Today we step into a new month. Winter is almost around the corner as our calendars read- November 1. This date has its significance rooted in various important events that occurred on this date in the past.
Historical events of Importance
1956
This day witnessed a major event in the history of Independent India as Linguistic regionalism came into existence. The state of Andhra Pradesh (now divided into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh) was formed. Additionally, the Kannada-speaking region of South India was united to form the state of Karnataka. Kurnool was its capital, at that time. Kerala was also established on the same day. Before this, it was three major provinces and many outlying regions under different rulers. Moreover, on this day Kanyakumari district was also transferred from Kerala to Tamil Nadu.
1966
November 1 of this year saw the division of the state of Punjab based on language. The Hindi-speaking state formed Haryana. While a new state of Punjabi with a largely Punjabi speaking population was born. On the other hand, the northernmost districts were transferred to Himachal Pradesh. Most importantly, the newly constructed Chandigarh and its surroundings formed a separate union territory. This city was not a part of either state. However, it was retained as the joint administrative headquarters or capital of both Haryana and Punjab.
1984
Indhira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984. The next day i.e. November 1 saw the rise of Anti-Sikh riots.
Sikh bodyguards of the then prime minister Indhira Gandhi assassinated her. Then a series of organized pogroms were launched against Sikhs in India. On this day, the first Sikh was killed in East Delhi. Armed mobs took over the streets in the capital. Gurudwaras were among the first prime targets. The worst-affected areas were the low-income neighborhoods namely Shahdara, Geeta, Mongolpuri, Trilokpuri and Palam Colony. However, some areas with prompt police intervention witnessed few killings and little major violence. This included Farsh Bazar and Karol Bagh.
1993
Under the third Delors Commission, the Maastricht Treaty came into effect. Consequently, the European Union was created. Its pillar system included foreign and home affairs alongside the European Community. Today, the European Union is an economic and political union of 27 member states that are located in Europe. These have a combined population of 447 million. It has developed an internal single market through a standardized system of laws that apply to all its member states. Additionally, enacting justice, home affairs and maintaining common policies on issues like trade, agriculture; etc are its other functions. Moreover, the EU aims to ensure the free movement of goods, people, services and capital within the internal market.
2000
A long-cherished demand of some Indians was fulfilled with the creation of Chattisgarh on this day. Consequently, it became the 26th state of India. Moreover, the state was formed by partitioning ten Chattisgarhi and other six Gondi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh.
Social, Economic and Environmental Movements
1994
Since 1994, November 1 is celebrated as World Vegan Day. Louise Wallis, then Chair of The Vegan Society, established this day to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the organization. It was also celebrated for coining the terms “vegan” and “veganism”. The day is a celebration of everyone who has adopted this healthy lifestyle and the cause of animal rights. Hence, they advocate the same through workshops on this day.
Major Scientific innovations
1884
Greenwich Mean Time(GMT) was adopted universally. This happened at a meeting of the International Meridian Conference which took place in Washington DC, USA. Moreover, the International Date Line was drawn and the 24 time zones were created after this.
1952
A hydrogen bomb dubbed ” Mike” was from the first United States test of a thermonuclear device. On this day, the same was exploded in the Pacific, about 3,000 miles west of Hawaii. This was a thousand time more powerful than the bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II.
2012
Scientists discovered that stars were present at least 500 million years after the big bang, which later gave birth to the universe some 13.75 billion years ago. Data gleaned from jets of high-energy radiation which was emitted long ago was used for this.
Famous Birthdays
1973
Aishwarya Rai Bacchan, the famous Indian actress and winner of the Miss World 1994 was born on November 1, 1973. This was in the city of Mangalore, Karnataka. She has acted in several movies like Devdas, Dhoom 2 and Jodha Akbar.
She has been honored with several awards. Additionally, the Indian beauty became the first Indian actress to be a jury member at Cannes Film Festival. She has also engaged herself in a lot of social work like eye donation and polio campaigns. This includes the Padma Shri awarded in 2009.
1974
Former Indian International Cricketer and current commentator, VVS Laxman was born on this day in 1974. His birth city is Hyderabad. He is a right-hand batsman, famous for his elegant stroke play. Moreover, he played as a middle-order batsman in Test cricket.
He received Padma Shri in 2011. But retired from International Cricket in the next year. Currently, he is the mentor of the IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad.
