Facts and History about Yuri Gagarin

April 12 was already a huge day in space history twenty years before the launch of the first shuttle mission. On that day in 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft.

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961.

Gagarin became an international celebrity, and was awarded many medals and titles, including Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation’s highest honour. Vostok 1 marked his only spaceflight, but he served as backup crew to the Soyuz 1 mission (which ended in a fatal crash). Gagarin later became deputy training director of the Cosmonaut Training Centre outside Moscow, which was later named after him. Gagarin died in 1968 when the MiG-15 training jet he was piloting crashed.

Early life and education

Yuri was born on March 9, 1934 in Klushino, a small village 100 miles west of Moscow. His father was a cabinetmaker, carpenter, bricklayer, and farmer, and his mother was a milkmaid. Together they worked on a kolkhoz or collective farm. By Soviet social standards, his heritage was impeccable. He was the third of four children. During the war, the Nazis threw his family out of their home and took away two of his sisters. Yuri helped his parents dig a dugout where they lived untill the war was over, then the family moved to Gziatsk.

When he was a teenager, he witnessed a Russian Yak fighter plane make a forced landing in a field near his home. It was just returning from battle, its wings bullet-ridden. When the pilots emerged covered in medals, he was extremely impressed. As he later recalled,

Career in the Soviet Air Force

After graduating from the technical school in 1955, the Soviet Army drafted Gagarin. On a recommendation, Gagarin was sent to the First Chkalov Air Force Pilot’s School in Orenburg, and soloed in a MiG-15 in 1957. While there he met Valentina Ivanovna Goryacheva, a medical technician graduate of the Orenburg Medical School. They were married on 7 November 1957, the same day Gagarin graduated from Orenburg. Post-graduation, he was assigned to the Luostari airbase in Murmansk Oblast, close to the Norwegian border, where terrible weather made flying risky. He became a Lieutenant in the Soviet Air Forces on 5 November 1957; on 6 November 1959 he received the rank of Senior Lieutenant.

Career in the Soviet space program

In 1960, after much searching and a selection process, Yuri Gagarin was chosen with 19 other pilots for the Soviet space program. Gagarin was further selected for an elite training group known as the Sochi Six, from which the first cosmonauts of the Vostok programme would be chosen. Gagarin and other prospective candidates were subjected to experiments designed to test physical and psychological endurance; he also underwent training for the upcoming flight. Out of the twenty selected, the eventual choices for the first launch were Gagarin and Gherman Titov due to their performance during training sessions as well as their physical characteristics – space was limited in the small Vostok cockpit, and both men were rather short. Gagarin was 1.57 metres (5 ft 2 in) tall.

In August 1960, when Gagarin was one of 20 possible candidates, an Air Force doctor evaluated his personality as follows:

Modest; embarrasses when his humor gets a little too racy; high degree of intellectual development evident in Yuriy; fantastic memory; distinguishes himself from his colleagues by his sharp and far-ranging sense of attention to his surroundings; a well-developed imagination; quick reactions; persevering, prepares himself painstakingly for his activities and training exercises, handles celestial mechanics and mathematical formulae with ease as well as excels in higher mathematics; does not feel constrained when he has to defend his point of view if he considers himself right; appears that he understands life better than a lot of his friends.

Vostok 1
On 12 April 1961, aboard the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1), Gagarin became both the first human to travel into space, and the first to orbit the earth. His call sign was Kedr (Cedar, Russian)
In his post-flight report, Gagarin recalled his experience of spaceflight, having been the first human in space:
The feeling of weightlessness was somewhat unfamiliar compared with Earth conditions. Here, you feel as if you were hanging in a horizontal position in straps. You feel as if you are suspended.
Following the flight, Gagarin told the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that during reentry he had whistled the tune “The Motherland Hears, The Motherland Knows” . The first two lines of the song are: “The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows/Where her son flies in the sky”. This patriotic song was written by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1951 (opus 86), with words by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky.
After Vostok 1

After the flight, Gagarin became a worldwide celebrity, touring widely abroad. He visited Italy, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Egypt and Finland to promote the Soviet Union’s accomplishment of putting the first human in space. He visited the United Kingdom three months after the Vostok 1 mission, going to London and Manchester.

