Devendra Lal — At 6.00 p.m. G.M.T. on November 22, 1973, an American astronaut, Edward Gibson, came out of Skylab-3 carrying a small packet. Crawling on the hull of the spacecraft on his life line he reached a pre-determined spot on the spacecraft and clamped the packet to it. More than two months later, on February 3, 1974, at the …

This line is from the poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, in which Prufrock is a mythical person symbolic of the 20th century man. The poem highlights the emotional woes of this man, who has no self-confidence, is indecisive about proposing to the girl he loves.

Deputy Nazeer Ahmad Dehlvi — Known as the pioneer of Urdu novels, Deputy Nazir Ahmad was born in 1836. This great man was an advocate of education for women. At a time when the Muslim society was going through a turbulent period, he stood up for the cause of justice for women. He strongly wanted that women should be educated …

David Villa — Top scorer at UEFA EURO 2008 and a fixture at the sharp end of the Spanish attack, David Villa is currently one of the world’s hottest striking properties. A born competitor with an unquenchable thirst for finding the net, Villa always has the goal in his sights whether playing as an out-and-out forward, in a withdrawn role …

Dattaraya Ramchandra Kaprekar was born on January 17, 1905, at Dahanu, near Bombay. His mother died when he was barely eight years old. His father, who was clerk, brought him up as best as he could. The clerk might not have known much of mathematics, but astrology was his hobby and he taught the child that. Astrology introduced Kaprekar to …

How did the term ‘window dressing’ originate? — Textile and readymade shops dress mannequins (models of human bodies) with attractive clothing they sell and place them in display windows. Likewise, mutual funds and banks add more temporary assets and liabilities on year ends to ensure their balance sheets remain attractive to the public, especially investors. As their intention is to …

There was nothing in the childhood of Darashaw Nosherwan Wadia to suggest that he would become a geologist. And a renowned one at that. He was born on October 25, 1883, at Surat in Gujarat into a family of ship builders. And as a child he was more interested in painting than anything else. Perhaps he would have become a …

Daniel Kahneman — A Nobel laureate for his work on prospect theory, Kahneman is senior scholar at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Eugene Higgins professor of psychology emeritus at Princeton. Kahneman is an Israeli-American psychologist, notable for his work on behavioral finance and hedonic psychology. Kahneman has written of his experience in Nazi-occupied …

Dane Cook — Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released five comedy albums: Harmful If Swallowed; Retaliation; Vicious Circle; Rough Around The Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden; and Isolated Incident. In 2006, Retaliation became the highest charting comedy album in 28 years and went platinum. He performed an …

Dadi Pudumjee is a leading puppeteer in India and the founder of The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992. He is the President of UNIMA and past member of the General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. His university education was in Pune later at the NID National Institute of Design and …