March 11 : Don't try so hard to fit in, you're born to stand out.

On this day, 11 Mar....

105 - Ts'ai Lun invented paper, made from bamboo, mulberry, and other fibers, along with fishnets and rags. He lived and served as an official at the Chinese Imperial Court at the Han Dynasty in China. He presented samples of paper to Emperor Han Ho Ti. He was promoted by the Emperor for his invention and became wealthy. Later he got involved in palace intrigue, which led to his downfall. Finally, he ended his life drinking poison. In China, before Tsai, Lun, books were made of bamboo, which was heavy and clumsy. Some books were made of silks, which were very expensive. (In the West at that time, books were made of sheepskin or calfskin).

1784 - Tipu Sultan and Britishers signed the treaty at Mangalore which is known as the Mangalore treaty.

1795 - Battle at Kurdla India: Mahratten beat Mogols.

1811 - The Luddite riots began in Nottingham, England. There were poverty and misery, made worse by the new inventions - machinery which could do jobs better and faster than people. In those days of low wages and the ever-present threat of actual starvation should those wages stop for any reason, these innovations must have made the prospect even more gloomy. There were food shortages resulting from the Napoleonic Wars, and high unemployment. A group of laborers attacked a factory, breaking up 63 stocking and lace manufacturing frames, the machines which they feared would replace them. During the next three weeks gangs of upwards of fifty men, armed with pistols, guns and heavy hammers broke two hundred more frames.

1881 - Ashley Eden unveiled in Calcutta Town Hall the first statue of Indians Ram Nath Tagore and Dwarkanath Tagore.

1892 - 1st public basketball game (Springfield, Massachusetts, US).

2011 - Sendai, a major 9.0 earthquake strikes offshore of Japan's Miyagi Prefecture; 10-meter high tsunamis are produced near its epicenter, reaching land through the Pacific ocean. The earthquake is also often referred to in Japan as the Great East Japan earthquake. It caused 15,894 deaths, 6,152 injured and 2,562 people missing.

2015 - The U.S. will support Ukraine in its fight against separatist militants by providing $75 million in non-lethal aid in the form of drones, ambulances, and radios; Humvees will also be sent under a separate agreement.

Born

1903 - General MM Shrinagesh, former Army Chief.

1915 - Vijay Samuel Hazare, cricketer (prolific Indian batsman 1946-54).

1931 - Rupert Murdoch, Australian media mogul.

1942 - Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab.

RIP

1689 - Sambhaji, Shivaji's successor, who was captured at Sangameshwar, was assassinated in the prison of Aurangzeb by Mughal officer Muqurab Khan.

1955 - Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish bacteriologist who discovered penicillin.

Titbits

1302 - Romeo and Juliet's wedding day, according to Shakespeare.

You may have known....

The Apollo crews did not have any life insurance. On the chance that the 3 man crew of Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins did not return safely from the moon, they were not covered by any life insurance policy. So before their trip, all 3 men signed photographs that could be sold in the event of their death. These Insurance covers were also stamped and posted on the start date of the mission, July 16th, 1969 by a friend.