20 November - Leo Tolstoy death anniversary

 

Leo Tolstoy, full name Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, was a Russian writer, philosopher, and social reformer, born on September 9, 1828, at the family estate of Yasnaya Polyana in the Tula Province of Russia. He is best known for his novels, which are considered among the greatest works of fiction ever written. Tolstoy's most famous novels include "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina."

Here are some key points about Leo Tolstoy:

1. Literary Works:

   • "War and Peace" (1869): A monumental epic that explores the impact of the Napoleonic Wars on Russian society.
   • "Anna Karenina" (1877): A tragic novel depicting the consequences of an extramarital affair.
   • "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" (1886): A novella that reflects on the nature of life and death.
   • "Resurrection" (1899): A novel that addresses moral and spiritual issues.

2. Philosophical and Religious Views:

   • Tolstoy underwent a spiritual and philosophical transformation later in life, turning away from the aristocratic lifestyle and embracing a simpler, more ascetic existence.
   • He developed a form of Christian anarchism and espoused nonviolent resistance to injustice, influencing figures such as Mahatma Gandhi.

3. Educational and Social Reforms:

   • Tolstoy was passionate about education and implemented educational reforms on his estate at Yasnaya Polyana, emphasizing a more practical and hands-on approach to learning.

4. Legacy:

   • Leo Tolstoy is considered one of the greatest novelists in world literature.
   • His works have been translated into numerous languages and adapted into various forms of media.

5. Death:

   • Tolstoy passed away on 20 November  1910, at the age of 82, at the Astapovo train station in Russia, while attempting to leave his estate in a self-imposed exile.

Tolstoy's literary and philosophical contributions continue to be studied and appreciated for their profound insights into human nature, morality, and the complexities of society.

28 August - King Cetshwayo last king of the Zulus, is captured by the British in 1879

 

Cetshwayo kaMpande (1826 – 8 February 1884) was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1873 to 1879 and its leader during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. His name has been transliterated as Cetawayo, Cetewayo, Cetywajo and Ketchwayo. He famously led the Zulu nation to victory against the British in the Battle of Isandlwana, but was defeated and exiled following that war.

King Cetshwayo, the last great ruler of Zululand, is captured by the British following his defeat in the British-Zulu War. He was subsequently sent into exile. Cetshwayo’s defiance of British rule in southern Africa led to Britain’s invasion of Zululand in 1879.

In 1872, King Mpande died and was succeeded by his son Cetshwayo, who was determined to resist European domination in his territory. In December 1878, Cetshwayo rejected the British demand that he disband his troops, and in January British forces invaded Zululand to suppress Cetshwayo. The British suffered grave defeats at Isandlwana, where 1,300 British soldiers were killed or wounded, and at Hlobane Mountain, but on March 29 the tide turned in favor of the British at the Battle of Khambula.

King Cetshwayo was subsequently captured and sent into exile, but in 1883 he was reinstated to rule over part of his former territory. However, because of his defeats he was discredited in the eyes of his subjects, and they soon drove him out of Zululand. He died in exile in the next year.

In 1887, faced with continuing Zulu rebellions, the British formally annexed Zululand, and in 1897 it became a part of Natal, which joined the Union of South Africa in 1910.

24 August - Koyapalli Kelappan Nair born in 1889

Koyapalli Kelappan Nair (24 August 1889 – 7 October 1971) was a founding member and president of the Nair Service Society, a reformer, an Indian freedom fighter, educationist and journalist. During Indian independence movement, he was the lead figure of Indian National Congress in Kerala and was popularly known as Kerala Gandhi. After Indian independence, he held various seats in Gandhian.

24 August - Shivaram Hari Rajguru born in 1908

 

24 August is the birth anniversary of the great revolutionary Shivaram Hari Rajguru who was an accomplice of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev. He died for the country at an age when most youths dream of careers.

Shivaram Hari Rajguru (24 August 1908 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian revolutionary from Maharashtra, known mainly for his involvement in the assassination of a British Raj police officer. He also fought for the independence of India and On 23 March 1931 he was hanged by the British government along with Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Thapar.

