American Museum of Natural History established in 1869

American Museum of Natural History, institute established in New York City on April 6, 1869. It is a major centre of research and education on the natural sciences. It pioneered in mounting field expeditions and in creating dioramas and other lifelike exhibits showing natural habitats and their plant and animal life. The museum’s collections of research specimens number more than 30 million, and its collections of fossils and of insects are among the largest in the world. Its exhibits of fossil dinosaurs and mammals are particularly impressive. The museum conducts research in anthropology, astronomy, entomology, herpetology, ichthyology, invertebrates, mammalogy, mineralogy, ornithology, and vertebrate paleontology. The museum has a 485,000-volume library on natural history, as well as photo, film, and manuscript collections. It also conducts a wide range of educational activities for the public and publishes the monthly magazine Natural History. The Hayden Planetarium, one of the world’s largest, forms part of the museum; it has a 10,000-volume library on astronomy and a 75-foot- (23-metre-) diameter Sky Theater.

The 2006 film, Night at the Museum, was set at the museum.

Chaudhary Devi Lal's Death Anniversary

 

Devi Lal (born Devi Dayal), also known as Chaudhary Devi Lal, who passed away on 6 April 2001, aged 86, was an Indian statesman and politician who served as sixth Deputy Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1990 and from 1990 to 1991.Lal emerged as farmer leader from the state of Haryana, and served as the Chief Minister of Haryana from 1977 to 1979 and then from 1987 to 1989. He was the founder of Indian National Lok Dal. He was popularly known as Tau, meaning uncle.

Alagappa Chettiar's Birth Anniversary

 

Sir Alagappa Chettiar, born on 6 April 1909, was an Indian businessman and philanthropist. He received the Padma Bhushan award (the third highest civilian award in India) in 1956.

Suchitra Sen's Birth Anniversary

 

Suchitra Sen, born on 6 April 1931, in Pabna, Bengal Presidency, British India [now in Pabna, Bangladesh], was an Indian actress who worked in Bengali and Hindi cinema. The movies in which she was repeatedly paired opposite Uttam Kumar became classics in the history of Bengali cinema. Often referred to as the Madhubala of Bengal, Roma Dasgupta, who was born in Pabna district on April 6 in the year 1931, made her Tollywood debut in 1952 with ‘Shesh Kothay’ which never saw the light of day.

The following year, she filmed ‘Sharey Chuattor’ with none other than the heartthrob of Bengal at the time – Uttam Kumar, and her career took off. Her first official release, however, was Sukumar Dasgupta's Saat Number Kayedi (1953). More than anything else, audiences loved the chemistry of the two stars. Sen and Kumar went on to do several hit films together like ‘Harano Sur’ and ‘Saptapadi’ and were loved by film watchers so much that their names 'Uttam-Suchitra' are still taken together by Bengali film lovers.

From 1979 on, she retreated from public life and shunned all forms of public contact; for this she is often compared to Greta Garbo. In 2005, she refused the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest cinematic award in India, to stay out of the public eye.

World Table Tennis Day

Every year on April 6, World Table Tennis Day promotes social inclusion and unity through table tennis. It’s also a day to encourage people around the world to get involved in this sport.

Another name for table tennis is ping-pong. Some people also know this sport as whiff-whaff. The game is based on tennis. However, table tennis is played indoors with the use of small paddles. There is a net in the middle of the table in which players bounce the ball over. Table tennis can either be played with 2 players or 4. Not only is table tennis fun, but there are also many benefits of playing the game.

Some benefits of playing table tennis include:

• Improves reflexes
• Improves hand-eye coordination
• Tones the core muscles as well as the upper and lower body
• Provides a great cardio workout
• Burns calories
• Offers a chance to socialize with others
• Helps players build speed and agility

Table tennis is also easy on the joints. This means there is a low risk of injury while playing the sport.

