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16 Incredibly Weird Facts You’ll Want To Tell All Your Friends

42 Incredibly Weird Facts You’ll Want To Tell All Your Friends

1. The longest time between two twins being born is 87 days.

2. The world’s deepest postbox is in Susami Bay in Japan. It’s 10 metres underwater.

3. In 2007, an American man named Corey Taylor tried to fake his own death in order to get out of his cell phone contract without paying a fee. It didn’t work.

4. The oldest condoms ever found date back to the 1640s (they were found in a cesspit at Dudley Castle), and were made from animal and fish intestines.

5. In 1923, jockey Frank Hayes won a race at Belmont Park in New York despite being dead — he suffered a heart attack mid-race, but his body stayed in the saddle until his horse crossed the line for a 20–1 outsider victory.

6. Everyone has a unique tongue print, just like fingerprints.

7. Most Muppets are left-handed. (Because most Muppeteers are right-handed, so they operate the head with their favoured hand.)

8. Female kangaroos have three vaginas.

9. It costs the U.S. Mint almost twice as much to mint each penny and nickel as the coins are actually worth. Taxpayers lost over $100 million in 2013 just through the coins being made.

10. Light doesn’t necessarily travel at the speed of light. The slowest we’ve ever recorded light moving at is 38 mph.

11. Casu marzu is a Sardinian cheese that contains live maggots. The maggots can jump up to five inches out of cheese while you’re eating it, so it’s a good idea to shield it with your hand to stop them jumping into your eyes.

12. The loneliest creature on Earth is a whale who has been calling out for a mate for over two decades — but whose high-pitched voice is so different to other whales that they never respond.

13. The spikes on the end of a stegosaurus’ tail are known among paleontologistsas the “thagomizer” — a term coined by cartoonist Gary Larson in a 1982 Far Side drawing.

14. During World War II, the crew of the British submarine HMS Trident kept afully grown reindeer called Pollyanna aboard their vessel for six weeks (it was a gift from the Russians).

15. The northern leopard frog swallows its prey using its eyes — it uses them to help push food down its throat by retracting them into its head.

16. The first man to urinate on the moon was Buzz Aldrin, shortly after stepping onto the lunar surface.

February 26

February 26

Today In History. What Happened This Day In History

364		On the death of Jovian, a conference at Nicaea chooses Valentinan, an army officer who was born in the central European region of Pannania, to succeed him in Asia Minor.
1154		William the Bad succeeds his father, Roger the II, in Sicily.
1790		As a result of the Revolution, France is divided into 83 departments.
1815		Napoleon and 1,200 of his men leave Elba to start the 100-day re-conquest of France.
1848		Karl Marx and Frederick Engels publish The Communist Manifesto in London.
1871		France and Prussia sign a preliminary peace treaty at Versailles.
1901		Boxer Rebellion leaders Chi-Hsin and Hsu-Cheng-Yu are publicly executed in Peking.
1914		Russian aviator Igor Sikorsky carries 17 passengers in a twin engine plane in St. Petersburg.
1916		General Henri Philippe Petain takes command of the French forces at Verdun.
1917		President Wilson publicly asks congress for the power to arm merchant ships.
1924		U.S. steel industry finds claims an eight-hour day increases efficiency and employee relations.
1933		Ground is broken for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
1936		Japanese military troops march into Tokyo to conduct a coup and assassinate political leaders.
1941		British take the Somali capital in East Africa.
1943		U.S. Flying Fortresses and Liberators pound German docks and U-boat lairs at Wilhelmshaven.
1945		Syria declares war on Germany and Japan.
1951		The 22nd Amendment is added to the Constitution limiting the Presidency to two terms.
1964		Lyndon B. Johnson signs a tax bill with $11.5 billion in cuts.
1965		Norman Butler is arrested for the murder of Malcom X.
1968		Thirty-two African nations agree to boycott the Olympics because of the presence of South Africa.
1970		Five Marines are arrested on charges of murdering 11 South Vietnamese women and children.
1972		Soviets recover Luna 20 with a cargo of moon rocks.
1973		A publisher and 10 reporters are subpoenaed to testify on Watergate.
1990		Daniel Ortega, communist president of Nicaragua, suffers a shocking election defeat at the hands of Violeta Chamorro.
1993		A bomb rocks the World Trade Center in New York City. Five people are killed and hundreds suffer from smoke inhalation.
Born on February 26
1802		Victor Hugo, French novelist and poet (Les Misérables).
1829		Levi Strauss, creator of blue jeans.
1832		John George Nicolay, private secretary to Abraham Lincoln
1846		William Frederick Cody, aka “Buffalo Bill”.
1877		Rudolph Dirks, cartoonist, creator of the “Katzenjammer Kids.”
1879		Mabel Dodge Luhan, American biographer.
1893		I(vor) A(rmstrong) Richards, writer, critic and teacher.
1928		Antoine “Fats” Domino, American singer.

