My Science School

U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz wins his seventh gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Spitz swam the fly leg of the 400-meter medley relay, and his team set a new world-record time of 3 minutes, 48.16 seconds. Remarkably, Spitz also established new world records in the six other events in which he won the gold. At the time, no other athlete had won so many gold medals at a single Olympiad. The record would stand until Michael Phelps took home eight gold medals at the Beijing Games in 2008.

Having set 10 world records by the time of the 1968 Summer Olympics, the 18-year-old Spitz brazenly predicted that he would take home six gold medals from the Mexico City Olympic Games. Actually, he won just two gold medals, both in team relay events, and took home a silver in the 100-meter butterfly and a bronze in the 100-meter freestyle.

 He lost his amateur status and rarely swam in competition after 1972. In 1992, at age 42, he launched a comeback bid but failed to qualify for the Barcelona Olympics. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1977 and was a member of the first class of inductees into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983.

 

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Hima Das nicknamed the Dhing Express, is an Indian sprinter from the state of Assam. Dhing is a town in Nagaon district in the state of Assam; that is the reason she is called “Dhing Express”. She became the first Indian woman — indeed the first ever Indian athlete — to win a gold medal in any format of a global track event at IAAF World U20 Championships when she clocked a speed of 51.46 seconds. Born on January 9, 2000, to rice farmers in Dhing village of Assam’s Nagaon district, Das won five back-to-back gold medals in about a month in Czech Republic in July 2019.  

Das mainly takes part in women’s 400-metre, 200-metre and 4x400-metre relays. At Asian Games in 2018, she won a silver medal in the 4×400-metre mixed relay. She also set an Indian U20 record of 51.32 seconds to finish sixth in the Commonwealth Games 400m final in Gold Coast in April 2018. In September 2018, Adidas signed an endorsement deal with Hima Das. She was also conferred with Arjuna Award by the President of India on September 25, 2018.

Das mainly takes part in women’s 400-metre, 200-metre and 4x400-metre relays. At Asian Games in 2018, she won a silver medal in the 4×400-metre mixed relay. She also set an Indian U20 record of 51.32 seconds to finish sixth in the Commonwealth Games 400m final in Gold Coast in April 2018. In September 2018, Adidas signed an endorsement deal with Hima Das. She was also conferred with Arjuna Award by the President of India on September 25, 2018.

 

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Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. His integration of rock and pop elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the country music single and album charts, multi-platinum recordings and record-breaking live performances, while also crossing over into the mainstream pop arena.

Brooks is one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold more than 170 million records. As of 2020, according to the RIAA, he is the best-selling solo albums artist in the United States with 156 million domestic units sold, ahead of Elvis Presley, and is second only to The Beatles in total album sales overall. Brooks was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on October 21, 2012, having been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame the year before. He was also inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016 with his studio musicians, The G-Men. On March 4, 2020, Brooks received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. At age 58, he is the youngest recipient of the award.

Brooks has won a record 22 Academy of Country Music Awards and received a total of 47 overall nominations. His 13 Grammy Award nominations have resulted in 2 awards won, along with Billboard Music Awards, Country Music Association Awards, and many others. Brooks' work has earned awards and nominations in television and film as well, including the Primetime Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2010, he was inducted into the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.

 

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The Wright brothers—Orville (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912)—were two American aviation pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful motor-operated airplane. They made the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, 4 mi (6 km) south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 1904–05, the brothers developed their flying machine to make longer-running and more aerodynamic flights with the Wright Flyer II, followed by the first truly practical fixed-wing aircraft, the Wright Flyer III. The Wright brothers were also the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.

The brothers gained the mechanical skills essential to their success by working for years in their Dayton, Ohio-based shop with printing presses, bicycles, motors, and other machinery. Their work with bicycles, in particular, influenced their belief that an unstable vehicle such as a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice. From 1900 until their first powered flights in late 1903, they conducted extensive glider tests that also developed their skills as pilots. Their shop employee Charlie Taylor became an important part of the team, building their first airplane engine in close collaboration with the brothers.

