We the humans & our Rights!!!

Human rights 365

On 10 December every year, Human Rights Day commemorates the date on which the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaiming its principles as the “common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.”

This year’s slogan, Human Rights 365, encompasses the idea that every day is Human Rights Day. It celebrates the fundamental proposition in the Universal Declaration that each one of us, everywhere, at all times is entitled to the full range of human rights, that human rights belong equally to each of us and bind us together as a global community with the same ideals and values. Read more & Watch the video...

This NOBEL laureate started inventing even before learning academically & was literally blinded by his work!!!

Nils Gustaf Dalén (30 November 1869 – 9 December 1937) was a Swedish Nobel Laureate and industrialist, the founder of the AGA company and inventor of the AGA cooker and the Dalén light. In 1912 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "invention of automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses and buoys".  In 1892 he invented a milk-fat tester to check milk quality of the milk delivered and went to Stockholm to show his new invention for Gustaf de Laval. de Laval was impressed by the self-taught Dalén and the invention and encouraged him to get a basic technical education. 

During his life, AGA was one of the most innovative companies in Sweden and produced a large variety of products that grew every year. In 1922 he patented his invention of the AGA cooker. Most of the testing for the cooker was made in his private kitchen in his Villa Ekbacken that was built when AGA moved to Lidingö in 1912 but that he never actually had a chance to see with his own eyes. Early in 1912, Dalén was blinded in an acetylene explosion during a test of maximum pressure for the accumulators. Later the same year he was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics. 

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Albeit discovering photosynthesis this biologist pursued lifelong interest in electricity!!!

Jan Ingenhousz or Ingen-Housz FRS (December 8, 1730 – September 7, 1799) was a Dutch physiologist, biologist and chemist. He is best known for showing that light is essential to photosynthesis and thus having discovered photosynthesis. He also discovered that plants, like animals, have cellular respiration. In his lifetime he was best known for successfully inoculating the members of the Habsburg family in Vienna against smallpox in 1768 and subsequently being the private counsellor and personal physician to the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. Read more & Watch the video...

Tribute to the STALWART who reformed the social system and architected Independent India's constitution !!!!

Ambedkar was voted as the "Greatest Indian" in 2012 by a poll organised by History TV18 and CNN IBN. He was an Indian jurist, politician, philosopher, anthropologist, historian and economist. As independent India's first law minister, he was principal architect of the Constitution of India. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1990. 

By 1912, he obtained his degree in economics and political science. He passed his M.A. exam in June 1915, majoring in Economics, with Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology. He presented a thesis, Ancient Indian Commerce. In 1916 he completed his second thesis, National Dividend of India-A Historic and Analytical Study for another M.A.and finally he received his Ph.D. in Economics in 1917 for his third thesis, after he left for London. In October 1916 he enrolled for the Bar course at Gray's Inn, and also at the same time enrolled at the London School of Economics where he started work on a doctoral thesis. His thesis was on "Indian Rupee". At the London School Of Economics he took a Master's degree in 1921 and in 1923 he took his D.Sc.in Economics, and the same year he was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn. His third and fourth Doctorates (Ll.D, Columbia, 1952 and Ll.D., Osmania, 1953) were conferred honoris causa. He wrote three scholarly books on economics:

• Administration and Finance of the East India Company,
• The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India, and
• The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), formed in 1934, was based on the ideas that Ambedkar presented to the Hilton Young Commission. Read more & Watch the video...

This immunologist, having keen interest in music, invented first effective polio vaccine!!!

Hilary Koprowski (December 5, 1916 – April 11, 2013) was a Polish and American virologist and immunologist, and the inventor of the world's first effective live polio vaccine. He authored or co-authored over 875 scientific papers and co-edited several scientific journals. Koprowski received many academic honors and national decorations, including the Belgian Order of the Lion, the French Order of Merit and Legion of Honour, Finland's Order of the Lion, and Poland's Order of Merit. He received a medical degree from Warsaw University in 1939. He also received music degrees from the Warsaw Conservatory and, in 1940, from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. He adopted scientific research as his life's work, but never gave up music and composed several musical works. Read more & Watch the video...

Tribute to SHOEMAKER’S apprentice who INVENTED ELECTRIC MOTOR, A GALVANOMETER!!!

William Sturgeon (22 May 1783 – 4 December 1850) was an English physicist and inventor who made the first electromagnets, and invented the first practical English electric motor. Sturgeon was born in Whittington, near Carnforth, Lancashire, and apprenticed to a shoemaker. He joined the army in 1802 and taught himself mathematics and physics. In 1824 he became Lecturer in Science and Philosophy at the East India Company's Military Seminary at Addiscombe, Surrey, and in the following year he exhibited his first electromagnet.  Read more & Watch the video...

From starting as apprentice, opening a workshop hardly with some tools in it; he magnified his name in world of photography!!!