In 1962, he began serving as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and was elected to the Central Committee of the Young Communist League. He later returned to Star City, the cosmonaut facility, where he spent seven years working on designs for a reusable spacecraft. He became a Lieutenant Colonel of the Soviet Air Forces on 12 June 1962, and received the rank of Colonel on 6 November 1963. Soviet officials tried to keep him away from any flights, being worried of losing their hero in an accident. Gagarin was backup pilot for his friend Vladimir Komarov in the Soyuz 1 flight, which was launched despite Gagarin’s protests that additional safety precautions were necessary. When Komarov’s flight ended in a fatal crash, Gagarin was permanently banned from training for and participating in further spaceflights.

Gagarin had become deputy training director of the Star City cosmonaut training base. At the same time, he began to re-qualify as a fighter pilot.

Death

On 27 March 1968, while on a routine training flight from Chkalovsky Air Base, he and flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin died in a MiG-15UTI crash near the town of Kirzhach. The bodies of Gagarin and Seryogin were cremated and the ashes were buried in the walls of the Kremlin on Red Square.

Gagarin was survived by his wife Valentina, and daughters Yelena and Galina. Yelena Yurievna Gagarina, Yuri’s elder daughter, is an art historian who has worked as the director-general of the Moscow Kremlin Museums since 2001. His younger daughter, Galina Yurievna Gagarina, is department chair and a professor of economics at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics in Moscow.
Legacy and tributes

Aside from his short stature at 1.57 metres (5 ft 2 in), one of Gagarin’s most notable traits was his smile. Many commented on how Gagarin’s smile gained the attention of crowds on the frequent tours he did in the months after the Vostok 1 mission success.

Gagarin also garnered a reputation as an adept public figure. When he visited Manchester in the United Kingdom, it was pouring rain. However, Gagarin insisted that the car hood remain back so that the cheering crowds could catch a glimpse of him. Gagarin stated, “If all these people have turned out to welcome me and can stand in the rain, so can I.” Gagarin refused an umbrella and remained standing in his open-top Bentley so that the cheering crowds could still see him.

Sergei Korolev, one of the masterminds behind the early years of the Soviet space program, later said that Gagarin possessed a smile “that lit up the Cold War”.

Gagarin was also honored by the American space program during Apollo 11 when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left a memorial satchel containing medals commemorating Gagarin and fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov on the surface of the Moon. On 1 August 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin left the Fallen Astronaut on the surface of the Moon as a memorial to all the American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts that died in the Space Race, with Yuri Gagarin listed among 14 others.

There were two commemorative coins issued in the Soviet Union to honour the 20th and 30th anniversaries of his flight: 1 ruble coin (1981, copper-nickel) and 3 ruble coin (1991, silver). In 2001, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Gagarin’s flight, a series of four coins bearing his likeness was issued in Russia: 2 ruble coin (copper-nickel), 3 ruble coin (silver), 10 ruble coin (brass-copper, nickel), and 100 ruble coin (silver). In 2011, Russia issued a 1,000 ruble coin (gold) and 3 ruble coin (silver) to mark the 50th anniversary of his flight.
Yuri Gagarin statue in London, near Admiralty Arch
Gagarin Raion in the Sevastopol city (Ukraine) was named after him during the Soviet Union.
In 2008, the Kontinental Hockey League named their championship trophy the Gagarin Cup.
In a 2010 Space Foundation survey, Gagarin was ranked as the #6 most popular space hero, tied with Star Trek’s fictional Capt. James T. Kirk.
In January 2011, Armenian airline Armavia named their first Sukhoi Superjet 100 in Gagarin’s honour.
On 14 July 2011, a copy of the Yuri Gagarin Statue from outside his former school in Lyubertsy was unveiled at the Admiralty Arch end of The Mall in London, opposite the permanent sculpture of James Cook.
Honours and awards