14 August - Kanyashree Day

14 August is celebrated as Kanyashree Day to promote the scheme throughout the state..

Kanyashree is an initiative taken by the Government of West Bengal to improve the life and the status of the girls by helping economically backward families with cash so that families do not arrange the marriage of their girl child before eighteen years because of economic problem. The purpose of this initiative is to uplift those girls who are from poor families and thus can’t pursue higher studies due to tough economic conditions. It has been given international recognition by the United Nations Department of International Development and the UNICEF.

The scheme has two components:

Annual scholarship of Rs. 1000.00

One time grant of Rs. 25,000.00

The annual scholarship is for unmarried girls aged 13–18 years enrolled in class VIII-XII in government recognized regular or equivalent open school or vocational / technical training courses. Recently the bar of income is withdrawn by Gov. W.B. now every girl can apply for that scheme.

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14 August - USA Social Security Act into Law on in 1935

 

The Social Security Act is a law enacted in 1935  in the USA to create a system of transfer payments in which younger, working people support older, retired people.Passed during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Social Security Act established old-age benefits for workers and benefits for the jobless, as well as aid for dependent mothers and children, victims of work-related accidents, the blind, and physically disabled.

 Roosevelt presented the plan in early 1935 and signed the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935.

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10 August - Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande was born in 1860

 

Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (10 August 1860 – 19 September 1936) was an Indian musicologist who wrote the first modern treatise on Hindustani classical music, an art which had been propagated earlier for a few centuries mostly through oral traditions. During those earlier times, the art had undergone several changes, rendering the raga grammar documented in scant old outdated texts.

Ragas used to be classified into Raga (male), Ragini (female), and Putra (children). Bhatkhande reclassified them into the currently used thaat system. He noted that several ragas did not conform to their description in ancient Sanskrit texts. He explained the ragas in an easy-to-understand language and composed several bandishes which explained the grammar of the ragas. He borrowed the idea of lakshan geet from the Carnatic music scholar Venkatamakhin.

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10 August - The Battle of Colachel 10 August 1741

 

The Battle of Colachel (or Battle of Kulachal) was fought on 10 August 1741 between the Indian kingdom of Travancore and the Dutch East India Company, during the Travancore-Dutch War. Travancore, under Raja Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch East India Company. The defeat of the Dutch by Travancore is considered the earliest example of an organised power from Asia overcoming European military technology and tactics.The Dutch never recovered from the defeat and no longer posed a large colonial threat to India.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Colachel

04 August - International Owl Awareness Day

Today Is International Owl Awareness Day. August 4 is International Owl Awareness Day, an annual celebration of owls.

Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes, which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers adapted for silent flight. Exceptions include the diurnal northern hawk-owl and the gregarious burrowing owl.

Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except polar ice caps and some remote islands.

Owls are divided into two families: the true (or typical) owl family, Strigidae, and the barn-owl family, Tytonidae.

A group of owls is called a "parliament".

04 August - Remeberence Kashi Prasad Jayaswal

Kashi Prasad Jayaswal (27 November 1881 – 4 August 1937) was an Indian historian and lawyer. One of the intellectual forces behind the Indian nationalist movement, Jayaswal's works Hindu Polity (1918) and History of India, 150 A.D. to 350 A.D. (1933) are classics of ancient Indian historical literature. Among other things, he is credited with showing that Indian republics, based on the principles of representation and collective decision-making, were among the oldest and most powerful of the ancient world.

04 August - Kishore Kumar born in 1929

Abhas Kumar Ganguly (born 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987), better known by his stage name Kishore Kumar was an Indian playback singer, actor, music director, lyricist, writer, director, producer and screenwriter.He was one of the most popular singers in the Indian film industry and from soft numbers to peppy tracks to romantic moods, Kumar sang in different genres but some of his rare compositions which were considered classics were lost in time.According to Ashok Kumar, Kumar's success came due the fact that his voice hit the microphone straight at its most sensitive point.

Apart from Hindi, he sang in many Indian languages including Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Malayalam and Urdu. He also sang on private albums in several languages especially in Bengali. He won 8 Filmfare Awards for Best Male Playback Singer and holds the record for winning the most Filmfare Awards in that category.He was awarded the "Lata Mangeshkar Award" by the Madhya Pradesh government in 1985–86. In 1997, the Madhya Pradesh Government initiated an award called the "Kishore Kumar Award" for contributions to Hindi cinema. In 2012 Kumar's unreleased last song sold for Rs 1,560,000 (1.56 million)at the Osian's Cinefan Auction in New Delhi.

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