Local
2023: A 42-year-old contractual employee at Harinalaya Mini Zoo in Eco Park is attacked by a male spotted deer on May 2. The incident happens while Prasad Barman goes to feed the deer inside their enclosure. The deer’s antlers pierce his small intestine, causing serious injury. He is rushed to Charnock Hospital and undergoes life-saving surgery.
National
Major Hoshiar Singh
1936: Hoshiar Singh Dahiya is born on May 5 in what later becomes Haryana. He joins the Indian Army and is awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest military honour, for his role in the 1971 war with Pakistan. While commanding a company of the 3 Grenadiers, Major Hoshiar Singh would get severely injured but would continue with hand-to-hand combat, motivating his troops to carry on, and would take over a machine gun after a gunner is injured.
1972: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi lays the foundation stone of Vidyasagar Setu on May 20. Also known as the Second Hooghly Bridge, the structure connects Calcutta to Howrah. The 822m long, six-laned bridge opens in 1992 as India’s first cable-stayed bridge. By the 21st century, it handles 45,000 to 61,000 vehicles a day against a maximum capacity of 85,000 vehicles a day.
2020: Ratan Khatri, better known as the “Matka King”, dies on May 9 at the age of 88. One of India’s most influential gambling operators since the 1960s, Khatri expanded the matka betting business from Bombay to other cities. The game derived its name from the earthen pot, or matka, from which numbers were drawn. At its peak, the business saw daily turnovers running into crores, with clientele ranging from labourers to film stars.
Global
1912: John Gahring of Pennsylvania, US, becomes the first customer for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on May 17. The fuel is supplied by Walter Snelling, the chemist credited with pioneering LPG. But commercial expansion is slow, and the next year Snelling and his partners are forced to sell their LPG company for $50,000. Snelling goes on to marry his first customer’s daughter Helen Marjorie Gahring.
1980: Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington on May 18, killing 57 people, including volcanologist David Johnston. Moments before the blast, overwhelmed his observation, Johnston radios a warning that becomes famous: “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it! (Vancouver was the radio calling signal for his team).” His student Reid Blackburn also dies documenting the volcano from farther away. The disaster is a turning point in the US that improves volcanic hazard monitoring, emergency planning, and public safety protocols thereafter.
2020: The world celebrates the first United Nations-recognised International Tea Day on May 21 after the body adopted a resolution for its observance a few months ago. The day seeks to celebrate tea’s historical, cultural, economic and social significance, while also promoting its sustainable production and consumption.
Sports, entertainment
1946: Andre Roussimoff is born in France on May 19. Suffering from gigantism, he grows to 7ft 4” and uses his immense size to join wrestling. Using the name Andre the Giant, he becomes a contemporary and rival of Hulk Hogan. He once lifts his friend, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and carries him away from a restaurant counter so he cannot pay the bill for them. Andre plays a giant in the 1987 Hollywood hit The Princess Bride and remains one of the most recognisable figures in the world of wrestling.
2014: Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen reaches a peak FIDE rating of 2882 in May, the highest ever officially recorded in chess. He achieves the feat at the age of 23 following a dominant run at the Shamkir Chess tournament in Azerbaijan. The second-highest rating ever was 2851, by Garry Kasparov in 1999.
2021: Vanraj Bhatia dies on May 7 at the age of 93. Bhatia had composed music for films such as Manthan and 36 Chowringhee Lane, created background scores for films like Shah Rukh Khan’s Pardes, and worked on TV serials like Wagle Ki Duniya and Banegi Apni Baat. He also composed memorable jingles for brands such as Liril and Dulux. He was conferred the Padma Shri in 2012.
