25 August - Baba Gurdit Singh born in 1860

 

Baba Gurdit Singh (25 August 1860 – 24 July 1954) was the central figure in the Komagata Maru incident of 1914, one of several incidents in the history of early 20th century involving exclusion laws in both Canada and the United States designed to keep out immigrants of only Asian origin.

Singh was born in 1860 at Sarhali, in Amritsar District of British Punjab province (India). In 1914 he chartered a Japanese ship, the Komagata Maru, to go to Canada, reaching Vancouver on 23 May 1914. The government did not allow the ship to anchor and the ship was attacked by the police at night. The attack was repulsed by the passengers and it created a great stir among Indians in Canada

Issued on the first day of Asian Heritage Month, this stamp commemorates the struggle of the Komagata Maru passengers and celebrates the contribution of the South Asian community, and indeed all Asian Canadians, to Canada’s diversity and prosperity.Ahead of the 100th-year anniversary of the Komagata Maru incident in Vancouver, which began on May 23, 1914, Canada Post has unveiled a new stampthat commemorates one of the nation’s historical black spots.

25 August - Belarus declared independence in 1991

 

Belarus officially the Republic of Belarus and formerly known as Byelorussia or Belorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe.It is bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital and most populous city is Minsk. Over 40% is forested. Its major economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing.Until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including Kievan Rus', the Principality of Polotsk (11th to 14th centuries), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire.

In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, different states arose competing for legitimacy amidst the Civil War, ultimately ending in the rise of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussian SSR) which became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland after the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921). Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland, and were finalized after World War II.During WWII, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about a quarter of its population and half of its economic resources.The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945, the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR.The parliament of the republic proclaimed the sovereignty of Belarus on 27 July 1990, and during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus declared independence on 25 August 1991.

The first stamp produced under independent Belarus in 1992 which depicates the Cross of Saint Euphrosyne, a 12th-century cross the image of which is displayed above.

25 August - Indian Polo team won the World Championship in 1957

 

India is the birthplace of modern polo. The modern game of polo is derived from Manipur, where the game was known as 'Sagol Kangjei', 'Kanjai-bazee', or 'Pulu'.It was the anglicised form of the last, referring to the wooden ball that was used, which was adopted by the sport in its slow spread to the west.

The Indian Polo Association (IPA) was founded in 1892.The outbreak of the second World War and the mechanization of cavalry units resulted in a decline in interest in Indian polo. The Calcutta Polo Club was the first polo club in the country to resume hosting tournaments post-independence. Polo clubs in Jaipur, Delhi, Bombay and Hyderabad subsequently began holding regular tournaments. The IPA invited the Argentine national polo team to visit India in 1950 and play an exhibition games across the country in a bid to revive interest in the sport. The Argentine team participated in tournaments in Jaipur, Delhi and Bombay. The Pakistan Army polo team visited India in 1955. The IPA also revived the Indian Polo Championship in 1956, after a gap of 17 years. The India national polo team participated in the 1957 World Championship in France and won the tournament it included Major Kishan Singh, Kr. Bijay Singh, Rao Raja Hanut Singh and H.H. Maharaja of Jaipur. These events helped revive interest in polo in the country. Indian polo received another boost after the Indian Army officially adopted polo as a sport granting access to new grounds and stables of horses.

24 August - Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher birth anniversary

Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher, was the first chief minister (then called prime minister) of Bombay State which consisted of present day Maharastra and Gujarat States of India. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 1954. A lawyer, solicitor and social worker by choice and politician by necessity, Kher was often described as “Sajjan”, good and gentle. Kher was a scholar, an accomplished orator, and a man with no pretensions. He was born on August 24, 1888 and died on March 8, 1957.

24 August - V.V.Giri became the 4th President of India in 1969

 

Varahagiri Venkata Giri (10 August 1894 – 24 June 1980) was the fourth president of India from 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974. He was the only president to be elected as an independent candidate.He was succeeded by Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed as president in 1974.After the end of his full term, Giri was honoured by the Government of India with the Bharat Ratna in 1975. Giri died on 24 June 1980. His great grandson V. Giri Shankar is an Advocate of the Madras High Court, Chennai.

