डॉ. ए. पी. जे. अब्दुल कलाम Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Life and career

  1. 1931 · Born in Rameswaram. Born on 15 October 1931 on Pamban Island. He was the youngest of five children. His father Jainulabdeen owned a boat and served as imam of a mosque. He ferried Hindu pilgrims between Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi. (Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam)
  2. 1954 · Physics in Trichy and engineering in Madras. He took a BSc in physics at St Joseph’s College in Tiruchirappalli in 1954. In 1955 he moved to Madras to study aerospace engineering at MIT. He narrowly missed becoming a fighter pilot. He placed ninth when the Air Force had eight places. (Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam · IIIT-Delhi: Profile of Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (2015))
  3. 1960 · Joins DRDO. He joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of DRDO as a scientist in 1960. In May 1974 he watched the Smiling Buddha nuclear test as a representative of the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory. (Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam)
  4. 1969 · Moves to ISRO. He transferred to ISRO and became project director of the Satellite Launch Vehicle. In the 1970s he also directed Project Devil and Project Valiant. They aimed to build ballistic missiles from SLV technology. (Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam)
  5. 1980 · SLV-3 puts Rohini in orbit. In July 1980 SLV-3 placed the Rohini satellite in near-earth orbit. It was India’s first indigenous satellite launch vehicle. He later helped shape the PSLV. India awarded him the Padma Bhushan in 1981. (Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam · IIIT-Delhi: Profile of Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (2015))
  6. 1983 · The guided missile programme. Indira Gandhi launched the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme in 1983 with Kalam as chief executive. Prithvi flew on 25 February 1988 after an aborted first attempt. Agni flew on 22 May 1989 after two holds. (The Week: How R. Prahlada and Sivathanu Pillai forged India’s missile muscle (12 July 2025) · Deccan Herald: Many rocket failures shaped the missile programme · Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam)
  7. 1992 · Head of DRDO. He became Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and Secretary of Defence R&D in July 1992. He held the post until December 1999. In 1997 he received the Bharat Ratna. (IIIT-Delhi: Profile of Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (2015) · Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam)
  8. 1998 · Pokhran-II. In May 1998 he played a key organisational and technical role in the Pokhran-II tests with R. Chidambaram. The same year India 2020 came out. He also designed a low-cost coronary stent with cardiologist B. Somaraju. (Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam · IIIT-Delhi: Profile of Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (2015))
  9. 1999 · Principal Scientific Adviser. He served as Principal Scientific Adviser with Cabinet rank from November 1999 to November 2001. Wings of Fire was published in 1999. He set himself a target of meeting 100,000 students. (IIIT-Delhi: Profile of Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (2015) · Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam)
  10. 2002 · Elected President. Backed by the NDA and several opposition parties he defeated Lakshmi Sahgal by 922,884 votes to 107,366. He took office on 25 July 2002. Within weeks he visited riot-hit Gujarat. (Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam · President of India: Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam · Wikipedia: Presidency of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam)
  11. 2005 · Bihar and the toughest calls. In May 2005 he signed the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly from Moscow. The Supreme Court struck it down in October. In 2006 he became the first President to return a bill to Parliament. It was the office of profit bill. (Deccan Herald: Kalam wanted to quit after Bihar Assembly dissolution (2015) · Wikipedia: Presidency of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam · Business Standard: Kalam sends back office of profit bill (31 May 2006))
  12. 2007 · Strasbourg and the end of a term. On 25 April 2007 he became the first Indian head of state to address the European Parliament. He left office on 25 July 2007. In September he became the first chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology. (Oneindia: Kalam calls for India-EU fight against fundamentalist violence (26 April 2007) · President of India: Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam · Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam)
  13. 2011 · Teacher at large. He taught at IIM Shillong and Anna University and lectured at Peking University. In 2011 he backed the Kudankulam nuclear plant. In 2012 he launched the What Can I Give movement against corruption. Outlook readers ranked him second in its Greatest Indian poll. (Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam · The Tribune / PTI: Kalam on Kudankulam (7 November 2011))
  14. 2015 · Death at IIM Shillong. On 27 July 2015 he collapsed about five minutes into a lecture on Creating a Livable Planet Earth. He was 83. Over 350,000 people attended his burial in Rameswaram. A memorial built by DRDO opened there in July 2017. (Wikipedia: A. P. J. Abdul Kalam · New India Samachar (1–15 October 2023), page 9)

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