March 15 : You'll never find a rainbow if you're looking down.

On this day, 15 Mar....

44 - BC Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March.

1564 - Akbar removed 'Jeziya' or toll-tax for his non-Muslim subjects. In India, Islamic rulers Qutb-UD-DIN Aibak imposed jizya on non-Muslims first time which was called kharaj-o-jizya. After Akbar abolished it, Jizya was re-introduced by Aurangzeb in the 17th century. (Jizya or jizyah is a per capita yearly tax historically levied by Islamic states on certain non-Muslim subjects 'Dhimmis' permanently residing in Muslim lands under Islamic law. The Quran and hadiths mention jizya without specifying its rate or amount. Jizya rate was usually a fixed annual amount depending on the financial capability of the payer. Historically, the jizya tax has been understood in Islam as a fee for protection provided by the Muslim ruler to non-Muslims, for the exemption from military service for non-Muslims, for the permission to practise a non-Muslim faith with some communal autonomy in a Muslim state, and as material proof of the non-Muslims' submission to the Muslim state and its laws. Jizya has also been understood by some as a ritual humiliation of the non-Muslims in a Muslim state for not converting to Islam, while others argue that if it were meant to be a punishment for the dhimmis' unbelief then monks and the clergy wouldn't have been exempted).

1892 - An escalator design was patented in the U.S. by inventor Jesse W. Reno of New York City. It had a conveyor belt that moved people up a 25-degree slope. The first escalator-type patent issued in the U.S. on 9 Aug 1859 had steps mounted on an inclined endless belt or chain. The Otis Elevator Company registered the U.S. trademark Escalator on 29 May 1901. Otis manufactured their first escalator in 1900 which they had exhibited at the Paris Exposition in that year, and then installed at the Gimbal Brothers store in Philadelphia in 1901.

1907 - Finland is 1st European country to give women the right to vote.

1937 - 1st blood bank forms (Chicago, Illinois, US).

1946 - British Prime Minister Clement Attlee agrees with India's right to independence.

1950 - India's Planning Commission Day.

1957 - Britain becomes the 3rd nation to explode a nuclear bomb.

1969 - Indian Navy's first Helicopter Squadron was commissioned in Goa.

1998 - Mr. Vajpayee is appointed Prime Minister. The number of MsP supporting the formation of a government by the BJP stands at 264 in a house of 539, just short of the working majority of 270. However, the President sees the figure as crossing the half-way mark as the Telugu Desam decides to remain neutral. Earlier, the Congress (I) conveys to the President its decision not to stake claim to form a government.

Born

1901 - Guru Hanuman, the pioneer, and contributor of wrestling in India. He was bestowed with the Padamshri in 1983. His pupil Satpal and Kartar Singh won Gold Medals in Asian Games.

1934 - Kanshi Ram, Indian Dalit leader.

1943 - Sahib Singh Verma, politician.

1976 - Abhay Deol, actor.

1984 - Honey Singh, singer.

RIP

1992 - Dr. Rahi Masum Raza, film screenplay, story and dialogue writer.

You may have known....

For ' Varuna Yajna Hindu priests sit inside barrels containing water as they perform special prayers in order to appease Varun.