-
Mohandas Gandhi is Born
Mohandas Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, a city north of present-day Mumbai, India (Kytle 18). His father, Karamchand, was chief minister of Porbandar, as his father was before him. Gandhi's mother, Putlibai, was a devout follower of Jainism, a religion of pacifism. Due to his fathers' status, he was born into a privileged caste, and lived a high-quality life ("Mahatma Gandhi"). The above photo shows his parents, Karamchand and Putlibai, before Gandhi's birth. -
Brooklyn Bridge is Built
On May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was officially unveiled to the public. At the time, it was the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere, and it was unofficially dubbed the eighth wonder of the world. The bridge was unusual, as it not only had a way for vehicles crossing the East River, it also had a pedestrian walkway. It connected Manhattan and Brooklyn forever, leading the way for them to be combined under the title of New York City (History.com Staff). -
Johnstown Flood Devastates the U.S.
A rain storm swept Pennsylvania in late May of 1889. While it wasn't a ferocious storm, it had vicious effects: the water caused the South Fork Dam to burst. The dam unleashed more than 20,000 tons of water from a lake onto Johnstown, PA. It killed 2,209 people in the town, and devastated other parts of the state. To relieve the town, the country came together: people donated money to flood survivors, and travelled to Pennsylvania to rebuild the town ("Johnstown Flood National Memorial"). -
Gandhi Goes to South Africa
After returning to India from London, Gandhi struggled to find his footing as a lawyer. He started looking for work elsewhere, and found it in South Africa under a year contract. This ends up being where a good amount of his developing as a leader and a protester occur, and where his activism as a racial healer takes place (Biography.com Editors). -
Gandhi Forced Off Train
In 1983, while on a train in South Africa, Gandhi was asked to leave by a white man uncomfortable with his presence in the first-class compartment, though Gandhi had a ticket to be there. When Gandhi refused to leave his seat, the white man became enraged, and asked train conductors to remove Gandhi. Though Gandhi was allowed to be there, he was forced off the train at Pietermantzburg. He saw the racial prejudice in South Africa, and decided to do what he could to end it (Biography.com Editors). -
Gandhi Prevents South African Bill
The night Gandhi was supposed to leave South Africa in June 1894, he was told of a bill facing the Natal Assembly that would remove Indians in South Africa from the voters roll, and immediately took action. He drew up a committee that made a petition against the the bill. It gained 1000 signatures in a month, and was sent to the Assembly to show people's dissatisfaction with the bill. As soon as the Colonial Secretary saw the petition, the bill was set aside ("The Campaigner"). -
Gandhi Writes the Green Pamphlet
In 1896, Gandhi wrote and issued a short article named the "Green Pamphlet". This article exposed the conditions for Indian laborers in South Africa. It told how the conditions were awful enough to violate human rights, and how this was racism in South Africa. The pamphlet was received as an anti-government publication, and Gandhi is beaten when he returns to South Africa by white men. However, Gandhi still fought for Indians, determined to help his people ("Mahatma Gandhi & Green Pamphlet"). -
Gandhi Forms a Group to Help the British Army
In 1899, at the start of the Second Boer War, Gandhi formed an Ambulance Corps to help the British Army fight the Cape Boer force. Gandhi saw the threat being posed to India's current government, which was the British government at the time. To keep his country safe, he formed an ambulance corps, which was a group to help the war effort. When the war ended, it was disbanded, and everyone in the corps went back to their life ("Mohandas Gandhi During the Boer War"). -
First Silent Movie is Released
On December 01, 1903, the first silent movie was released. It was named "The Great Train Robbery", and it was produced by Thomas Edison. It's significant in history because it led to the spread of movie theaters and blew up the film business. The movie also introduced the genre of Westerns to many Americans, which inspired any other genres and still has films of its own released to this day (Rosenburg). -
Protested Indian Registration in the Transvaal Colony
In 1906, the Transvaal government passed an act forcing Indians living in the colony to register, giving their personal information up and being marked as Indian. Gandhi saw the act as a form of segregation, so he protested it (Allard). This demonstration included mass burnings of registration cards, and disruption of business to draw attention to the displeasure of Indians. Gandhi then negotiated a deal with P.M. Smuts to lessen the severity of the act ("Mahatma Gandhi: A Short Biography"). -
The Titanic Sinks
On April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank into the North Atlantic in the middle of the night. It had hit an iceberg at an intense speed, causing the ice to cut the hull of the ship. As the cut only ran along half the ship's bottom, half of the ship filed with water before the other. This caused the ship to crack, flinging its passengers into the freezing ocean. More than 1,500 people were killed in the accident, and the ship has become a pop culture icon for its romantic horror ("Titanic Sinks"). -
Charleston Dance Gains Popularity
The Charleston is a dance that became popular in the 1920s, and it included the fast movement of the dancer's arms and legs. It was popular for this fast movement, as it was inventive in its pace at the time of its popularity. It was deemed scandalous and exuberant because of its match to jazz music, which was unacceptable for women to listen to publicly then, yet the dance was mostly performed by women. It broke barriers for women in dance and music, and influenced dance today ("History"). -
Valentine's Day Massacre
On February 14, 1929, four men dressed as policemen entered a warehouse in Chicago. The warehouse was used to store liquor by a gang in Chicago, and they believed the police had busted them. However, these were not real police; they were members of a rival gang coming to kill the members of this gang. They killed all 7 in a short shoot out, making their gang leader, Al Capone, a wanted killer. This is what made the criminal notorious, and associated Chicago with gangs and crime (Thyle). -
Gandhi Publishes the Indian Declaration of Independence
Returning to India in 1930, Gandhi leads the India independence movement. His experience as a leader, lawyer and writer qualify him to write the Declaration of Independence. While this did not make India officially independent, it made the upcoming movement apparent to the Indian people, and it gave Great Britain a chance to give India freedom. This really begins the Indian independence movement, and solidifies Gandhi as its leader ("Indian Declaration of Independence"). -
Gandhi Holds a Salt March
Gandhi protested the British Salt Acts of 1930 with a large march. The Salt Acts prevented Indians from using salt, a staple in Indian diet. He marched 240 miles from Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea, a source of salt. There, the Indians made salt, breaking British law. Everyone participating in the march was arrested, although the satyagraha continued throughout Gandhi's arrest. He agreed to call off the march if India had a say in its British rule, and it gained freedom soon after ("Salt March"). -
Gandhi is Assassinated
On January 13th, 1948, Gandhi started a fast to draw attention to a controversial issue at the time: the rifts between Hinduism, Sikhism, and Islam in Asia. Some Hindu fanatics detested Gandhi's plea for tolerance between the three religions. One of these fanatics, Nathuram Godse, came to New Delhi to kill Gandhi while he was there. On January 29th, 1948, Godse shot Gandhi three times in the stomach and chest in the Birla Gardens. Godse was tried for murder and executed (Cavendish).
