Today in history @ 31 Dec.

Famous birth anniversaries

a. English actor Krishna Pandit Bhanji (b. 1943) popularly known as Ben Kingsley. Kingsley is best known for his starring role as Mohandas Gandhi in the 1982 film Gandhi, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also appeared in Schindler's List (1993), Twelfth Night (1996), Sexy Beast (2000), House of Sand and Fog (2003), Lucky Number Slevin (2006), Shutter Island (2010), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Hugo (2011), The Dictator (2012) and Iron Man 3 (2013). He has also voiced Snatcher in The Boxtrolls (2014), and Bagherra in the live action adaptation of Disney's The Jungle Book (2016).

b. Welsh actor, director, and producer Sir Antony Hopkins (b. 1937). Hopkins portrayed Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, its sequel Hannibal, and the prequel Red Dragon.

Famous death anniversaries

a. Indian physicist and astronomer Vikram Sarabhai (d. 1971). He initiated space research and nuclear power in India, He is internationally regarded as the Father of India’s space program. He was a great institution builder and established or helped to establish a large number of institutions in diverse fields.; some of the important ones are: Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, Darpan Academy for Performing Arts, Ahmedabad, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad, Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, Jaduguda, Bihar and Varaiable Energy Cyclotron Project, Calcutta. He was also Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

b. One of the founders of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method, Robert Boyle (d. 1691). He is best known for Boyle's law, which describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system.

c. French physician and inventor Arsene d Arsonval (d. 1940). He is famous for inventing the D Arsonval galvanometer and thermocouple ammeter. He was also a pioneer in the research of body heat of animals.

Famous events of the day

a. 1861 22,990 mm of rain fell in Cherrapunji Assam in India in 1861, a world record.

b. 1945 Bradman scored 112, his 1st post-War century, SA v Aust Services.

c. 1966 Test Cricket debut of Bishen Singh Bedi, India v WI Calcutta, 2-92.

e. 1997 Microsoft bought Hotmail email service for $400 million and re-launched it as MSN Hotmail.

f. 1999 Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as acting President.

g. A second called the leap second was added in 2005.