Jubilee Medal “40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR” (USSR, 1958)
Hero of the Soviet Union (14 April 1961)
Order of Lenin (USSR, 14 April 1961)
Hero of Socialist Labour (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, 29 April 1961)
Hero of Socialist Labour, (People’s Republic of Bulgaria, 24 May 1961)
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria, 24 May 1961)
Order of the Star, 2nd Class (Indonesia, 10 June 1961)
Cross of Grunwald, 1st class (Poland, 20 June 1961)
Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR (27 June 1961)
The first Commander of the Order “Playa Giron” (Cuba, 18 July 1961)
“For achievements in aeronautics” (Brazil, 2 August 1961)
Order of the Southern Cross (Brazil, 3 August 1961)[51]
Order of the Flag of the Hungarian Republic, 1st class with diamonds (Hungary, 21 August 1961)
Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1961, title obtained as a reward for a space flight)
Military Pilot 1st Class (1961, awarded the qualification of space flight)
Gold Medal of the British Society for interplanetary travel, 1961
Honorary suvorovets (Moscow Suvorov Military School, 1962)
Order of the Nile (Egypt, 31 January 1962)
Order of the African Star (Liberia, 6 February 1962)
Hero of Labour, (Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 28 April 1962)
Gold Medal of the Austrian Government, 1962
Honorary president of the Soviet-Cuban friendship society
Honorary Member of the Society, “the Finland-Soviet Union”
Order of Karl Marx (German Democratic Republic, 22 October 1963)
Jubilee Medal “Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945″ (USSR, 9 May 1965)
Medal “For Impeccable Service”, 3rd class (Soviet Union, March 1966)
Honorary member of the International Academy of Astronautics (1966)
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic)
Jubilee Medal “50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR” (USSR, January 1968)
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Gold Medal “for outstanding work in the field of interplanetary communications” (USSR)
Medal of de Lavaux (FAI)
Gold medal and diploma “Man in Space”, the Italian Association of Space
Gold Medal “For outstanding difference” and the Royal Aero Club Diploma, Sweden
Medal of Columbus (Italy)
Gold Medal of Saint-Denis (France)
Gold Medal Award “for courage” of the Fund Matstsotti (Italy), 2007
and others.
Yuri Gagarin was elected an honorary citizen of the following cities:
USSR: Kaluga, Novozybkov, Klintsy, Novocherkassk, Lyubertsy, Sumqayit (in modern-day Azerbaijan), Smolensk, Vinnytsia, Sevastopol, Saratov, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Tyumen
Russia: Orenburg
Bulgaria: Sofia, Pernik, Plovdiv
Greece: Athens
Cyprus: Famagusta, Limassol
France: Saint-Denis
Czechoslovakia: Trencianske Teplice
He was also awarded the golden keys to the gates of the cities of Cairo and Alexandria (Egypt).

Study of World’s largest and most powerful earthquake

The World’s largest and most powerful earthquake ever recorded, rating 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale occurred on May 22, 1960 near Valdivia, in southern Chile. It is referred to as the “Great Chilean Earthquake” and the “1960 Valdivia Earthquake”. Its resulting tsunami affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia, and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

The United States Geological Survey reports this event as the “largest earthquake of the 20th Century”. Other earthquakes in recorded history may have been larger, however this is the largest earthquake that has occurred since accurate estimates of magnitude became possible in the earnly 1900′s.

The epicenter was near Lumaco some 570 kilometres (350 mi) south of Santiago, with Temuco being the closest large city, while Valdivia was the most affected city. The tremor caused localised tsunamis that severely battered the Chilean coast, with waves up to 25 metres (82 ft). The main tsunami raced across the Pacific Ocean and devastated Hilo, Hawaii. Waves as high as 10.7 metres (35 ft) were recorded 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) from the epicenter, and as far away as Japan and the Philippines.

The death toll and monetary losses arising from such a widespread disaster are not certain. Various estimates of the total number of fatalities from the earthquake and tsunamis have been published, with the USGS citing studies with figures of 2231, 3000, or 5700 killed and another source uses an estimate of 6,000 dead. Different sources have estimated the monetary cost ranged from US$400 million to 800 million (or 2.9 to 5.8 billion in 2011 dollars, adjusted for inflation).

Ground motion from this earthquake destroyed and damaged many buildings. The Chilean government estimated that about 2,000,000 people were left homeless. It was fortunate that the earthquake occurred in the middle of the afternoon and was preceded by a powerful foreshock. That foreshock frightened everyone from their buildings, placing them outside when the main earthquake occurred.

Most of the damage and deaths were caused by a series of tsunamis that were generated by the earthquake. These waves swept over coastal areas moments after the earthquake occurred. They tore buildings from their foundations and drowned many people.

The 1960 Chilean earthquake was actually a series of strong earthquakes that affected Chile between 21 May and 6 June 1960. The first was the Concepción earthquake and the strongest was the Valdivia earthquake.

This is one of the few earthquakes that has killed large numbers of people at distant locations. Tsunamis generated by the earthquake traveled across the Pacific Ocean at a speed of over 200 miles per hour. Changes in sealevel were noticed all around the Pacific Ocean basin.

Fifteen hours after the earthquake a tsunami with a runup of 35 feet swept over coastal areas of Hawaii. Many shoreline facilities and buildings near coastal areas were destroyed. Near Hilo, Hawaii, 61 people were reported killed by the waves.

In California, many small boats were damaged as the waves swept through marinas. At Crescent City, a wave had a runup of about 5 feet and caused damage to shoreline structures and small boats.

History of How Microwave Oven was invented...!!!!

Microwave ovens have become an essential part of our homes.  Did you ever wonder how this easy and quick way of cooking started?

The microwave oven did not come about as a result of someone trying to find a better, faster way to cook. During World War II, Dr. Spencer noticed something very unusual. He was testing a new vacuum tube called a magnetron when he discovered that the candy bar in his pocket had melted.

Dr. Percy Spencer

This intrigued Dr. Spencer, so he tried another experiment. This time he placed some popcorn kernels near the tube and standing a little farther away, he watched the popcorn sputter, crack and pop all over his lab.

The next morning, Dr. Spencer decided to put the magnetron tube near an egg. He was joined by a curious colleague, and they both watched as the egg began to tremor and quake. The curious colleague moved in for a closer look just as the egg exploded and splattered hot yolk all over his amazed face.

The melted candy bar, the popcorn, and now the exploding egg….If an egg can be cooked that quickly, why not other foods? Experimentation began…

Initial reactions were unfavourable. Not surprisingly, many were highly reluctant about these first units, and so they found only limited acceptance…..but not for long. Further improvements and refinements produced a more reliable, lightweight and less expensive Microwave ovens. By 1975 sales of Microwave ovens exceeded that of Gas Ranges in US.

Facts about-Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one whose location has not been definitely established.

Fruits and flowers, Waterfalls, Gardens hanging from the palace terraces / Exotic animals, This is the picture of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in most people’s minds. It may be surprising to know that they might have never existed except in Greek poets and historians imagination!

Location: City State of Babylon (Modern Iraq)

Built: Around 600 BC

Function: Royal Gardens

Destroyed: Earthquake, 2nd Century BC

Size: Height probably 80 ft. (24m)

Made of: Mud brick waterproofed with lead.

Other: Some archeologists suggest that the actual location was not in Babylon, but 350 miles to the north in the city of Nineveh.
Traditionally they were said to have been built in the ancient city of Babylon, near present-day Hillah, Babil province, in Iraq. The Babylonian priest Berossus, writing in about 290 BC and quoted later by Josephus, attributed the gardens to the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled between 605 and 562 BC. There are no extant Babylonian texts which mention the gardens, and no definitive archaeological evidence has been found in Babylon.

One legend says that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were created by Emperor Nebuchadnezzar II, the king of Babylon, for his Persian wife, Queen Amytis, because she missed the green hills and valleys of her homeland. Emperor Nebuchadnezzar II also built a grand palace that came to be known as ‘The Marvel of the Mankind’.

The ruins of the city of Babylon in 1932.

Because of the lack of evidence it has been suggested that the Hanging Gardens are purely legendary, and the descriptions found in ancient Greek and Roman writers including Strabo, Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius Rufus represent a romantic ideal of an eastern garden. If it did indeed exist, it was destroyed sometime after first century AD.

Alternatively, the original garden may have been a well-documented one that the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704-681 BC) built in his capital city of Nineveh on the River Tigris near the modern city of Mosul.

3Doodler – The worlds first 3D printing pen

3Doodler is the worlds first and only 3D Printing Pen. Using ABS plastic (the material used by many 3D printers), 3Doodler draws in the air or on surfaces. Its compact and easy to use, and requires no software or computers. One just plug it into a power socket and can start drawing anything within minutes.

The Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza (also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the one and only Wonder which does not require a description by early historians and poets. It is the one and only Wonder that does not need speculations concerning its appearance, size, and shape. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.

Based on a mark in an interior chamber naming the work gang and a reference to fourth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu, Egyptologists believe that the pyramid was built as a tomb over a 10 to 20-year period concluding around 2560 BCE. Initially at 146.5 metres (481 feet), the Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years. Originally, the Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface, what is seen today is the underlying core structure. Some of the casing stones that once covered the structure can still be seen around the base. There have been varying scientific and alternative theories about the Great Pyramid’s construction techniques. Most accepted construction hypotheses are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place.

There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and was unfinished. The so-called Queen’s Chamber and King’s Chamber are higher up within the pyramid structure. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only pyramid in Egypt known to contain both ascending and descending passages. The main part of the Giza complex is a setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honour of Khufu (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu’s wives, an even smaller “satellite” pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles.

On the north face, is the pyramid’s entrance. A number of corridors, galleries, and escape shafts either lead to the King’s burial chamber, or were intended to serve other functions. The King’s chamber is located at the heart of the pyramid, only accessible through the Great Gallery and an ascending corridor. The King’s sarcophagus is made of red granite, as are the interior walls of the King’s Chamber. Most impressive is the sharp-edged stone over the doorway which is over 3 m (10 ft) long, 2.4 m (8 feet) high and 1.3 m (4 ft) thick. All of the interior stones fit so well, a card won’t fit between them. The sarcophagus is oriented in accordance with the compass directions, and is only about 1 cm smaller in dimensions than the chamber entrance. It might have been introduced as the structure was progressing.

Location

At the city of Giza, a necropolis of ancient Memphis, and today part of Greater Cairo, Egypt.

History

Throughout their history, the pyramids of Giza have stimulated human imagination. They were referred to as “The Granaries of Joseph” and “The Mountains of Pharaoh”. When Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798, his pride was expressed through his famous quote: “Soldats! Du haute de ces Pyramides, 40 siecles nous contemplent”. (Soldiers! From the top of these Pyramids, 40 centuries are looking at us)

Today, the Great Pyramid is enclosed, together with the other pyramids and the Sphinx, in the touristic region of the Giza Plateau. Also in the area is the museum housing the mysterious Sun Boat, only discovered in 1954 near the south side of the pyramid. The boat is believed to have been used to carry the body of Khufu in his last journey on earth before being buried inside the pyramid. It may also serve him as a means of transportation in his afterlife journey according to Ancient Egyptian beliefs.

The pyramid remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years, unsurpassed until the 160-metre-tall (520 ft) spire of Lincoln Cathedral was completed c. 1300. The accuracy of the pyramid’s workmanship is such that the four sides of the base have an average error of only 58 millimetres in length. The sides of the square base are closely aligned to the four cardinal compass points (within 4 minutes of arc) based on true north, not magnetic north, and the finished base was squared to a mean corner error of only 12 seconds of arc. The completed design dimensions, as suggested by Petrie’s survey and subsequent studies, are estimated to have originally been 280 cubits high by 440 cubits long at each of the four sides of its base.