हिन्दी भाषा का इतिहास और कालखंड

हिन्दी भाषा का इतिहास और कालखंड
विश्व की प्राचीनतम संस्कृतियों में भारतीय संस्कृति मानी जाती है। इसकी प्राचीनता का एक प्रमाण यहां की भाषाएं भी है। भाषाओं की दृष्टि से कालखंड का विभाजन निम्नानुसार किया जाता है -वैदिक संस्कृत
लौकिक संस्कृत
पाली
प्राकृत
अपभ्रंश तथा अव्ह्त्त
हिंदी का आदिकाल
हिंदी का मध्यकाल
हिंदी का आधुनिक काल.

हिंदी शब्द की उत्पति 'सिन्धु' से जुडी है। 'सिन्धु' 'सिंध' नदी को कहते है। सिन्धु नदी के आस-पास का क्षेत्र सिन्धु प्रदेश कहलाता है। संस्कृत शब्द 'सिन्धु' ईरानियों के सम्पर्क में आकर हिन्दू या हिंद हो गया। ईरानियों द्वारा उच्चारित किया गए इस हिंद शब्द में ईरानी भाषा का 'एक' प्रत्यय लगने से 'हिन्दीक' शब्द बना है जिसका अर्थ है 'हिंद का'। यूनानी शब्द 'इंडिका' या अंग्रेजी शब्द 'इंडिया' इसी 'हिन्दीक' के ही विकसित रूप है।

हिंदी का साहित्य 1000 ईसवी से प्राप्त होता है। इससे पूर्व प्राप्त साहित्य अपभ्रंश में है इसे हिंदी की पूर्व पीठिका माना जा सकता है। आधुनिक भाषाओं का जन्म अपभ्रंश के विभिन्न रूपों से इस प्रकार हुआ है :

अपभ्रंश - आधुनिक भाषाएं
शौरसेनी - पश्चिमी हिंदी, राजस्थानी, पहाड़ी , गुजराती
पैशाची - लहंदा, पंजाबी
ब्राचड - सिंधी
महाराष्ट्री - मराठी
मगधी - बिहारी, बंगला, उड़‍िया, असमिया

पश्चिमी हिंदी - खड़ी बोली या कौरवी, ब्रिज, हरियाणवी, बुन्देल, कन्नौजी
पूर्वी हिंदी - अवधी, बघेली, छत्तीसगढ़ी
राजस्थानी - पश्चिमी राजस्थानी (मारवाड़ी) पूर्वी राजस्थानी
पहाड़ी - पश्चिमी पहाड़ी, मध्यवर्ती पहाड़ी (कुमाऊंनी-गढ़वाली)
बिहारी - भोजपुरी, मागधी, मैथिली 

आदिकाल - (1000-1500)
अपने प्रारंभिक दौर में हिंदी सभी बातों में अपभ्रंश के बहुत निकट थी इसी अपभ्रंश से हिंदी का जन्म हुआ है। आदि अपभ्रंश में अ, आ, ई, उ, उ ऊ, ऐ, औ केवल यही आठ स्वर थे।ऋ ई, औ, स्वर इसी अवधि में हिंदी में जुड़े । प्रारंभिक, 1000 से 1100 ईसवी के आस-पास तक हिंदी अपभ्रंश के समीप ही थी। इसका व्याकरण भी अपभ्रंश के सामान काम कर रहा था। धीरे-धीरे परिवर्तन होते हुए और 1500 ईसवी आते-आते हिंदी स्वतंत्र रूप से खड़ी हुई। 1460 के आस-पास देश भाषा में साहित्य सर्जन प्रारंभ हो चुका हो चुका था। इस अवधि में दोहा, चौपाई ,छप्पय दोहा, गाथा आदि छंदों में रचनाएं हुई है। इस समय के प्रमुख रचनाकार गोरखनाथ, विद्यापति, नरपति नालह, चंदवरदाई, कबीर आदि है।

