February 22 : Fear cannot be banished, but it can be calm and without panic; it can be mitigated by reason and evaluation.

On this day, 22 Feb....

1630 - Popcorn was introduced to the English colonists by an Indian named Quadequina who brought it in deerskin bags as his contribution at their first Thanksgiving dinner. Popcorn is a type of corn with smaller kernels than regular corn, and when heated over a flame, it "pops" into the snack we know it as today. Native Americans were growing it for more than a thousand years before the arrival of European explorers. In 1964, scientists digging in southern Mexico found a small cob of popcorn discovered to be 7,000 years old. Today, the United States grows nearly all of the world's popcorn.

1907 - 1st cabs with taxi meters begin operating in London.

1918 - Tallest human. The documented world record tallest human Robert Pershing Wadlow was born in the US. Shortly after graduating from high school, he was 8-ft 4-in  tall. He grew to a final height, shortly before his death, of 8-ft 11.1-in. This unique size was attributed to an overactive pituitary gland, which produced much higher than normal levels of growth hormone. Today's medical science can compensate for such problems, but in the 1920s there was no therapy available. He died on 15 Jul 1940, at age 22, from a fatal infection.   At the time of his death, he weighed 490 pounds. The 1,000-pound casket required a dozen pallbearers, assisted by eight other men.

1946 - The first specific antibiotic (streptomycin) effective against tuberculosis was discovered.

1947 - Nehru welcomes British independence offer, invites Muslims to join in New Delhi.

1983 - 3000 die in communal clashes in Assam. 

1995 - Steve Fossett completed the first hot air balloon flight over the Pacific Ocean:9600 km. (On 3 Mar 2005, he completed the first solo non-stop and fastest flight around the world without refueling, in The Global Flyer, a single-engine, single-use experimental jet plane).

1995 - Bomb attack on the train in Assam (27 soldiers killed).

Born

1873 - Sir Muhammad Ekbal, writer of the song 'Sare Jahan se Achha'.

1948 - Jayalalitha, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

1964 - Sooraj R Barjatya, screenwriter.

RIP

1944 - Kasturba Gandhi. (Passed away in British imprisonment in Aga Khan Palace at Pune).

1958 - Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. He was a great leader, a great orator, revolutionary and fighter for national freedom.  

Titbits

1903 - Due to drought, the US side of Niagara Falls runs short of water.

You may have known....

The astronauts - Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin - were placed in quarantine after returning from the moon.  This continued until after the Apollo 14 crew returned safely. After this, it was decided that the Moon did not contain any deadly diseases. The Apollo 13 crew, who had a malfunction and had to return to Earth, did not have to be quarantined after their re-entry as they didn’t actually walk on the moon.

Economic news

DGFT will examine the violation of foreign trade guidelines while taking loans from banks by Nirav Modi firms.

EPFO lowers interest rate to 8.55% from 8.65% for 2017-18

A high-level panel of income tax suggests a lower corporate tax, to face the disruption caused by proposed 21% tax rate in US tax bill.

The Income-tax Dept has attached the four immovable assets of the Potomac Group.

A ministerial panel under Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi will meet to discuss the simplified “single stage “ return filing process in GST.

Religare new auditor, Kothari Mehta & sons, said the preceding auditor, Price Waterhouse, despite irregularities in the cos NPA accounting, internal control, submitted an unmodified report.

PNB Lou fraud spoils the Import finance, bank are imposing new strict rules.

Govt proposes to amend and consolidate small saving schemes like PPF, NSC, Kisan Vikas Patra.