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19 September - Ganesh Chaturthi in 2023

Ganesh Chaturthi also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi (Vināyaka Chaturthī), is a Hindu festival celebrating the arrival of Ganesha to earth from Kailash Parvat with his mother Goddess Parvati/Gauri. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha clay idols privately in homes, or publicly on elaborate pandals (temporary stages). Observations include chanting of Vedic hymns and Hindu texts such as, prayers and brata (fasting).Offerings and prasadam from the daily prayers, that are distributed from the pandal to the community, include sweets such as modaka as it is believed to be a favourite of Lord Ganesh.The festival ends on the tenth day after start, when the idol is carried in a public procession with music and group chanting, then immersed in a nearby body of water such as a river or sea. In Mumbai alone, around 150,000 statues are immersed annually.Thereafter the clay idol dissolves and Ganesha is believed to return to Mount Kailash to Parvati and Shiva.The festival celebrates Lord Ganesha as the God of New Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles as well as the god of wisdom and intelligence and is observed throughout India, especially in the states such as Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh,and is usually celebrated privately at home in Tamil Nadu.[11] Ganesh Chaturthi is also observed in Nepal and by the Hindu diaspora elsewhere such as in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, other parts of the Caribbean, Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa,United States, and Europe

At public venues, along with the reading of texts and group feasting, athletic and martial arts competitions are also held.

21 August - Ustad "Bismillah" Khan remembered

 

Ustad Qamruddin "Bismillah" Khan (21 March 1916 – 21 August 2006) (born as Qamaruddin Khan) was dedicated shehnai maestro from India. The much-celebrated musician was born into the family of musicians on March 21, 1916. Ustad Bismillah won prestigious awards, such as the Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan and was a popular name all over the world. He mastered the art of playing the shehnai and also had the honour of playing on the eve of Indian's independence in 1947. Even today, the annual Republic Day celebrations broadcast to the opening notes of Ustad Bismillah's music.In August 2006, Khan's health deteriorated and he was admitted to the Hospital in Varanasi. He bid adieu to the world on August 21, 2006, due to a cardiac arrest.

21 August - Conquest of Ceuta by the Portuguese in 1415

Battle of Ceuta and the conquest of Ceuta by the Portuguese on 21 August 1415 marks an important step in the beginning of the Portuguese Empire in Africa.

The battle itself was almost anti-climactic, because the 45,000 men who traveled on 200 Portuguese ships caught the defenders of Ceuta off guard. An attack that commenced on the morning of August 14, 1415 ended with the capture of the town by nightfall. Henry distinguished himself in the battle, being wounded during the conquest of the city that was known as the “Key to the Mediterranean.”

Thus, one of the major northern trade centers of the Islamic world was now in the possession of Portugal. This African conquest was the first significant ripple of a wave of European expansion that would reach every continent on the globe.

Henry the Navigator : Born in 1394, Henry was the third son of King John I, a monarch from the House of Aviz, and his queen Philippa. He and his brothers lived in an era where honour was as much earned as inherited; the medieval concept of chivalry still held sway in European courts. Given this worldview, it is not surprising that John I led his sons and their assembled forces in an attack on the Moroccan stronghold of Ceuta in 1415.

21 August - Usain Bolt birthday

Usain St Leo Bolt,born 21 August 1986 is a Jamaican former sprinter and widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is a world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay.

An eight-time Olympic gold medallist, Bolt is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012 and 2016). He also won two 4 × 100 relay gold medals. He gained worldwide fame for his double sprint victory in world record times at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which made him the first person to hold both records since fully automatic time became mandatory.

An eleven-time World Champion, he won consecutive World Championship 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 metres relay gold medals from 2009 to 2015, with the exception of a 100 m false start in 2011. He is the most successful athlete of the World Championships. Bolt is the first athlete to win four World Championship titles in the 200 m and is one of the most successful in the 100 m with three titles.

20 August - Rajiv Ratna Gandhi birth anniversary

Rajiv Ratna Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the 6th Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to become the youngest Indian Prime Minister at the age of 40.

Gandhi remained Congress President until the elections in 1991. While campaigning for the elections, he was assassinated by a suicide bomber from the LTTE. His widow Sonia became the president of the Congress party in 1998 and led the party to victory in the 2004 and 2009 parliamentary elections. His son Rahul Gandhi is a Member of Parliament and was the President of the Indian National Congress till 2019. In 1991, the Indian government posthumously awarded Gandhi the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award. At the India Leadership Conclave in 2009, the Revolutionary Leader of Modern India award was conferred posthumously on Gandhi.

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