty other events are linked to February 14. When you ring up your sweetheart or SMS, spare a thought for Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray. Both invented the telephone at the same time, but independently.
On February 14, 1876, Gray applied to the patent office but Bell had done the needful two hours earlier. After much litigation (Bell’s device named in the patent did not work), Gray was awarded rights to the invention but most think Bell’s the one.
Valentine Day lesson 1: Timing is everything. If she brings out the animal in you on Valentine’s Day (before you check the credit card update on the computer, of course), shout, “Me Tarzan, you Jane”, as a salute to the movie Tarzan of the Apes, released on this day in 1918. And talking of laptops, here’s another factoid:IBM came into the world that day. In 1924, under its president Thomas Watson Sr, Computing Tabulating Recording (CTR) Corporation changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation.
VDay lesson 2: Act first, think (pad) later. If you’re keeping a wary eye out for Bajrang Dal activists as you choose a Valentine’s Day card, a bit of trivia may just change the focus of their activities. As they decry the dilution of Indian culture, remind them that it’s the day that Babur was born, way back in 1483. And mention that February 14 was also the day his Mughal ancestor Timur the Lame died — in 1405.
Valentine’s day: Just imagine... BUT don’t tell them that on that same day in 1929 the notorious Al Capone bumped off seven members of his rival’s gang in Chicago.
V-Day lesson 3: Distraction is the better part of valour. On a serious note, this was also the day in 1989 that Ayatollah Khomeini pronounced the fatwa on Salman Rushdie, on the same day that Union Carbide agreed to a $470-m pay-out to the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy.
It’s also the day in 1975 that PG Wodehouse (whose inimitable Bertie Wooster was never lucky with his lady loves) died, aged 93. And on this day, just last year, the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated.
V-Day lesson 4: Into every life (and love) a little rain must fall. But hey, today’s the day that New York mayor Michael Bloomberg can finally sing, “When I’m 64”. And it’s also the day in 1972 that John n’ Yoko began their week-long anchoring of the Mike Douglas Show.
And the final V-Day lesson: Imagine....
ITS ABOUT STOLEN ARTICLES...(oops .. ok read on)
Reshmi R Dasgupta NEW DELHI 13 FEBRUARY
WHY think only of Cupid or Kamadev today? Plenty other events are linked to February 14. When you ring up your sweetheart or SMS, spare a thought for Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray. Both invented the telephone at the same time, but independently.
On February 14, 1876, Gray applied to the patent office but Bell had done the needful two hours earlier. After much litigation (Bell’s device named in the patent did not work), Gray was awarded rights to the invention but most think Bell’s the one.
Valentine Day lesson 1: Timing is everything. If she brings out the animal in you on Valentine’s Day (before you check the credit card update on the computer, of course), shout, “Me Tarzan, you Jane”, as a salute to the movie Tarzan of the Apes, released on this day in 1918. And talking of laptops, here’s another factoid:IBM came into the world that day. In 1924, under its president Thomas Watson Sr, Computing Tabulating Recording (CTR) Corporation changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation.
VDay lesson 2: Act first, think (pad) later. If you’re keeping a wary eye out for Bajrang Dal activists as you choose a Valentine’s Day card, a bit of trivia may just change the focus of their activities. As they decry the dilution of Indian culture, remind them that it’s the day that Babur was born, way back in 1483. And mention that February 14 was also the day his Mughal ancestor Timur the Lame died — in 1405.
Valentine’s day: Just imagine... BUT don’t tell them that on that same day in 1929 the notorious Al Capone bumped off seven members of his rival’s gang in Chicago.
V-Day lesson 3: Distraction is the better part of valour. On a serious note, this was also the day in 1989 that Ayatollah Khomeini pronounced the fatwa on Salman Rushdie, on the same day that Union Carbide agreed to a $470-m pay-out to the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy.
It’s also the day in 1975 that PG Wodehouse (whose inimitable Bertie Wooster was never lucky with his lady loves) died, aged 93. And on this day, just last year, the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated.
V-Day lesson 4: Into every life (and love) a little rain must fall. But hey, today’s the day that New York mayor Michael Bloomberg can finally sing, “When I’m 64”. And it’s also the day in 1972 that John n’ Yoko began their week-long anchoring of the Mike Douglas Show.
And the final V-Day lesson: Imagine....
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