18 Mind-Blowing Facts About Mahatma Gandhi

Few people in history have inspired the population of an entire nation - and a large proportion of the entire planet - in quite the same way as Mahatma Gandhi. Born in Porbandar in the Kathiawar Agency of British India in October 1869, Gandhi would grow up to become the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement, utilising non-violent civil disobedience in the process, and also become the head of the Indian National Congress. By 1947, just a year before Gandhi was assassinated, India finally achieved independence from the British Empire - largely due to the actions of this one man. HIs most-famous actions include leading the Indians in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 250-mile Dandi Salt March in 1930, calling upon the British government to "Quit India" in 1942, and his general approach to protest through non-violent civil disobedience. Despite this, it is not widely known that Gandhi was a lover of football and championed its ability to remove social barriers, that he walked a distance equivalent to twice the circumference of the globe throughout his lifetime, or that the founder of one of the world's most successful ever companies wore glasses in honour of the former Indian independence leader. So here are 18 mind-blowing facts about the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi.