In 1857, Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, as the capital of the Province of Canada

 

December 31 is a significant date for Ottawa, Canada’s capital, marking both a major historical anniversary and the centre of New Year's Eve festivities. 

Historical Significance: December 31, 1857 

On December 31, 1857, Queen Victoria officially selected Ottawa (then a small lumber town known as Bytown) to be the permanent capital of the Province of Canada. 

 

• The Selection Process: Ottawa was chosen as a political compromise between the rival cities of Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, and Kingston.
• Strategic Advantages: The location was chosen for its relative safety from American attack, its position on the border of English-speaking Canada West (Ontario) and French-speaking Canada East (Quebec), and its access via the Rideau Canal.
• Announcement: The decision was formally relayed to Canada's Governor General in a letter from the Colonial Secretary dated December 31, 1857. 

Saddam Hussein's execution in 2006

 

Saddam Hussein, the former President of Iraq, was executed by hanging on December 30, 2006.

Execution Details

Time and Location: The execution took place at approximately 6:00 a.m. local time at Camp Justice, a joint Iraqi-U.S. military base in the Kadhimiya neighbourhood of Baghdad.

Conviction: He was sentenced to death by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for crimes against humanity. Specifically, he was held responsible for the 1982 Dujail massacre, where 148 Shiite men and boys were killed in retaliation for an assassination attempt against him.

Last Moments: Official footage showed Saddam being led to the gallows and having a noose placed around his neck. However, a leaked mobile phone video surfaced later, showing witnesses heckling him and praising Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in his final moments.

Burial: His body was transported to his birthplace, Al-Awja (near Tikrit), and buried on December 31, 2006. Reports indicate his remains were later moved to a secret location in 2012 to prevent desecration during the rise of ISIS. 

International Cello Day

International Cello Day is celebrated annually on December 29.

Purpose and History

The day honours the cello, a bowed string instrument known for its deep, resonant, and "human-like" tone. It was officially founded by a group of cellists in 2015 to celebrate the instrument's versatility across classical, jazz, and even contemporary rock genres. 

Why December 29?

The date was chosen to commemorate the birthday of Pablo Casals (born 1876), a legendary Catalan cellist, composer, and conductor. Casals is widely credited with: 

Elevating the Cello: Transforming it from a secondary orchestral instrument to a prominent solo instrument.

The Bach Suites: Rediscovering and recording Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites, which were previously dismissed as mere technical exercises.

International Cinema Day

 

International Cinema Day is celebrated annually on December 28. It marks the anniversary of the first public commercial film screening by the Lumière brothers at the Grand Café in Paris in 1895. 

On 28 December 1895, in the basement of the Grand Cafe in Paris (Le Salon Indien du Grand Cafe) on Boulevard des Capucines, the first public cinema show was held, where the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere showed the viewers 10 short films, among which was the famous short documentary The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station. During the screening of that film, the audience jumped from their seats and ran in horror away from the hall, fearing that the moving train on the screen would crush them. 

Each film was then 17 meters long, which, when hand cranked through a projector, ran approximately 50 seconds. From that moment, regular film screenings began, accompanied by a piano or a saxophone. The motion pictures were sometimes also accompanied by text below the images.

Establishnent of NIMHANS in 1974

 NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) was formally established in Bangalore on December 27, 1974, through the amalgamation of the All India Institute of Mental Health (AIIMH) and the Mysore Government Mental Hospital, becoming an autonomous body to lead in mental health and neuroscience education, research, and patient care. It later gained "Deemed University" status in 1994 and was declared an "Institute of National Importance" in 2012.  

Key Milestones:

• 1954: 

AIIMH started within the Mental Hospital premises, with Dr. MV Govindswamy as its director, fostering an interdisciplinary approach. 

• 1974: 

The formal merger of AIIMH and the State Mental Hospital created the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS). 

• 1994: 

Granted "Deemed University" status by the UGC, providing academic autonomy. 

• 2012: 

Declared an "Institute of National Importance" by an Act of Parliament. 

 

NIMHANS's Role:

Today, NIMHANS serves as a premier multidisciplinary center for patient care, advanced research, and training in mental health and neurosciences, attracting patients and researchers globally. 

Dr. Manmohan Singh's Death Anniversary

Dr. Manmohan Singh, who passed away on 26 December 2024, aged 92, was an eminent economist and statesman who served as the 14th Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014.

Career Highlights

• Prime Minister (2004–2014): Leading the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), he was the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term.
• Architect of Economic Reforms: As Finance Minister (1991–1996), he is credited with ushering in "liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation" (LPG), which shifted India toward a market-oriented economy and averted a balance of payments crisis.

• Key Offices Held:
• Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (1982–1985).
• Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission (1985–1987).
• Member of the Rajya Sabha representing Assam and later Rajasthan for over three decades until his retirement in April 2024. 

Major Policy Achievements

• Civil Nuclear Deal: He successfully negotiated the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement in 2008, a landmark shift in India's foreign and energy policy.
• Social Rights Legislation: His government introduced several transformative acts, including the Right to Information (RTI) Act (2005), the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) (2005), and the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
• Economic Growth: During his tenure, India experienced some of its highest average annual GDP growth rates, pulling millions out of poverty. 

Centigrade Temperature Scale Developed in 1741

Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius developed his original centigrade temperature scale on December 25, 1741. He presented his findings to the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden in 1742. 

It is worth noting that Celsius's original scale was the reverse of the one used today:

• He set the boiling point of water at 0 degrees.
• He set the freezing point of water at 100 degrees. 

The scale was reversed to its modern form (0° for freezing, 100° for boiling) shortly after his death, most notably by fellow Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus in 1745, to make it more practical for everyday use. The scale was officially renamed the "Celsius scale" in his honor in 1948 by an international conference.