March 2 ; One mark of a good leader is the ability to make quick decisions. If they happen to be right, so much the better.

On this day, 02 Mar....

1784 - Jean Pierre Blanchard made his first successful ascent in a self-built balloon. (He had been inspired by the demonstrations by the brothers Étienne and Jacques Montgolfier of hot-air balloon flying in Annonay, France. By 7 Jan 1785, he and an American physician, Dr. John Jeffries, made the first flight over the English Channel, from Dover to Calais.On 9 Jan 1793, Blanchard made the first balloon ascent in North America).

1825 - Work began on the Thames Tunnel in London, the world's first tunnel under a navigable river. Excavation was engineered by Marc Brunel. Beginning his own engineering career, his son Isambad K. Brunel assisted. Together they persevered through 18 years, dealing with floods, human disasters, and delays caused by financing difficulties. It opened for pedestrians on 25 Mar 1843. Planned ramps for use by carts and freight traffic were never added due to cost. The tunnel re-opened with a railway line on 7 Dec 1869, and it continued in use as the oldest part of the London Underground.

1858 - Frederick Cook, New Orleans, patented a metal cotton-bale tie.

1863 - Congress authorised a track width of 4-ft 8-1/2 in. as the standard for the Union Pacific Railroad, which became the accepted/standard width for most of the world. (All high-speed rail lines, except those in Russia, Uzbekistan, and Finland, are standard gauge ie 4 ft 81/2 inches. It is also called the UIC gauge or UIC track gauge. A popular legend that has been around since at least 1937 traces the origin of the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge even further back than the coalfields of northern England, pointing to the evidence of rutted roads marked by chariot wheels dating from the Roman Empire. Snopes categorised this legend as "false", but commented that "... it is perhaps more fairly labelled as 'True, but for trivial and unremarkable reasons").

1866 - Excelsior Needle Company of Wolcottville, Conn., began making sewing machine needles.

1908 - Gabriel Lippman introduced the new three-dimensional colour photography at the Academy of Sciences.

1928 - Mrs R Valentino patented a doll.

1930 - Gandhiji addresses letter to Viceroy intimating his intention to break Salt Law if Congress demands are not conceded.

1959 - An experimental push-button phone was tested by the Southern New England Telephone Company to see if customers dial fewer wrong numbers using the new design.

Born

1933 - Anandji Virji Shah, famous music director.

1963 - Vidyasagar, South Indian film composer, musician and singer.

RIP

1644 - Guru Har Gobind.

1568 - Meerabai, saint poet.

1949 - Sarojini Naidu (born as Sarojini Chattopadhyay), "Nightingale of India", freedom fighter, social worker and patriot.

You may have known....

According to legend Lord Krishna from Nandgaon visited his beloved Radha's village Barsana on this day (Holi) and playfully teased her and her friends. Taking offence at this, the women of Barsana chased him away. Since then, men from Krishna's village, Nandgaon, visit Barsana to play Holi in the town which has the distinction of having the only temple dedicated to Radha in India.