Materials

The Great Pyramid consists of an estimated 2.3 million limestone blocks which most believe to have been transported from nearby quarries. The Tura limestone used for the casing was quarried across the river. The largest granite stones in the pyramid, found in the “King’s” chamber, weigh 25 to 80 tonnes and were transported from Aswan, more than 800 km (497 mi) away. Traditionally, ancient Egyptians cut stone blocks by hammering wooden wedges into the stone which were then soaked with water. As the water was absorbed, the wedges expanded, causing the rock to crack. Once they were cut, they were carried by boat either up or down the Nile River to the pyramid. It is estimated that 5.5 million tonnes of limestone, 8,000 tonnes of granite (imported from Aswan), and 500,000 tonnes of mortar were used in the construction of the Great Pyramid.

Facts about Camel's Hump

A camel’s hump is not used for water storage, but camels can go for long periods of time without water. They drink large amounts of water up to 20 gallons at a time. This water is stored in the animal’s bloodstream.

Camel’s hump actually stores fat. The camel uses it as nourishment when food is scarce. If a camel uses the fat inside the hump, the hump will become limp and droop down. With proper food and rest the hump will return to normal.

The humps are actually reservoirs of fatty tissue: concentrating body fat in their humps minimizes the insulating effect fat would have if distributed over the rest of their bodies, helping camels survive in hot climates. When this tissue is metabolized, it yields more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration (as oxygen is required for the metabolic process): overall, there is a net decrease in water.

Sachin Tendulkar-Unknown Facts

As one of the greatest Indian cricketer wraps up his 24-year career, here are some little-known, interesting nuggets about the master.

• The first school Sachin attended as a child was Indian Education Society’s New English School in Bandra East.
• Sachin’s elder brother Ajit Tendulkar had played cricket alongside former India wicketkeeper Chandrakant Pandit and former India opener Lalchand Rajput.
• In 1990, while returning from the tour of England at the age of 17, Sachin met his wife Anjali for the first time at the Mumbai airport.
• Sachin got married at the age of 22.

• Sachin’s father-in-law is a seven-time national bridge champion.
• Sachin’s daughter ‘Sara’ is named after the first tournament Sachin won as a captain – ‘Sahara’ Cup in 1997.
• Sachin’s father, Ramesh Tendulkar, named him after the famous music director Sachin Dev Burman.
• Sunil Gavaskar gifted the 14-year-old Sachin a pair of his own ultra-light pads. Those pads were later stolen while Sachin was at the under-15 national camp.
• Dilip Vengsarkar gifted Sachin a GM bat after he was selected for the under-15 Bombay squad.
• Dennis Lillie rejected Sachin when he went to the MRF Pace Foundation to become a fast bowler.
• Sachin met Sourav Ganguly for the first time at the under-15 national camp in Indore.
• Sachin scored his life’s first century for Shradashram Vidyamandir against the Don Bosco School, Matunga, in the Harris Shield quarter-final at Shivaji Park.
• Sachin’s average in the 1988 Harris Shield was 102.5.
• CCI amended its rules to allow 14-year-old Sachin to use its dressing room.
• Sachin and Gavaskar were both named among the 36 Bombay Ranji Trophy probables in 1987.
• Sachin was one of the ball boys during the 1987 World Cup held in India.

• Sachin, Waqar Younis, Salil Ankola and Shahid Saeed made their international debuts together in the 1989 Karachi Test.
• Sachin’s debut Test was Kapil Dev’s 100th.
• Sachin scored a duck in his ODI debut, which was against Pakistan.
• Sachin scored his first Test century against England at Old Trafford, Manchester, in 1990.
• Sachin’s first bowling figures in both Tests and ODIs are identical: 1-0-10-0.
• In the Kotla Test against Pakistan where Kumble took a perfect 10, whenever Tendulkar handed Kumble’s sweater and cap to the umpire at the start of an over, Kumble took a wicket. So he continued doing that until Kumble took all ten.
• Sachin made his home international debut against Sri Lanka in 1990.

