What happened on October 26: J&K's accession to India, 'The Terminator' releases, new domestic violence laws pass

Did you know that October 26 happens to be a public holiday in Jammu and Kashmir? The union territory celebrates Accession Day on this day, when Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession with Lord Mountbatten, the then Governor-General of India. When India won its independence in 1947, all princely states were asked to sign the Instrument of Accession to pledge their allegiance to the dominions of India or Pakistan or even remain independent.

The Instrument of Accession specified the princely states' terms under which they decided to join either dominion. When the Maharaja signed it, the Indian Parliament was only allowed to legislate in Jammu and Kashmir on matters of External Affairs, Defence and Communications. It was in 2020 that Accession Day was declared a public holiday in the union territory after Martyr's Day (July 13) and Sheikh Abdullah's birth anniversary (December 5) were dropped from the list of public holidays.

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If you speak to people across the country, most of them are likely to tell you that they've watched The Terminator. And it was on October 26, 1984, that the film about the assassin cyborg was released in the United States for the first time. The film went on to launch promising careers for its director James Cameron and lead actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Terminator inspired various novels, comic books and video games over the years.

On this day, in 2006, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, was brought into effect by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. This was the first time that the term 'domestic violence' was recognised and defined in the Indian legal system. The Act not only encompassed physical violence but also considered emotional, mental, economical, sexual and verbal abuse as acts of domestic violence.