What happened on October 11: SNL went live and the Math world got a valuable addition

Live from New York! Saturday Night Live (SNL) is just shy of a half-century with its 47th season premiering at the start of this month. The show, which airs on NBC in the US, has been garnering a fan following across demographics ever since it first debuted in 1975. Comedian and social critic, George Carlin was the host of the very first episode, which premiered on October 11.

SNL garnered accolades for its comedy sketches that are usually a commentary on the cultural, social and political events of the time. Individual episodes are usually hosted by a celebrity guest. Fans of the show will recall with glee some of the more uproarious sketches hosted by SNL regulars such as Eddie Murphy, Andie Samberg, Chris Farley, and Alec Baldwin. The show has completed a mammoth 880 episodes and is still going strong. 

Harish-Chandra did not choose Mathematics, Math chose Harish-Chandra. Born on this date in 1923 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Harish-Chandra was only a student when he discovered mistakes in his professor and world-renowned physicist Wolfgang Pauli's work. In his own right, Harish-Chandra was a physicist who gradually became more interested in Math. He worked on semi-simple Lie groups, where he developed Harish-Chandra's c-function, Harish-Chandra's character formula and Harish-Chandra homomorphism, among others.

He became a US citizen after completing his PhD from the University of Cambridge. Among many international awards for his work, he is also a Padma Bhushan recipient. He was of the opinion that since his background wasn't exactly Math, he could explore and be more creative and imaginative in his work. And that's a formula we all can work with.