• Sachin was the first batsman to be given out by a third umpire in the 1992 Test series in South Africa. The umpire was Karl Liebenberg.
• In 1992, Sachin became the first overseas cricketer to play for Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
• Yorkshire Television contributed 30,000 pounds to felicitate Sachin’s stint with Yorkshire.
• A Magnum champagne bottle was gifted to Sachin when he scored his first Test hundred at Manchester in 1990. But he couldn’t open it as British rules didn’t allow those under 18 to do that. Sachin chose to wait for 8 years and popped it at his daughter Sara’s first birthday in 1998.
• Sachin scored his first century on Indian soil in 1993 against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
• Andrew Symonds once autographed a T-shirt especially for Sachin. It read: “To Sachin, the man we all want to be.”
• In the second ODI on the tour of New Zealand in 1994, Sachin opened the batting for the first time.
• Sachin has been involved in 20 century partnerships with Rahul Dravid totaling over 6000 runs.
• It took Sachin 79 matches to score his first ODI century. After that, he scored 48 more.
• Sachin holds the record for completing his hundred with a six the most number of times by doing it on six occasions.
• The highest number of centuries hit by Sachin at a single ground have come at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, where he has scored 7 ODI tons.
• Sachin has also opened batting in Test cricket, but only once – with Sadagopan Ramesh in the Ahmedabad Test against New Zealand in 1999. He made 15.

• The only Test-playing nation where Sachin has never scored a Test century is Zimbabwe.
• Sachin has never faced Anil Kumble in a Ranji Trophy game.
• Sachin became the most-capped Test player after overtaking Steve Waugh’s record of 168 Tests.
• Sachin carries India’s national flag in his cricket bag and also sports it on his helmet.
• Shane Warne accompanied Sachin to Sir Don Bradman’s house on the batting legend’s 90th birthday.
• Sachin visited London’s Madame Tussauds for the first time in 1988. Twenty years later, the museum had his wax statue.
• Sachin made guest appearance in a Bollywood movie titled ‘Stumped’ in 2003.
• Sachin holds the record for scoring most Test centuries (5) before turning 20.
• In 2007, Virgin Comics created a new superhero called ‘Master Blaster’ based on Sachin to launch a new series of comic books.
• Sachin, Brian Lara and Steve Waugh all had MRF as their bat sponsors. Lara’s bat was called ‘Wizard’, Waugh’s ‘Champion’ and Sachin’s ‘Genius.’
• The Future Group launched a toothpaste named after Sachin in 2010. It was called ‘Sach’.
• Sachin’s photographer friend Atul Kasbekar convinced him to join Twitter in May 2010.
• In 2008, Sachin appeared in an Australian reality television series called An Aussie Goes Bolly.
• The first product endorsed by Tendulkar as teenager was ‘Band-Aid’.
• In 1995, a sports management deal with WorldTel saw Sachin becoming the richest cricketer in the world.

Cool Facts about Human Body

The human body is a machine that is full of wonder. This collection of human body facts will leave you wondering why in the heck we were designed the way we were.

• Scientists say the higher your I.Q. The more you dream.
• The largest cell in the human body is the female egg.
• The smallest is the male sperm.
• You use 200 muscles to take one step.
• The average woman is 5 inches shorter than the average man.
• Your big toes have two bones each while the rest have three.
• A pair of human feet contain 250,000 sweat glands.
• A full bladder is roughly the size of a soft ball.
• The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razor blades.
• The human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as the Encyclopedia Britannica.
• It takes the food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.
• The average human dream lasts 2-3 seconds.
• Men without hair on their chests are more likely to get cirrhosis of the liver than men with hair.
• At the moment of conception, you spent about half an hour as a single cell.
• There is about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.
• Your body gives off enough heat in 30 minutes to bring half a gallon of water to a boil.
• The enamel in your teeth is the hardest substance in your body.
• Your teeth start developing (in your gums) 6 months before you are born.
• When you are looking at someone you love, your pupils dilate, they do the same when you are looking at someone you hate.
• Blondes have more hair than dark-haired people.
• Your thumb is the same length as your nose.

At this very moment I know full well you are putting this last fact to the test … now remove your thumb from your nose and pass this on to the friends you think might be interested in comparing their thumbs to their noses as well. You did it — I KNOW you did !!!!!