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WHITE CANE SAFETY DAY October 15th October 15, 1970 was declared International White Cane Safety Day for the first time by the President of the International Federation of the Blind. This date was adopted at the first quinquennial convention of the IFB, held in Colombo on October 4, 1969. The object of the exercise is to stimulate the general public to a better understanding of blindness and visual handicap, and to make people more aware of the white cane as a mobility aid. Peguilly dHerbemont was born on 25th June 1888 into an old French noble family of the same name. In her youth she led the conventional and protected existence, devoid of great activity, of a girl from a good family, an existence reminiscent of the life of the aristocracy before the French Revolution. She never visited a public school, but was educated by German and English governesses and convent sisters. Her movements were restricted and were mainly confined to the family positions in Paris and Belgium, but she spent most of her time at the castle of Charmois not far from Verdun. In the process of helping individual blind people across the road, Mademoiselle dHerbemont was made aware by narrow scrapes which almost led to accidents, of the precarious situation of the visually impaired brought about by the steadily increasing traffic on the roads. She first spoke about measures to protect the blind against street hazards to her mother in 1930, but she was of the opinion that it was unfit for a lady of good society to create a public outcry and advised her to stick to the transcription of books, a popular pastime of ladies of rank at the time. | 