The Wright brothers always presented a unified image to the public, sharing equally in the credit for their invention. Biographers note that Wilbur took the initiative in 1899–1900, writing of "my" machine and "my" plans before Orville became deeply involved when the first person singular became the plural "we" and "our". Author James Tobin asserts, "It is impossible to imagine Orville, bright as he was, supplying the driving force that started their work and kept it going from the back room of a store in Ohio to conferences with capitalists, presidents, and kings. Will did that. He was the leader, from the beginning to the end."

 

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Sanna Mirella Marin is a Finnish politician who has been Prime Minister of Finland since 10 December 2019. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she has been a member of the Parliament of Finland since 2015, and served as the Minister of Transport and Communications from 6 June to 10 December 2019. After Antti Rinne's resignation in the wake of the 2019 postal strike, Marin became prime minister on 8 December 2019. At 34, she is the second-youngest serving state leader, the youngest female state leader, and Finland's youngest-ever prime minister.

Marin was elected second deputy chairperson of the Social Democratic Party in 2014. In 2015, she was elected to the Finnish Parliament as an MP from the electoral district of Pirkanmaa. Four years later, she was re-elected. On 6 June 2019, she became the Minister of Transport and Communications.

In December 2019, Marin was nominated by the Social Democratic Party to succeed Antti Rinne as the Prime Minister of Finland, but Rinne formally remained party leader until June 2020. In a narrow vote, Marin prevailed over Antti Lindtman.

Marin describes herself as coming from a "rainbow family" as she was raised by same-sex parents. She was also the first person in her family to attend university.

 

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Dibyendu Barua (born 27 October 1966) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He is a three-time Indian Chess Champion. He was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1991 by FIDE, becoming the second Indian to achieve the title, after Viswanathan Anand. In 1983, he won the Indian Chess Championship for the first time. He has since won it twice more, in 1998 and 2001.

From a very early age, Barua started showing his talents in the game of chess. By the age of 12, he was the youngest to participate in the National Championship. Apart from the 1972 international feat, the notable achievements of Dibyendu Barua include his performances against Korchnoi in 1982, H Spangenberg in 1996 and M Basman in 1991.

urprisingly enough, his performance was looming at a low than expected after he became the International Master. There was a slow down in his career and it took him nine long years to become a Grandmaster in 1991. Lack of funds made it tough for Dibyendu Barua among the horde of flourishing youngsters.

Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua is still attached with the game of chess. He is now endeavoring to impart his knowledge of chess to the upcoming chess players of the future.

 

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Mahatma Gandhi, the pioneer of India's freedom struggle, and Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India, were born on October 2. They coined popular national slogans that resonated with masses.

October 2 is of great national importance for the country as on this day, two great leaders were born on the Indian soil. Mahatma Gandhi, the pioneer of India's freedom struggle, and Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India, with their selfless service to the nation, continue to inspire everyone.

When Lal Bahadur Shastri took over the prime ministership of India after Jawahar Lal Nehru's death in 1964, India was attacked by Pakistan. During that time, India was reeling under scarcity of food grains. Lal Bahadur Shastri's call for "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" inspired the soldiers and the farmers to save the country at the border and from hunger strike. 

"Do or die" became a very popular slogan during India's fight for freedom against the British. Mahatma Gandhi had coined the slogan during a meeting of the All India Congress Committee which took place on August 7, 1942. 

 

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Buzz Aldrin, original name Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., (born January 20, 1930, Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.), American astronaut who was the second person to set foot on the Moon. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York (1951), Aldrin became an air force pilot. He flew 66 combat missions during the Korean War, where he flew F-86 “Sabre” aircraft as part of the 51st Fighter Wing in Seoul and shot down two MiG-15 jets. Aldrin later served in West Germany. In 1963 he wrote a dissertation on orbital mechanics to earn a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Later that year he was chosen as an astronaut.

