Today’s History: The Wright Brothers Get a Flying Machine Patent; India’s worst air accident happened 12 years ago in Mangalore

May 22 and airplanes have a very close relationship. In 1906, on 22 May, the Wright brothers of America had obtained the patent of their flying machine, but 11 years ago in India, on 22 May, there was a horrific accident at Mangalore Airport in Karnataka. In this 158 people were killed.

First of all, let’s talk about the accident in India. Air India purchased Boeing 737-800 aircraft on 15 January 2008. Foreign pilots were also hired at that time. Captain Glatko Glusika of Siberia had 10,000 hours of flying experience. Because of this, he was given the responsibility of operating the Boeing 737-800.

On 22 May 2010, this Air India plane was coming from Dubai to Mangalore. During landing he hit a rock and turned into a ball of fire. The plane was burnt to ashes. At that time the flight had 166 passengers including crew members. In one stroke, 158 people died. Eight passengers miraculously survived the accident. This airport of Mangalore came into service only in 2006.

The pilot was found guilty in the investigation
The Director General Civil Aviation (DCGA) was responsible for the investigation of the accident. The investigation blamed the pilot for the accident. The directorate and Boeing Company officials quoted the aircraft’s data records to a 6-member investigation team that Glasica, who was flying the plane, made the wrong landing. Because of this the accident happened.

Co-pilot HS Ahluwalia also cautioned Gloucica about the plane going on the wrong route, but he ignored it. Recording a few seconds before the accident, it was found that Ahluwalia uttered the last sentence, ‘Now we are not on the runway.’ The very next moment there was a loud bang.

Copy of the patent received by the Wright brothers. It also has the design of a flying machine made by him.

1906: Wright brothers’ flying machine got patent
The airplane made by Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright of America made the first successful flight on 17 December 1903. The claim of the Wright brothers was challenged by a French company. Then the American military was also working towards making the aircraft. Because of this, the patent claim of the Wright brothers was rejected in 1903. But Orville kept trying and in 1906, on 22 May, he got this patent. Some historians say that in 1895, eight years before the Wright Brothers, an Indian citizen named Shivkar Bapuji Talpade publicly flew an airplane near Chowpatty in Mumbai.

Talpade was a teacher and Vedic scholar of the Mumbai School of Arts. The ship he built was named Marutsakha. It was performed in front of the then Baroda Maharaja Sir Shivaji Rao Gaekwad and Lalji Narayan. The airplane went up to a height of fifteen hundred feet, while the Wright brothers’ airplane flew only 120 feet.

This is the flying machine that the Wright brothers had made and shown by flying.

1980: The famous arcade game Peck-Men is launched
About 41 years ago today, Peck-Men was launched only on 22 May. During Kovid-19, one of its memes became very viral, which gives a message to everyone to stay at home and contain the virus outside. This video game named Peck-Men was planned by Toru Iwatani in 1980. Only three people made this iconic game. The developer company, Namco/Bandai, had sold more than 1 million arcade game units within 15 months of its US release. There are four ghosts in this game and they also have Japanese and English names.

In Japanese it is called fickle, chaser, ambushar and stupid. In English it is called Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde. After the success of this game, the term peck-man started being used in the economy as well. When a company buys only the company offering to buy it, it came to be called peck-man defense.

Launched 41 years ago today, this Pac-Men is very special. Many philosophers have also linked it to real life. They say that the yellow colored player is life and the four ghosts are the problems in him.

Other important events recorded on May 22 in the history of the country and the world are as follows…

2003: More than two thousand people died in the devastating earthquake in Algeria.
1988: India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed intercontinental ballistic missile Agni.
1972: US President Richard M. Nixon arrives in Moscow. This was the first visit of a US President to the Soviet Union.
1963: India’s first glider Rohini took off.
1960: 5,700 people were killed in one of the largest earthquakes off the southern coast of Chile.
1936 : Lord Brabourne laid the foundation stone of Brabourne Stadium in Bombay (now Mumbai). It was the first stadium in the country.
1915: During World War I Italy declared war on Austria, Hungary and Germany.