World Aquatic Animal Day

World Aquatic Animal Day is celebrated every year on 3 April. The day is dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of aquatic animals and protecting their ecosystems. The first World Aquatic Animal Day was focused on ‘fish’, but it also includes other creatures such as mollusks, crustaceans, aquatic birds, starfish, corals, and many more. Aquatic animals are classified into two categories: vertebrates and invertebrates. Vertebrates have gills, which are used for breathing, and other respiratory organs. In contrast, invertebrates lack gills, but they have other respiratory mechanisms such as flippers, which are used for movement.

World Aquatic Animal Day: History

The idea for World Aquatic Animal Day came from the Animal Law Clinic at the Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, USA. The clinic was founded in 2007 to provide legal assistance to animals and their owners. The clinic's mission is to promote the humane treatment of animals and to protect their legal rights. The Animal Law Clinic was inspired to create World Aquatic Animal Day after seeing the devastating impact that human activities were having on aquatic ecosystems.

The clinic's founders believed that a global day of awareness would help to raise awareness of the threats facing aquatic animals and inspire people to take action to protect them. The first World Aquatic Animal Day was observed in 2020. The day was a success, and it was celebrated by people all over the world. Since then, World Aquatic Animal Day has been celebrated every year.

World Aquatic Animal Day: Significance

World Aquatic Animal Day is significant because it raises awareness about the various issues faced by aquatic animals and the importance of taking steps to protect them. Threats to aquatic animals include habitat destruction, overfishing, and pollution. It is high time that we take measures to address these threats and ensure a sustainable future for our ocean ecosystems.

 

 

First Mobile Phone Call was made in 1973

 

The first handheld cellular phone call was made on April 3, 1973, by Motorola engineer Martin Cooper from Sixth Avenue in New York while walking between 53rd and 54th streets.

Cooper hoisted the 2 1/2-pound prototype to his ear and called a rival, Joel Engel of Bell Laboratories at AT&T, to declare that his Motorola team had devised a functional portable phone. “There was silence at the other end of the line,” Cooper recalled to Bloomberg in 2015. “To this day, Joel doesn’t remember that call, and I’m not sure I blame him.”

The clunky “shoe” phone, almost as big as a shoebox, allowed a user to talk for 35 minutes and required 10 hours to recharge, according to Wired magazine.

Motorola spent 10 years overcoming technical and regulatory hurdles, and began commercial service in 1983 using a slimmer 16-ounce model that cost between $3,500 and $4,000.

The early phones were too big and expensive to suit most consumers, but they set a precedent for today’s sleek and lightweight models that have become standard equipment for just about everybody.

First successful American Pony Express run in 1860

On April 3, 1860, the first Pony Express mail, travelling by horse and rider relay teams, simultaneously leaves St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. Ten days later, on April 13, the westbound rider and mail packet completed the approximately 1,800-mile journey and arrived in Sacramento, beating the eastbound packet’s arrival in St. Joseph by two days and setting a new standard for speedy mail delivery. Although ultimately short-lived and unprofitable, the Pony Express captivated America’s imagination and helped win federal aid for a more economical overland postal system. It also contributed to the economy of the towns on its route and served the mail-service needs of the American West in the days before the telegraph or an efficient transcontinental railroad.

The Pony Express debuted at a time before radios and telephones, when California, which achieved statehood in 1850, was still largely cut off from the eastern part of the country. Letters sent from New York to the West Coast travelled by ship, which typically took at least a month, or by stagecoach on the recently established Butterfield Express overland route, which could take from three weeks to many months to arrive. Compared to the snail’s pace of the existing delivery methods, the Pony Express’ average delivery time of 10 days seemed like lightning speed.

The Pony Express Company, the brainchild of William H. Russell, William Bradford Waddell and Alexander Majors, owners of a freight business, was set up over 150 relay stations along a pioneer trail across the present-day states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California. Riders, who were paid approximately $25 per week and carried loads estimated at up to 20 pounds of mail, were changed every 75 to 100 miles, with horses switched out every 10 to 15 miles. Among the riders was the legendary frontiersman and showman William “Buffalo Bill” Cody  (1846-1917), who reportedly signed on with the Pony Express at age 14. The company’s riders set their fastest time with Lincoln’s inaugural address, which was delivered in just less than eight days.

