WORLD EVENTS OF 14 JULY

We have moved to almost the half of this month and I hereby try my level best to present the significant events that took place in various parts of the world and affect our present life in some way or other:

1. BASTILLE DAY: 

Bastille Day, also known as French National Day, is celebrated on July 14th each year. It marks an important event in French history—the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris in 1789.

During the French Revolution, the people of France were unhappy with the monarchy and wanted more rights and freedom. On July 14th, they gathered and stormed the Bastille, a prison seen as a symbol of the Royal Authority. This event became a turning point in the revolution and a symbol of the fight for liberty.

Bastille Day is a day of celebration for the French people. They come together to honor their country and its values. The festivities include parades with military displays, where soldiers march in uniform and military vehicles are showcased. The most famous parade takes place in Paris along the Champs-Élysées.

Bastille Day is not only celebrated in France but also in French communities around the world. It serves as a reminder of the French Revolution's impact and the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity that are still cherished today.

2. Mariner-4: 

Mariner-4, a spacecraft launched by NASA in 1964, conducted a flyby mission to Mars. It captured close-up images of Mars' surface during its closest approach on July 14, 1965. The images revealed a cratered landscape, challenging previous earth-like features and assumptions. Mariner 4's findings expanded our understanding of Mars and paved the way for future missions.

3. New Horizons:

A spacecraft launched by NASA on January 19, 2006, has made remarkable contributions to our knowledge of the outer regions of our solar system. Its primary mission was to study Pluto and the vast Kuiper Belt.

On July 14, 2015, New Horizons achieved its closest approach to Pluto, getting as close as 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) to the dwarf planet's surface. The spacecraft captured and transmitted to Earth the first-ever detailed images and valuable data of Pluto. These groundbreaking observations revealed a dynamic world with icy mountains, a fascinating nitrogen-rich atmosphere, and captivating surface features.

New Horizons continued its mission beyond Pluto, venturing into the Kuiper Belt—a distant region of icy bodies located beyond Neptune. On January 1, 2019, the spacecraft conducted a successful flyby of a Kuiper Belt object named Ultima Thule. This encounter provided unprecedented insights into the formation and evolution of our solar system.

4. First female parliamentarian in the Arab world is elected to office:

On this day in 1957, Egyptian Rawya Ateya became the first woman to be elected to the National Assembly.

5. The Telegram Era:

The world's last telegram was sent as India's state-run telecommunications company ended its telegraph service on this day in 2013.

6. Maryam Mirzakhani:

Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani—the first woman and first Iranian to be awarded a Fields Medal on this day in 2017, cited for “her outstanding contributions to the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces”—died at age 40. She was also awarded the AMS Satter Prize-2013.

7. Famous Birthdays:

a) 1903 - Irving Stone, American author (Love is Eternal) (d. 1989).

b) 1910 -William Hanna, American animator who co-founded Hanna-Barbera (Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo) (d. 2001).

c) 1913 - Gerald Ford, American lawyer, and politician who was the 41st US Vice President from 1973-74 and the 38th US President from 1974-77 (d. 2006).

d) 1918 - Ingmar Bergman, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter (Cries & Whispers) (d. 2007).

e) 1930 - Polly Bergen, American actress, and singer (Winds of War, The Helen Morgan Story) (d. 2014).

f) 1952 - Franklin Graham, American evangelist, and missionary, son of Billy Graham.

g) 1955 - L. Brent Bozell III, American journalist, author, and activist who founded the Media Research Center.

8. Famous Deaths:

a) 1881 - Billy the Kid, American outlaw (b. 1859).

b) 2005 - Cicely Saunders, English nurse, and physician who found the first modern hospice.

9. Chandrayaan-3:

The Chandrayaan-3 mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, at 2.35 PM IST on Friday, 14 July-2023.

The mission follows Chandrayaan-2 where scientists aim to demonstrate various capabilities including reaching the orbit of the moon, making a soft landing on the lunar surface using a lander, and a rover coming out of the lander to study the surface of the moon. The Chandrayaan 3 mission is a follow-up to Chandrayaan 2, which was launched in July 2019. Chandrayaan 2 consisted of an orbiter, a lander named Vikram, and a rover named Pragyan. While the orbiter successfully continues to orbit the Moon, the lander unfortunately had a hard landing on the lunar surface.

Chandrayaan 3 will focus on a soft landing and rover deployment on the lunar surface, aiming to conduct in-depth studies and collect valuable data. The mission will involve advanced technology and improved systems to enhance the chances of successful landing and rover operations.

The objectives of Chandrayaan 3 include studying the lunar surface for signs of water ice, analyzing the Moon's exosphere, conducting experiments to understand the Moon's geology, and investigating potential resources that can be utilized for future space exploration and habitation and aims to further explore the Moon and expand our understanding of its geology, mineralogy, and potential resources.