April 6, 1930: Mohandas K. Gandhi completes the Salt March, his 1st major act against British imperialism in India. The "Mahatma" (meaning "Great Soul") was already 60 years old.
He had already long stood for oppressed peoples as a lawyer in India and South Africa, including acts of civil disobedience. But the march was the action that got the world's attention.
It began on March 12, in Sabarmati Ashram, and lasted 239 miles to Dandi, on the west coast of India, in Gandhi's native state of Gujarat. The Raj, the British government in India, refused to let the natives produce their own salt, forcing them to pay the Raj a salt tax. Gandhi started marching with 78 people. When it ended, there were thousands of people with him. He was arrested on May 4, and held until the following February. Recognizing the parallel with the Boston Tea Party of 1773, Time magazine named Gandhi its Man of the Year for 1930.
It would take until 1947 for India to achieve independence.
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April 6, 1930 was a Sunday. There were no scores on this historic day: Baseball was in Spring Training, football was out of season, the NBA hadn't been founded yet, and the hockey season had ended 3 days earlier, with the Montreal Canadiens beating the Boston Bruins for the Stanley Cup.
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