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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is born on Oct. 2, 1869. He is born from the parents of Putlibai Gandhi and Karamchand Gandhi.
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When Gandhi was 19 he defied custom by going abroad to study law at University College in London. After this he returned back to India.
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After being unsuccessful in Bombay, he went to South Africa. When he did this he was the first so-called “colored” lawyer admitted to the supreme court.
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In 1894 Gandhi founded the Natal Indian Congress to agitate for Indian rights. Yet he remained loyal to the British Empire.
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In 1899, during the Boer War, Gandhi raised an ambulance corps and served the South African government. Then later he gave aid against the Zulu revolt.
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In 1906, however, Gandhi began his peaceful revolution. He declared he would go to jail or even die before obeying an anti-Asian law.
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Yet in World War I he again organized an ambulance corps for the British before returning home to India. This was a great help for them.
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Gandhi became a leader in the newly formed Indian National Congress political party. He did this by Peacefully protesting.
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Gandhi retired as head of the party but remained its actual leader. Gradually he became convinced that India would receive no real freedom as long as it remained in the British Empire.
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On Jan. 30, 1948, while on his way to prayer in Delhi, Gandhi was killed by a Hindu who had been maddened by the Mahatma’s efforts to reconcile Hindus and Muslims. An epic motion picture based on his life won several Academy awards in 1983.
