What’s Happening Today?

World Ego Awareness Day. It is a time to spend some time on self-reflection, exploring our ego, while simultaneously exploring our experiences with those around us to determine how much of their perceived ego is our own coming-into-conflict with others.

We can all be accused of having strong egos from time to time. It's human. We can seek understanding on how damaging it can be.

National Technology Day (India). India commemorates the day when the Pokhran II tests, a series of five nuclear bomb test explosions conducted by India at the India Army’s Pokhran Test range. They were conducted under the codename Operation Shakti, with the detonation of one fusion and two fission tests.

The tests gave India the capability to build fission and thermonuclear weapons with yields of up to 200 kilotons, making it a full-fledged nuclear state.

What Happened Today?

1. In 868 AD, the earliest surviving printed book titled “The Diamond Sutra” was produced in China. The book is one of the most important texts in Mahayana Buddhism and is currently housed in the British Library in London.

2. In 1985, the Bradford City Stadium fire occurred, leading to the death of 56 spectators, injuring another 200. This was during an English League Third Division match between Bradford City and Lincoln City football teams.

3. In 1997, Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeated Garry Kasparov in the last game of their rematch, becoming the first computer to defeat a world champion chess player in a classic match format.

4. In 2014, 15 people were killed and 46 others injured after a stampede at the Stade Tata Rafael in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, during a football match between TP Mazembe and AS Vita. The stampede was caused by police launching tear gas into the crowd after fans threw missiles onto the pitch, forcing the referee to delay play.