मध्यकाल -(1500-1800 तक)
इस अवधि में हिंदी में बहुत परिवर्तन हुए। देश पर मुगलों का शासन होने के कारन उनकी भाषा का प्रभाव हिंदी पर पड़ा। परिणाम यह हुआ की फारसी के लगभग 3500 शब्द, अरबी के 2500 शब्द, पश्तों से 50 शब्द, तुर्की के 125 शब्द हिंदी की शब्दावली में शामिल हो गए। यूरोप के साथ व्यापार आदि से संपर्क बढ़ रहा था। परिणाम स्वरूप पुर्तगाली, स्पेनी, फ्रांसीसी और अंग्रेजी के शब्दों का समावेश हिंदी में हुआ। मुगलों के आधिपत्य का प्रभाव भाषा पर दिखाई पड़ने लगा था। मुगल दरबार में फारसी पढ़े-लिखे विद्वानों को नौकरियां मिली थी परिणामस्वरूप पढ़े-लिखे लोग हिंदी की वाक्य रचना फारसी की तरह करने लगे। इस अवधि तक आते-आते अपभ्रंश का पूरा प्रभाव हिंदी से समाप्त हो गया जो आंशिक रूप में जहां कहीं शेष था वह भी हिंदी की प्रकृति के अनुसार ढलकर हिंदी का हिस्सा बन रहा था। 

इस अवधि में हिंदी के स्वर्णिम साहित्य का सृजन हुआ। भक्ति आंदोलन ने देश की जनता की मनोभावना को प्रभावित किया। भक्ति कवियों में अनेक विद्वान थे जो तत्सम मुक्त भाषा का प्रयोग कर रहे थे। राम और कृष्ण जन्म स्थान की ब्रज भाषा में काव्य रचना की गई, जो इस काल के साहित्य की मुख्यधारा मानी जाती हैं। इसी अवधि में दखिनी हिंदी का रूप सामने आया। पिंगल, मैथिली और खड़ी बोली में भी रचनाएं लिखी जा रही थी। इस काल के मुख्य कवियों में महाकवि तुलसीदास, संत सूरदास, संत मीराबाई, मलिक मोहम्मद जायसी, बिहारी, भूषण हैं। इसी कालखंड में रचा गया 'रामचरितमानस' जैसा ग्रन्थ विश्व में विख्यात हुआ। 

हिंदी में क, ख, ग, ज, फ, ये पांच नई ध्वनियां, जिनके उच्चारण प्रायः फारसी पढ़े-लिखे लोग ही करते थे। इस काल के भक्त निर्गुण और सगुन उपासक थे। कवियों को रामाश्रयी और कृष्णाश्रयी शाखाओं में बांटा गया। इसी अवधि में रीतिकालीन काव्य भी लिखा गया।

आधुनिक काल (1800 से अब तक )
हिंदी का आधुनिक काल देश में हुए अनेक परिवर्तनों का साक्षी है। परतंत्र में रहते हुए देशवासी इसके विरुद्ध खड़े होने का प्रयास कर रहे थे। अंग्रेजी का प्रभाव देश की भाषा और संस्कृति पर दिखाई पड़ने लगा। अंग्रेजी शब्दों का प्रचलन हिंदी के साथ बढ़ने लगा। मुगलकालीन व्यवस्था समाप्त होने से अरबी, फारसी के शब्दों के प्रचलन में गिरावट आई। फारसी से स्वीकार क, ख, ग, ज, फ ध्वनियों का प्रचलन हिंदी में समाप्त हुआ। अपवादस्वरूप कहीं-कहीं ज और फ ध्वनि शेष बची। क, ख, ग ध्वनियां क, ख, ग में बदल गई। इस पूरे कालखंड को 1800 से 1850 तक और फिर 1850 से 1900 तक तथा 1900 का 1910 तक और 1950 से 2000 तक विभाजित किया जा सकता है।