Aldrin's initial application to join the astronaut corps when NASA's Astronaut Group 2 was selected in 1962 was rejected on the grounds that he was not a test pilot. He was aware of the requirement and asked for it to be waived, but the request was turned down. On May 15, 1963, NASA announced another round of selections, this time with the requirement that applicants had either test pilot experience or 1,000 hours of flying time in jet aircraft. Aldrin had over 2,500 hours of flying time, of which 2,200 was in jets. His selection as one of fourteen members of NASA's Astronaut Group 3 was announced on October 18, 1963. This made him the first astronaut with a doctoral degree which, combined with his expertise in orbital mechanics, earned him the nickname "Dr. Rendezvous" from his fellow astronauts. Aldrin was aware it was not always intended as a compliment. Upon completion of initial training, each new astronaut was assigned a field of expertise – in Aldrin's case, it was mission planning, trajectory analysis and flight plans.

 

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Any discussion about India’s greatest ever cricket captain is incomplete without the name Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi being mentioned.

Known famously as Tiger Pataudi, he became captain of the Indian team when he was just 21 years old and in many ways revolutionised his team’s approach towards the game. He instilled a winning mentality in his teammates and led India to their first overseas Test victory in 1967.

Long after his playing days were over, Pataudi appeared for an interview on a show called Anmol Ratan. The video of the interview, shared by a YouTube channel called Broadcast Imaging, shows the legendary cricketer opening up on an array of topics, including how he got the Indian team’s captaincy at such a young age and the accident that damaged his eye.

Pataudi was arrested in October 2005 over poaching of a blackbuck and two hares . He was subsequently released on bail. The case went on for 9 years, and in January 2015, six people were convicted. Mr. Pataudi had died in August 2011 and was thus not part of the accused anymore. Note that this is unrelated to the other blackbuck poaching case of Salman Khan that his son Saif Ali Khan Pataudi was involved in.

 

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"The Country of the Blind" is a short story written by H. G. Wells. It was first published in the April 1904 issue of The Strand Magazine and included in a 1911 collection of Wells's short stories, The Country of the Blind and Other Stories. It is one of Wells's best known short stories, and features prominently in literature dealing with blindness.

Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer. Prolific in many genres, he wrote dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, history, satire, biography and autobiography. His work also included two books on recreational war games. Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is often called the "father of science fiction", along with Jules Verne and the publisher Hugo Gernsback.

One of the ways that Wells expressed himself was through his drawings and sketches. One common location for these was the endpapers and title pages of his own diaries, and they covered a wide variety of topics, from political commentary to his feelings toward his literary contemporaries and his current romantic interests. During his marriage to Amy Catherine, whom he nicknamed Jane, he drew a considerable number of pictures, many of them being overt comments on their marriage. During this period, he called these pictures "picshuas". These picshuas have been the topic of study by Wells scholars for many years, and in 2006, a book was published on the subject.

 

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Black revolves around a deaf-blind girl, and her relationship with her teacher who himself later develops Alzheimer's disease. The film draws inspiration from the life of Helen Keller, the blind academic and activist. 

The film was screened at the Casablanca Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India. It won the Filmfare Award for best film. Time Magazine (Europe) selected the film as one of the 10 Best Movies of the Year 2005 from around the globe. The movie was positioned at number five. Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films. The film was premiered in the Marché du Film section of the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Amitabh Bachchan received his second National Film Award for Best Actor at the 53rd National Film Awards, his fourth Filmfare Award for Best Actor and his second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for his performance and Rani Mukerji won her second Filmfare Award for Best Actress and her second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.

Black was originally scheduled to be released on 10 December 2004, but Bhansali decided to postpone its release. Black was released on 4 February 2005 in 170 different towns in India, a small number compared to most large-budget Bollywood films. Black was also screened at several international film festivals like the Casablanca Film Festival. The film released in South Korea on 27 August 2009.

 

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