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.

Asaf Ali's Death Anniversary

Asaf Ali, who passed away on 2 April 1953, aged 64, was an Indian independence activist and noted lawyer. He was the first Indian Ambassador to the United States.  He was appointed governor of Odisha for two terms and later, Indian Ambassador to Switzerland.

Narottam Morarjee's Birth Anniversary

Narottam Morarjee, born on 2 April 1877, in Porbandar, was an Indian businessperson with major interests in shipping and textiles.

His father Seth Morarjee Goculdas was a pioneering textile magnate. He studied at Elphinstone College. He started managing two mills- Morarjee Goculdas Mill of Bombay and Solapur Mill of Solapur while studying.

Narottam Morarjee later came into close contact with Mahatma Gandhi, Dr, Annie Besant, Dadabhai Naoroji, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu and Motilal Nehru.

Narottam Morarjee joined hands with other Gujarati businessmen, Walchand Hirachand and Kilachand Devchand to finance and establish The Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd., which was founded on 27 March 1919. On 5 April 1919, Scindia's first ship s.s. LOYALTY sailed from Bombay to the United Kingdom and unfurled the flag of Indian shipping in international waters.

Narottam Morarjee died on 5 November 1929.

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan's Birth Anniversary

  

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, born on 2 April 1902, in Kasur, of the erstwhile Punjab Province, British India, was an Indian vocalist, from the Kasur-Patialia Gharana and hailed from a family of musicians. Following partition of India in 1947, Kasur Tehsil was allocated to Pakistan.

He received his early training in vocals from his uncle Kale Khan — who had been a court singer in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. He also familiarised himself with the sarangi. Subsequently, he was trained by his father Ali Baksh Khan.

His musical might first became evident when he found an audience for his “all-night riyaaz” in Kasur. His brothers Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, Ustad Bharat Ali Khan and Ustad Amanat Ali Khan were also well-known contributors to the Kasur-Patiala gharana.

The most common epithet used to describe Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan is ‘Tansen of the 20th century’. Often referred to as Bade (older) Ghulam Ali Khan to differentiate him from other maestros of the same name, the genius musician was one of the most legendary thumri vocalists of all time, who took the Patiala Gharana, one of the schools of Hindustani classical music, to new heights.

Born in undivided Punjab, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan found his home in India many years after Partition — he lived in Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, where he eventually passed away.

Pope John Paul II Death Anniversary

 

St. John Paul II, passed away on 2 April, 2005, Vatican City, aged 84. He was beatified on 1 May 2011; canonized 27 April 27 2014; and has his feast day on 22 October, a date chosen to remember the anniversary of the liturgical inauguration of his Papacy in 1978.

Of Polish nationality, and born, Karol Józef Wojtyła, he was the third longest serving pope and the first non-Italian for 455 years he held office from 1978 to his death in 2005. As part of his effort to promote greater understanding between nations and between religions, he undertook numerous trips abroad, traveling far greater distances than had all other popes combined, and he extended his influence beyond the church by campaigning against political oppression and criticizing the materialism of the West. He also issued several unprecedented apologies to groups that historically had been wronged by Catholics, most notably Jews and Muslims. His unabashed Polish nationalism and his emphasis on nonviolent political activism aided the Solidarity movement in communist Poland in the 1980s and ultimately contributed to the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. More generally, John Paul used his influence among Catholics and throughout the world to advance the recognition of human dignity and to deter the use of violence. His centralized style of church governance, however, dismayed some members of the clergy, who found it autocratic and stifling. He failed to reverse an overall decline in the numbers of priests and nuns, and his traditional interpretations of church teachings on personal and sexual morality alienated some segments of the laity.