संवत 1830 में जन्मे मुंशी सदासुख लाल नियाज ने हिंदी खड़ी बोली को प्रयोग में लिया। खड़ी बोली उस समय भी अस्तित्व में थी। खड़ी बोली या कौरवी का उद्भव शौरसेनी अपभ्रंश के उत्तरी रूप से हुआ है। इसका क्षेत्र देहरादून का मैदानी भाग, सहारनपुर, मुजफ्फरनगर, मेरुत , दिल्ली बिजनौर ,रामपुर ,मुरादाबाद है। इस बोली में पर्याप्त लोक गीत और लोक कथाएं मौजूद हैं। खड़ी बोली पर ही उर्दू, हिन्दुस्तानी और दक्खनी हिंदी निर्भर करती है। मुंशी सदा सुखलाल नियाज के आलावा इंशा अल्लाह खान इसी अवधि के लेखक है। इनकी रानी केतकी की कहानी पुस्तक प्रसिद्ध है। लल्लूलाल, इस काल खंड के एक और प्रसिद्ध लेखक हैं। इनका जन्म संवत 1820 में हुआ था कोलकाता के फोर्ट विलियम कॉलेज के अध्यापक जॉन गिलक्रिस्ट के अनुरोध पर लल्लूलाल जी ने पुस्तक 'प्रेम सागर' खड़ी बोली में लिखी थी। 

प्रेम सागर के आलावा सिंहासन बत्तीसी, बेताल पचीसी, शकुंतला नाटक भी इनकी पुस्तकें हैं जो खड़ी बोली में, ब्रज और उर्दू के मिश्रित रूप में हैं। इसी कालखंड के एक और लेखक सदल मिश्र हैं। इनकी नचिकेतोपाख्यान पुस्तक प्रसिद्ध है। सदल मिश्र ने अरबी और फारसी के शब्दों का प्रयोग न के बराबर किया है। खड़ी बोली में लिखी गई इस पुस्तक में संस्कृत के शब्द अधिक हैं। संवत 1860 से 1914 के बीच के समय में कालजयी कृतियां प्राय: नहीं मिलती। 1860 के आसपास तक हिंदी गद्य प्राय: अपना निश्चित स्वरुप ग्रहण कर चुका था। 

इसका लाभ लेने के लिए अंग्रेजी पादरियों ने ईसाई धर्म के प्रचार-प्रसार के लिए बाईबल का अनुवाद खड़ी बोली में किया यद्यपि इनका लक्ष्य अपने धर्म का प्रचार-प्रसार करना था। तथापि इसका लाभ हिंदी को मिला देश की साधारण जनता अरबी-फारसी मिश्रित भाषा में अपने पौराणिक आख्यानों को कहती और सुनती थी। इन पादरियों ने भी भाषा के इसी मिश्रित रूप का प्रयोग किया। अब तक 1857 का पहला स्वतंत्रता युद्ध लड़ा चुका था अतः अंगरेजी शासकों की कूटनीति के सहारे हिंदी के माध्यम से बाइबिल के धर्म उपदेशों का प्रचार-प्रसार खूब हो रहा था। भारतेंदु हरिश्चंद्र ने हिंदी नवजागरण की नींव रखी। उन्होंने अपनें नाटकों, कविताओं, कहावतों और किस्सागोई के माध्यम से हिंदी भाषा के उत्थान के लिए खूब काम किया। अपने पत्र 'कविवचनसुधा' के माध्यम से हिंदी का प्रचार-प्रसार किया। 

गद्य में सदल मिश्र, सदासुखलाल,लल्लू लाल आदि लेखकों ने हिंदी खड़ीबोली को स्थापित करने का काम किया। भारतेंदु हरिश्चंद्र ने कविता को ब्रज भाषा से मुक्त किया उसे जीवन के यथार्थ से जोड़ा। 