Some people only think of table tennis as a fun game to play. However, many play the game competitively. In fact, table tennis is even played in the Olympics. The sport made its Olympic debut in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. The best table tennis players can make the ball travel over 60 mph. If you’re looking for a fun sport to watch in the next Olympics, be sure to check out table tennis. It’s also a great game to start playing if you want to get in shape or have some competitive fun.

Athens Games - first occurrence of the Modern Olympic Games began in 1896

 

Athens 1896 Olympic Games, athletic festival held in Athens that took place April 6–15, 1896. The Athens Games were the first occurrence of the modern Olympic Games.

The inaugural Games of the modern Olympics were attended by as many as 280 athletes, all male, from 12 countries. The athletes competed in 43 events covering athletics (track and field), cycling, swimming, gymnastics, weightlifting, wrestling, fencing, shooting, and tennis. A festive atmosphere prevailed as foreign athletes were greeted with parades and banquets. A crowd estimated at more than 60,000 attended the opening day of competition. Members of the royal family of Greece played an important role in the organization and management of the Games and were regular spectators over the 10 days of the Olympics. Hungary sent the only national team; most of the foreign athletes were well-to-do college students or members of athletic clubs attracted by the novelty of the Olympics.

The athletics (track-and-field) events were held at the Panathenaic Stadium. The stadium, originally built in 330 BCE, had been excavated but not rebuilt for the 1870 Greek Olympics and lay in disrepair before the 1896 Olympics, but through the direction and financial aid of Georgios Averoff, a wealthy Egyptian Greek, it was restored with white marble. The ancient track had an unusually elongated shape with such sharp turns that runners were forced to slow down considerably in order to stay in their lanes. The track-and-field competition was dominated by athletes from the United States, who won 9 of the 12 events. The swimming events were held in the cold currents of the Bay of Zea. Two of the four swimming races were won by Alfréd Hajós of Hungary. Paul Masson of France won three of the six cycling events.

The 1896 Olympics featured the first marathon. The race, conceived by Frenchman Michel Bréal,

followed the legendary route of Pheidippides, a trained runner who was believed to have been sent from the plain of Marathon to Athens to announce the defeat of an invading Persian army in 490 BCE. The race became the highlight of the Games and was won by Spyridon Louis, a Greek whose victory earned him the lasting admiration of his country.

 

Construction of Red Fort completed in 1648

 

Red Fort, Mughal fort in Old Delhi, India, was built by Shah Jahan  in the mid-17th century and remains a major tourist attraction. Construction began in the sacred Islamic month of Muharram, on 13 May 1638. Supervised by Shah Jahan, it was completed on 6 April 1648. Unlike other Mughal forts, the Red Fort's boundary walls are asymmetrical to contain the older Salimgarh Fort. The fort was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007.

The fort’s massive red sandstone walls, which stand 75 feet (23 metres) high, enclose a complex of palaces and entertainment halls, projecting balconies, baths and indoor canals, and geometrical gardens, as well as an ornate mosque. Among the most famous structures of the complex are the Hall of Public Audience (Diwan-i-ʿAm), which has 60 red sandstone pillars supporting a flat roof, and the Hall of Private Audience (Diwan-i-Khas), which is smaller and has a pavilion of white marble.

Salt Satyagraha or Dandi March ended in 1930

The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi.

In early 1930 Gandhi decided to mount a highly visible demonstration against the increasingly repressive salt tax by marching through what is now the western Indian state of Gujaratfrom his ashram (religious retreat) at Sabermati (near Ahmadabad) to the town of Dandi (near Surat) on the Arabian Sea coast. He set out on foot on March 12, accompanied by several dozen followers. After each day’s march the group stopped in a different village along the route, where increasingly larger crowds would gather to hear Gandhi rail against the unfairness of the tax on poor people. Hundreds more would join the core group of followers as they made their way to the sea until on April 5 the entourage reached Dandi after a journey of some 240 miles (385 km). On the morning of April 6, Gandhi and his followers picked up handfuls of salt along the shore, thus technically “producing” salt and breaking the law.