The initial cost of Pony Express delivery was $5 for every half-ounce of mail. The company began as a private enterprise and its owners hoped to gain a profitable delivery contract from the U.S. government, but that never happened. With the advent of the first transcontinental telegraph line in October 1861, the Pony Express ceased most of its operations. However, the legend of the lone Pony Express rider galloping across the Old West frontier to deliver the mail lives on today.

 

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's Death Anniversary

Shivaji Bhosale I, who passed away on 3 April 1680 at Fort Raigad, aged 50, was an Indian warrior-king and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out an enclave from the declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the Maratha Empire. In 1674, he was formally crowned as the chhatrapati (emperor) of his realm at Raigad.

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay's Birth Anniversary

 

 

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, born on 3 April 1903, was an Indian social reformer and freedom activist.

Born in Mangalore, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was the first woman to run for a legislative seat in India, in the Madras provincial elections. As a social reformer, she played a crucial role in bringing back handicrafts, theatre and handlooms to help in uplifting the socio-economic status of the Indian women.

Many of the iconic cultural institutions in India today exist because of her vision, these include the National School of Drama, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Central Cottage Industries Emporium, and the Crafts Council of India. Chattopadhyay stressed the significant role which handicrafts and cooperative grassroot movements play in the social and economic upliftment of the Indian people.

Kamaladevi played a prominent role in political reforms and India’s freedom struggle. She joined Indian National Congress in 1927 and was elected to the All-India Congress Committee within a year. During the Salt March to Dandi, she convinced Gandhi to give women equal opportunity to be in the forefront of the March. Later, she joined Seva Dal and trained women activists.

On 3 April 2018, on what would have been her 115th birthday, Google honoured her with a Doodle on their homepage.

Field MarshalSam Manekshaw's Birth Anniversary

 

Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, born on 3 April 1914, also known as Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was the chief of the army staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, and the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal. His active military career spanned four decades, beginning with service in World War II.

Jane Goodall's 90th Birthday

Jane Goodall, born on 3 April 1934, London, England) is a British ethologist, who celebrates her 90^th birthday today. She is known for her exceptionally detailed and long-term research on the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania.

Goodall, who was interested in animal behaviour from an early age, left school at age 18. She worked as a secretary and as a film production assistant until she gained passage to Africa. Once there, Goodall began assisting palaeontologist and anthropologist Louis Leakey. Her association with Leakey led eventually to her establishment in June 1960 of a camp in the Gombe Stream Game Reserve (now a national park) so that she could observe the behaviour of chimpanzees in the region. In 1964 she married a Dutch photographer Baron Hugo van Lawick who had been sent in 1962 to Tanzania to film her work; the couple had a son in 1967 and later divorced. The University of Cambridge in 1965 awarded Goodall a Ph.D. in ethology; she was one of very few candidates to receive a Ph.D. without having first possessed an A.B. degree. After her divorce she married Derek Bryceson, who was then member of Tanzania’s parliament and director of the Tanzanian national park system. He helped establish Gombe Stream National Park before his untimely death of cancer in 1980.

Except for short periods of absence, Goodall remained in Gombe until 1975, often directing the fieldwork of other doctoral candidates. In 1977 she cofounded the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation (commonly called the Jane Goodall Institute) in California; the centre later moved its headquarters to the Washington, D.C., area. She also created various other initiatives, including Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots (1991), a youth service program.

 

Johannes Brahms Death Anniversary

 

Johannes Brahms, who passed away on 3 April 1897, Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now in Austria], aged 63, was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote symphonies, concerti, chamber music, piano works, choral compositions, and more than 200 songs. Brahms was the great master of symphonic and sonata style in the second half of the 19th century. He can be viewed as the protagonist of the Classical tradition of Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven in a period when the standards of this tradition were being questioned or overturned by the Romantics.

American Circus Day

 

American Circus Day is celebrated annually on April 3. This holiday celebrates the anniversary of the first circus performance in the U.S., which took place on April 3, 1793. Organized by British equestrian John Bill Ricketts, the open-air arena packed hundreds of spectators who ate up the performances, including President George Washington himself. Since its 18th century beginning, the circus grew in leaps and bounds, with various showmen bringing in innovations and acts. By the 19th century, American circuses were touring Europe, and Queen Victoria herself was treated to showy performances.