सन 1866 की अवधि के लेखकों में पंडित बद्री‍नारायण चौधरी, पंडित प्रताप नारायण मिश्रल बाबू तोता राम, ठाकुर जगमोहन सिंह, पंडित बाल कृष्ण भट्ट, पंडित केशवदास भट्ट ,पंडित अम्बिकादत्त व्यास, पंडित राधारमण गोस्वामी आदि आते हैं। हिंदी भाषा और साहित्य को परमार्जित करने के उद्देश्य से इस कालखंड में अनेक पत्र-पत्रिकाओं का प्रकाशन प्रारंभ हुआ। इनमें हरिश्चन्द्रचन्द्रिका, हिन्दी बंगभाषी, उचितवक्ता, भारत मित्र, सरस्वती, दिनकर प्रकाश आदि। 

1900 वीं सदी का आरंभ हिन्दी भाषा के विकास की दृष्टि से बहुत महत्वपूर्ण है। इस समय देश में स्वतंत्रता आंदोलन प्रारंभ हुआ था। राष्ट्र में कई तरह के आंदोलन चल रहे थे। इनमें कुछ गुप्त और कुछ प्रकट थे पर इनका माध्यम हिंदी ही थी अब हिंदी केवल उत्तर भारत तक ही सीमित नहीं रह गई थी। हिंदी अब तक पूरे भारतीय आन्दोलन की भाषा बन चुकी थी। साहित्य की दृष्टि से बांग्ला, मराठी हिन्दी से आगे थीं परन्तु बोलने वालों के लिहाज से हिन्दी सबसे आगे थी। इसीलिए हिन्दी को राजभाषा बनाने की पहल गांधीजी समेत देश के कई अन्य नेता भी कर रहे थे। सन 1918 में हिंदी साहित्य सम्मलेन की अध्यक्षता करते हुए गांधी जी ने कहा था की हिंदी ही देश की राष्ट्रभाषा होनी चाहिए। सन 1900 से लेकर 1950 क हिंदी के अनेक रचनाकारों ने इसके विकास में योगदान दिया इनमे मुंशी प्रेमचंद ,जयशंकर प्रसाद, माखनलाल चतुर्वेदी , मैथिलीशरण गुप्त, सुभद्राकुमारी चौहान, आचार्य रामचंद्र शुक्ल, सूर्यकान्त त्रिपाठी निराला, सुमित्रानंदन पन्त, महादेवी वर्मा आदि।

25 February History

25 February History.

Today In History. What Happened This Day In History

1570		Pope Pius V issues the bull Regnans in Excelsis which excommunicates Queen Elizabeth of England.
1601		Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex and former favorite of Elizabeth I, is beheaded in the Tower of London for high treason.
1642		Dutch settlers slaughter lower Hudson Valley Indians in New Netherland, North America, who sought refuge from Mohawk attackers.
1779		The British surrender the Illinois country to George Rogers Clark at Vincennes.
1781		American General Nathaniel Greene crosses the Dan River on his way to attack Cornwallis.
1791		President George Washington signs a bill creating the Bank of the United States.
1804		Thomas Jefferson is nominated for president at the Democratic-Republican caucus.
1815		Napoleon leaves his exile on the island of Elba, returning to France.
1831		The Polish army halts the Russian advance into their country at the Battle of Grochow.
1836		Samuel Colt patents the first revolving cylinder multi-shot firearm.
1862		Confederate troops abandon Nashville, Tennessee, in the face of Grant‘s advance. The ironcladMonitor is commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
1865		General Joseph E. Johnston replaces John Bell Hood as Commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
1904		J.M. Synge’s play Riders to the Sea opens in Dublin.
1910		The Dalai Lama flees from the Chinese and takes refuge in India.
1919		Oregon introduces the first state tax on gasoline at one cent per gallon, to be used for road construction.
1913		The 16th Amendment to the constitution is adopted, setting the legal basis for the income tax.
1926		Poland demands a permanent seat on the League of Nations council.
1928		Bell Labs introduces a new device to end the fluttering of the television image.
1943		U.S. troops retake the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, where they had been defeated five days before.
1944		U.S. forces destroy 135 Japanese planes in Marianas and Guam.
1952		French colonial forces evacuate Hoa Binh in Indochina.
1956		Stalin is secretly disavowed by Khrushchev at a party congress for promoting the “cult of the individual.”
1976		The U.S. Supreme Court rules that states may ban the hiring of illegal aliens.
Born on February 25
1841		Pierre Auguste Renoir, French painter and founder of the French Impressionist movement.
1856		Charles Lang Freer, U.S. art collector.
1873		Enrico Caruso, Italian opera tenor.
1888		John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State to President Eisenhower.
1894		Meher Baba, spiritual leader.
1895		Rudolf von Eschwege, German fighter ace in World War I.
1905		Adele Davis, nutritionist.
1917		Anthony Burgess, English writer (A Clockwork Orange).