Carl Zeiss (11 September 1816 – 3 December 1888) was a German maker of optical instruments commonly known for the company he founded, Carl Zeiss Jena (now: Carl Zeiss AG). Zeiss made contributions to lens manufacturing that have aided the modern production of lenses. Raised in Weimar, Germany, he became a notable lens-maker in the 1840s when he created high-quality lenses that were "wide open", or in other words, had a very large aperture range that allowed for very bright images. He did this in the city of Jena at a self-opened workshop, where he started his lens-making career. At first his lenses were only used in the production of microscopes, but when cameras were invented, his company began manufacturing high-quality lenses for cameras. Read more & Watch the video...

This misbehaved child, a self confessed political illiterate, stirred the global politics with reformers like CHE!!!

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (August 13, 1926) is a Cuban politician and revolutionary who served as Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and President from 1976 to 2008. Politically a Marxist-Leninist, he also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration the Republic of Cuba became a one-party socialist state; industry and businesses were nationalized, and state socialist reforms implemented throughout society. Internationally, Castro was the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and from 2006 to 2008. Although Castro took an interest in history, geography and debating at Belén, he did not excel academically, instead devoting much of his time to playing sport. Historian and journalist Richard Gott considered Castro to be "one of the most extraordinary political figures of the twentieth century", noting that he had become a "world hero in the mould of Garibaldi" to people throughout the developing world for his anti-imperialist efforts. Bourne described Castro as "an influential world leader" who commanded "great respect" from individuals of all political ideologies across the developing world. Read more & watch the video...

Let us spread the Aid; not AIDS!!!

The 2014 theme for World AIDS Day is “Focus, Partner, Achieve: An AIDS-free Generation.”World AIDS Day, observed on 1 December every year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. Government and health officials observe the day, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics.

Human immunodeficiency virus infection / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a disease of the human immune systemcaused by infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Prevention of HIV infection, primarily through safe sex and needle-exchange programs, is a key strategy to control the spread of the disease. There is no cure or vaccine; however, antiretroviral treatment can slow the course of the disease and may lead to a near-normal life expectancy. While antiretroviral treatment reduces the risk of death and complications from the disease, these medications are expensive and may be associated with side effects. Read more & Watch the video...

This doctor invented Basketball in order to calm down students of a rowdy class!!!

James Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a Canadian American sports coach and innovator. He invented the sport of basketball in 1891. He wrote the original basketball rulebook, founded the University of Kansas basketball program, and lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and as an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, as well as the birth of both the National Invitation Tournament (1938) and the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship (1939).

Basketball is a sport played by two teams of five players on a rectangular court. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter and 10 feet (3.0 m) high mounted to a backboard at each end. Basketball is one of the world's most popular and widely viewed sports. Read more & Watch the video...

This Philosopher, Poet, Fighter, Instructor, inventor and actor did it all in his own stride !!!

Bruce Lee (Born Lee Jun-fan; 27 November 1940 – 20 July 1973) was a Hong Kong American martial artist, Hong Kong action film actor, martial arts instructor, filmmaker, and the founder of Jeet Kune Do. He is widely to be one of the most influential martial artists of all time, and a pop culture icon of the 20th century. Lee's first introduction to martial arts was through his father, from whom he learned the fundamentals of Wu-style t'ai chi ch'uan. At the age of 18, Lee returned to the United States with $100 in his pocket. After living in San Francisco for several months, he moved to Seattle in 1959, to continue his high school education, where he also worked for Ruby Chow as a live-in waiter at her restaurant.mHe also studied philosophy, psychology, and various other subjects. 

Lee appeared in the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships and performed repetitions of two-finger push-ups (using the thumb and the index finger of one hand) with feet at approximately a shoulder-width apart. In the same Long Beach event he also performed the "One inch punch", His volunteer was Bob Baker of Stockton, California. Jeet Kune Do:The Jeet Kune Do emblem is a registered trademark held by the Bruce Lee Estate. The Chinese characters around the Taijitu symbol read: "Using no way as way" and "Having no limitation as limitation" The arrows represent the endless interaction between yang and yin.Lee emphasised what he called "the style of no style". 

Lee had his first role as a baby who was carried onto the stage in the film Golden Gate Girl. By the time he was 18, he had appeared in twenty films. Enter the Dragon was one of the year's highest grossing films and cement Lee as a martial arts legend. It was made for US$850,000 in 1973 (equivalent to $4 million adjusted for inflation as of 2007). To date, Enter the Dragon has grossed over $200 million worldwide.

His books on martial arts and fighting philosophy are known for their philosophical assertions, both inside and outside of martial arts circles. His eclectic philosophy often mirrored his fighting beliefs, though he was quick to claim that his martial arts were solely a metaphor for such teachings.He believed that any knowledge ultimately led to self-knowledge, and said that his chosen method of self-expression was martial arts. His influences include Taoism, Jiddu Krishnamurti, and Buddhism. In 1972, he was asked if he believed in God, and responded,"To be perfectly frank, I really do not".

