On this day, 02 Feb....
1046 - The weather turns especially cold throughout Europe. Monks note in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that "no man alive...could remember so severe a winter." It is the first known record of the beginning of the 200 year period of exceptional cold, known as the "Little Ice Age."
1665 - British forces capture New Amsterdam, the centre of the Dutch colony in North America. The trading settlement on the island of Manhattan is to be renamed New York in honour of the Duke of York, its new governor.
1795 - A prize of 12,000 francs was offered by the French government for a method of preserving food and transporting it to its armies. The winner was Nicholas Appert, a French chef who invented a way to can food.
1869 - James Oliver invented the removable tempered steel plow blade.
1880 - The steamship SS Strathleven arrived in London with first successful shipment of frozen mutton from Australia. It had been chartered, fitted with air compression/expansion refrigeration equipment, and sent to Australia for a trial shipment of frozen carcasses.
1892 - The bottle cap with cork seal was patented by William Painter, Baltimore U.S. This represented a major saving for the bottlers. (The cap was used until the 1970s, when cork in soft drink and beer bottle caps was considered unhealthy, so, manufacturers switched to cans and plastic, instead. Currently, caps used on bottles use plastic cap "liners", instead of cork).
1897 - A patent was issued for an ice-cream scoop invented by black American inventor, Alfred L. Cralle. His design of an "Ice-cream Mould and Disher" was made to be strong and durable, effective, inexpensive, able to keep ice cream and other foods from sticking and easy to operate with one hand. The basic design is so efficient that it is seen still in use today.
1931 - 1st use of a rocket to deliver mail, Austria.
1935 - The detective Leonard Keeler conducted the first use of his invention, the Keeler polygraph, or lie detector machine. Those examined were two criminals Cecil Loniello and Tony Grignano, who were convicted of assault at their trial where the results were introduced as evidence.
1947 - Beginning of polaroid photography. Edwin H. Land gave the first demonstration of his invention of instant photography.
1958 - MrsIndira Gandhi elected president of the Congress party.
1962 - Eight of the nine planets lined up for the first time in 400 years.
1965 - Government sanction was accorded to the Officers Training School for the start of Short Service Regular Commission.
1967 - US President Johnson orders consignment of 2 mil tons of food grains to be sent to India.
1978 - The Indian National Congress (I) recognised as a national party and allotted the election symbol 'hand' (Palm).
1982 - Geet Sethi becomes the youngest Indian to win the National Billiards' crown at Madras.
1986 Dalai Lama meets Pope John Paul II in India.
Born
1889 - Amrit Kaur, an eminent social worker, freedom fighter and political leader. Was born a princess in the royal family of King Harman Singh of Kapoorthala. She assisted Gandhi for 18 years and was connected with World Health Organisation and Red Cross Society.
1915 - Khushvant Singh, novelist, lawyer, journalist and politician. Known for humour, sarcasm and an abiding love of poetry. Was decorated with the Padma Bhushan in 1974. But he returned the award in 1984 in protest against Operation Blue Star. In 2007 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.
Titbits
1802 - The first leopard to be exhibited in the United States was shown by Othello Pollard in Boston, Mass. It cost 25 cents to see the 'import from Bengal'.
1852 - 1st British public men's toilet opens (Fleet St. London).
You may have known....
The Earth is approximately 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from the sun. At this distance, it takes about 8 minutes and 19 seconds for sunlight to reach our planet.
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