24 February History

24 February History

Today In History. What Happened This Day In History

786		Pepin the Short of Gaul dies. His dominions are divided between his sons Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman.
1525		In the first of the Franco-Habsburg Wars, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V captures the French king Francis I at the Battle of Pavia, Italy.
1538		Ferdinand of Hapsburg and John Zapolyai, the two kings of Hungary, conclude the peace of Grosswardein.
1803		Chief Justice John Marshall, by refusing to rule on the case of Marbury vs. Madison, asserts the authority of the judicial branch.
1813		Off Guiana, the American sloop Hornet sinks the British sloop Peacock.
1821		Mexico gains independence from Spain.
1836		Some 3,000 Mexicans launch an assault on the Alamo with its 182 Texan defenders.
1895		The Cuban War of Independence begins.
1908		Japan officially agrees to restrict emigration to the U.S.
1912		Italy bombs Beirut in the first act of war against the Ottoman Empire.
1912		The Jewish organization Hadassah is founded in New York City.
1914		Civil War soldier Joshua Chamberlain dies.
1916		A film version of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea opens in New York.
1921		Herbert Hoover becomes Secretary of Commerce.
1928		The New Gallery of New York exhibits works of Archibald Motley, its first show to feature a black artist.
1944		Merrill’s Marauders, a specially trained group of American soldiers, begin their ground campaign against Japan into Burma.
1945		U.S. forces liberate prisoners of war in the Los Baños Prison in the Philippines.
1947		Franz von Papen is sentenced to eight years in a labor camp for war crimes.
1959		Khrushchev rejects the Western plan for the Big Four meeting on Germany.
1968		North Vietnamese troops capture the imperial palace in Hue, South Vietnam.
1972		Hanoi negotiators walk out of the peace talks in Paris to protest U.S. air raids on North Vietnam.
1991		General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the coalition army, sends in ground forces during the Gulf War.
Born on February 24
1500		Charles V, king of Spain and the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope.
1786		Wilhelm Carl Grimm, compiler, with his brother of fairy tales.
1836		Winslow Homer, American painter.
1841		John Phillip Holland, inventor of the modern submarine.
1874		Honus Wagner, baseball shortstop known as “The Flying Dutchman.”
1885		Chester Nimitz, U.S. admiral who commanded naval forces in the Pacific during WWII.
1887		Mary Ellen Chase, New England writer.
1909		August Derleth, writer (Still is the Summer Night, The Shield of the Valiant).