Most of Bruce Lee's poems are categorized as anti-poetry or fall into a paradox. The free verse form of Lee's poetry reflect his famous quote "Be formless ... shapeless, like water." Read more & watch the video...

The present that laid the country's FOUNDATION; the lengthiest living document of the world !!!

The Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, and came into effect on 26 January 1950. The date 26 January was chosen to commemorate the Purna Swaraj declaration of independence of 1930. With its adoption, the Union of India officially became the modern and contemporary Republic of India and it replaced the Government of India Act 1935 as the country's fundamental governing document. 26 November 1949 is also known as National Law Day.

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens. 

The Indian constitution is the world's longest constitution. At the time of commencement, the constitution had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules. It consists of almost 80,000 words and took 2 years 11 months and 18 days to build. It is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 448 articles in 22 parts, 12 schedules and 118 amendments (Current constitution). Besides the English version, there is an official Hindi translation. 

A Draft Constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on 4 November 1947. Draft constitution was debated and over 2000 amendments were moved over a period of two years. Finally on 26 Nov. 1949, the process was completed and Constituent assembly adopted the constitution. 284 members signed the document and the process of constitution making was complete.  Read more & watch the video....

This lesser celebrated physician was overlooked by physicists for his path-braking THERMODYNAMICS & OXIDATION!!!

Julius Robert von Mayer (November 25, 1814 – March 20, 1878) was a German physician and physicist and one of the founders of thermodynamics. He is best known for enunciating in 1841 one of the original statements of the conservation of energy or what is now known as one of the first versions of the first law of thermodynamics, namely that "energy can be neither created nor destroyed". 

In 1842, Mayer described the vital chemical process now referred to as oxidation as the primary source of energy for any living creature. His achievements were overlooked and priority for the discovery of the mechanical equivalent of heat was attributed to James Joule in the following year. He also proposed that plants convert light into chemical energy.

Although he had hardly been interested before this journey in physical phenomena, his observation that storm-whipped waves are warmer than the calm sea started him thinking about the physical laws, in particular about the physical phenomenon of warmth and the question: whether the directly developed heat alone or whether the sum of the amounts of heat developed in direct and indirect ways contributes to the temperature. After his return in February 1841 Mayer dedicated his efforts to solve this problem. Read more & watch the video...

Brilliant cricketer invented a game which was given the name of the place where it was invented!!!

Rev. William Webb Ellis (24 November 1806 – 24 February 1872) was an Anglican (English) clergyman who is famous for allegedly being the inventor of Rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School.

Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 70,628 (2001) making it the second largest town in the county. The enclosing Borough of Rugby has a population of 100,500 (2011). The town is credited with being the birthplace of rugby football.

Rugby football is a style of football that developed at Rugby School and was one of several versions of football played at English public schools during the 19th century. The two main types of rugby are rugby league and rugby union. Although these two forms share the same objective of getting the ball over the line to score a try, the specific rules are different.  Read more & watch the video...

His invention was an answer to Eiffel tower, which is found in all the amusement parks!!!

George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. (February 14, 1859 – November 22, 1896) was an American engineer. He is mostly known for creating the original Ferris Wheel for the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition. Ferris was born on February 14, 1859, in Galesburg, Illinois, the town founded by his namesake, George Washington Gale.

Ferris left Nevada in 1875 to attend the California Military Academy in Oakland, where he graduated in 1876. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, in the class of 1881 with a degree in Civil Engineering. At RPI he was a charter member of the local chapter of Chi Phi Fraternity and a member of the Rensselaer Society of Engineers. He was made a member of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Alumni Hall of Fame in 1998. Read more & watch the video...

The man who revealed acoustics depth & light scattering effect!!!

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, (7 November 1888 – 21 November 1970) was an Indian physicist, born in the former Madras Province, whose ground breaking work in the field of light scattering earned him the 1930 Nobel Prize for Physics. He discovered that, when light traverses a transparent material, some of the deflected light changes in wavelength. This phenomenon is now called Raman scattering and is the result of the Raman effect. In 1954, he was honoured with the highest civilian award in India, the Bharat Ratna.

Venkata Raman was born, to a Tamil family, in Thiruvanaikaval, Trichinopoly, present-day Tiruchirapalli, Madras Presidency, inBritish India to Parvati Amma. He was self educated in the field of science. At an early age, Raman moved to the city of Visakhapatnam, and studied in St. Aloysius Anglo-Indian High School. Raman passed his matriculation examination at the age of 11 and he passed his F.A. examination (equivalent to today's Intermediate exam) with a scholarship at the age of 13.Read more & watch the video...