23 February History

Today In History. What Happened This Day In History
23 February

303		Emperor Diocletian orders the general persecution of Christians in Rome.
1516		The Hapsburg Charles I succeeds Ferdinand in Spain.
1540		Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado begins his unsuccessful search for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold in the American Southwest.
1574		The 5th War of Religion breaks out in France.
1615		The Estates-General in Paris is dissolved, having been in session since October 1614.
1778		Baron von Steuben joins the Continental Army at Valley Forge.
1821		Poet John Keats dies of tuberculosis at the age of 25.
1836		The Alamo is besieged by Santa Anna.
1846		The Liberty Bell tolls for the last time, to mark George Washington’s birthday.
1847		Forces led by Zachary Taylor defeat the Mexicans at the Battle of Buena Vista.
1854		Great Britain officially recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
1861		Texas becomes the seventh state to secede from the Union.
1885		John Lee survives three attempts to hang him in Exeter Prison, as the trap fails to open.
1898		Writer Emile Zola is imprisoned in France for his letter J’accuse in which he accuses the French government of anti-semitism and the wrongful imprisonment of army captain Alfred Dreyfus.
1901		Britain and Germany agree on a boundary between German East Africa and Nyasaland.
1904		Japan guarantees Korean sovereignty in exchange for military assistance.
1916		Secretary of State Lansing hints that the U.S. may have to abandon the policy of avoiding “entangling foreign alliances”.
1921		An airmail plane sets a record of 33 hours and 20 minutes from San Francisco to New York.
1926		President Calvin Coolidge opposes a large air force, believing it would be a menace to world peace.
1936		In Russia, an unmanned balloon rises to a record height of 25 miles.
1938		Twelve Chinese fighter planes drop bombs on Japan.
1942		A Japanese submarine shells an oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California, the first Axis bombs to hit American soil.
1944		American bombers strike the Marianas Islands bases, only 1,300 miles from Tokyo.
1945		Eisenhower opens a large offensive in the Rhineland.
1945		U.S. Marines plant an American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.
1946		Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita is hanged in Manila, the Philippines, for war crimes.
1947		Several hundred Nazi organizers are arrested in Frankfurt by U.S. and British forces.
1950		New York’s Metropolitan Museum exhibits a collection of Hapsburg art. The first showing of this collection in the U.S.
1954		Mass innoculation begins as Salk’s polio vaccine is given to children for first time.
1955		Eight nations meet in Bangkok for the first SEATO council.
1960		Whites join Negro students in a sit-in at a Winston-Salem, N.C. Woolworth store.
1964		The U.S. and Britain recognize the new Zanzibar government.
1967		American troops begin the largest offensive of the war, near the Cambodian border.
1972		Black activist Angela Davis is released from jail where she was held for kidnapping , conspiracy and murder.
1991		French forces unofficially start the Persian Gulf ground war by crossing the Saudi-Iraqi border.
Born on February 23
1633		Samuel Pepys, English diarist.
1685		George F. Handel, German composer.
1743		Meyer Amschel Rothschild, banker and founder of the Rothschild dynasty in Europe.
1868		W.E.B. [William Edward Burghardt] Du Bois, U.S. historian and civil rights leader, founder of what became the NAACP.
1883		Victor Fleming, film director (The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind)
1899		Erich Kastner, German poet, novelist and children’s author (Emil and the Detectives).
1904		William Shirer, CBS broadcaster and author (The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich).
1924		Allan MacLeod Cormack, physicist, developed the CAT scan.

JNU row: What is the outrage all about?

JNU row: What is the outrage all about?

With the Jawaharlal Nehru University issue taking several twists and turns, The Hindu takes a look at how the issue started and where.

The debate around Afzal Guru

Earlier, students from the Jawaharlal Nehru University organised an event on Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru who was hanged in 2013. This was to be done the day after Guru’s third death anniversary.

The event organisers had pasted posters across the campus inviting students to gather for a protest march against “judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat” and in solidarity with the “struggle” of Kashmiri migrants at the Sabarmati dhaba in the campus.

Afzal Guru, the mastermind behind the Parliament attacks in 2001, was hanged in 2013.

The programme called “A country without a post office — against the judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt”, was supposed to showcase the protest through poetry, art and music.

This set off the row, with the Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staging a protest to demand expulsion of the organisers.

The university administration ordered a “disciplinary” enquiry and said the event organisers “went ahead without permission.”

‘Anti-India’ slogans

ABVP members alleged that the protest march consisted of students shouting ‘anti-India’ slogans. A purported video from the event shows students shouting anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans. Students in the video are heard saying slogans like: “Kashmir ki azai tak bharat ki azadi tak, janh rahegi jari”.

Students say:

The students who were part of the committee that organised an event to mark the death anniversary of Afzal Guru said that none of them were part of the group that was shouting slogans.

A student who was a part of the event organising committee, told The Hindu: “The programme was a cultural evening organised to question the working of the Supreme Court. It was also meant to bring the grievances of the Kashmiri citizens to light. The struggles of ‘self-determination’ must be openly spoken about. Considering this is a democratic republic, why should dissent be suppressed?”

Members of the ABVP protest against JNU's event on Afzal Guru. Photo: AP

Sedition charges

A case of sedition against several unknown students was lodged at Vasant Kunj (North) police station. It was registered under IPC Sections 124A (sedition), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons with a common intention).

The university also initiated action, barring eight students from academic activity pending an enquiry, though they would be allowed to stay as guests in the hostels.

Arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar

JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on sedition charges after allegations of ‘anti-national’ sloganeering against him surfaced. He was ordered to three days of police custody.

JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

Why did the police take action?

The police struck after videos of the alleged protest went viral. Home Minister Rajnath Singh talked to Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi and released a statement: “If anyone raises anti-India slogans, tries to raise questions on the country’s unity and integrity, they will not be spared.”

Students protest ‘police raj’ within campus

Students of JNU gave a shutdown call, saying that they will not allow classes to be held on the campus till students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar is released. JNU teachers too, joined the students in boycotting classes and said they would take classes on “nationalism” in the varsity lawns.

The university teachers had earlier rallied behind its protesting students and questioned the administration’s decision to allow the police crackdown on the campus even as they appealed to the public not to “brand” the institution as “anti-national” but they had not joined the strike earlier.

Police personnel guard the entrance of JNU. Photo: PTI

‘Fake’ Twitter handle

Rajnath Singh alleged that JNU students had the backing of Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed. But, his statement was based “fake tweet” from an unverified Twitter account. The account has posted funny messages in the past, with many on the social media considering it as a parody account. The account @HafeezSaeedJUD is no longer in use.

When contacted, a senior officer who handles the Delhi Police Twitter account said, “What proof is there that it was a parody account? Our domain is not to check parody accounts but to red-flag any incendiary content on social media. The law is very clear on this, Internet is just a medium of communication. Idea was to caution young people and students to not get carried away by such messages.”

Journalists, activists attacked in front of Patiala Court

A student gets assaulted at the Patiala House court complex on February 15. Photo: PTI

On February 14, the Patiala House courtswitnessed violence as a mob, wearing lawyer’s robe, slapped and kicked supporters of Kanhaiya Kumar. The attacks began when Mr. Kumar was scheduled to appear before metropolitan magistrate Loveleen and continued for about 45 minutes during which whoever ran into the mob looking young and carrying a mobile was slapped, kicked and chased away from the premises. Journalists and students bore the brunt of the violence, while the older men and women were intimidated by the mob.

O.P. Sharma’s comments

The BJP MLA O.P. Sharma who was also in Patiala House Courts during the scuffle, got embroiled in the controversy when a video of him started surfacing. The video showed Mr. Sharma beating up a CPI worker outside the court’s gate number 4.

“As I was leaving the court I saw a man raising anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans. I lost my cool, like any patriot, and asked him to shut up. And when I turned, he attacked me with an object.”

Mr Sharma doesn’t know what he was hit with, but the people around him got “offended seeing the MLA being attacked” and started beating up the attacker, read “anti-national”. “The problem of this country at present is that terrorism and being anti-national are considered being progressive. And JNU is promoting this kind of ideology and producing anti-nationals. JNU should be sealed,” Mr. Sharma said.

Rahul Gandhi’s role

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi criticised the BJP government, accusing it of “bullying” the prestigious institution. Soon after visiting the JNU campus Mr. Gandhi called an emergency meeting at his residence where he discussed ways to “tie up” every compelling issue the students are facing in India today and place them in its anti-BJP narrative.

Rahul Gandhi met President Pranab Mukherjee over the JNU row and the alleged targeting of students in various parts of the country. Accompanied by senior leaders and also the young MPs of the party, the Congress vice president highlighted the “lawlessness” in Delhi in the wake of Patiala House court attacks and the way the government has handled the JNU row.

Kanhaiya Kumar thrashed

In a shocking sequel to the incidents of February 15 in the Patiala House courts complex, violence was unleashed barely moments before a hearing on sedition charges against JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was to start at 2 p.m.

The Delhi Police again filled the role of a “silent spectator” as attackers defied the Supreme Court’s order for restricted entry to the trial court complex, bashed up Mr. Kumar en route to his court hearing and hurled the choicest abuse, gravel and a jagged end of a flowerpot piece at a six-member team of senior advocates, including Kapil Sibal, hand-picked by the Supreme Court to verify and report back on the ground situation in the court complex.

Three ABVP members resign

Three members of the RSS student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarti Parishad (ABVP), have resigned from their positions in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) unit of the party, citing ideological differences. In a letter jointly issued by the three students, they have “dissociated themselves” from any further activity of ABVP. The letter adds that they cannot be the “mouthpiece” of a government that has unleashed oppression on student community.