On this Day in History

One of the founding fathers of the Indian Republic, Sardar Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel was born on October 31, 1875. At the cusp of independence and just after it as the first union home minister, he played a vital role in integratingIndiainto a united country. He died on December 15, 1950. Patel’s place of birth, Karamsad, was a village in Bombay... Read More →

Known as the greatest showman of Indian cinema, actor, director and producer Raj Kapoor was born on December 14, 1924, in Peshawarto Prithviraj, an actor himself, and Ramsarni Devi. He got his first film role at the age of 11 in ‘Inquilab’. The 1947 film ‘Neel Kamal’ is considered to be the first time he played a major lead role.... Read More →

A brilliant actresses known for her portrayal of strong female characters in Indian parallel cinema in the 1970s and 1980s, Smita Patil had a lot more to offer art and cinema when her life was cut short at the tragically young age of 31. But in the little over a decade that she acted in films, she left a permanent... Read More →

‘Naan oru thadava sonna, nooru thadava sonna maadiri’ (‘If I say something once, it’s like I’ve said it a hundred times’). When Rajinikanth said these words in the 1994 Tamil film Baasha, his fans were ecstatic, and another chapter was added to the ‘Rajini’ phenomenon. The country’s highest-paid actor who rose from a very ordinary background to become one of... Read More →

“I have seen vast, perhaps unbelievable, changes during the journey that has brought me from the flicker of a lamp in a small Bengal village to the chandeliers of Delhi. I was a boy when Bengal was savaged by a famine that killed millions; the misery and sorrow is still not lost on me. We have achieved much . .... Read More →

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, the last Governor-General of India and founder of the Swatantra Party — the first political party in India to openly espouse market-friendly economic policies — was born on December 10, 1878, in Thorapalli village in the Madras Presidency. Known as ‘Rajaji’ to friends, family and admirers, he was a writer, politician, lawyer and minister, played an active role... Read More →

Sonia Gandhi, Congress leader and widow of Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was born on December 9, 1946, in Italy’s Màini district in a village called Lusiana. Her father, Stefano Maino, was in the housing business in Orbassano, the town where Sonia grew up. She went toEnglandin 1964 and enrolled at an English language school inCambridgecity. While she was working... Read More →

One of India’s most popular and versatile actors, Dharmendra was born inPunjabon December 8, 1935, and spent most of his childhood in Sahnewal village. His father, Kewal Kishan Singh Deol, was a school headmaster.   After completing his college education, Dharmendra won the ‘New Talent’ contest conducted by Filmfare magazine and, like many other star-struck youngsters of his generation, arrived... Read More →

Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the fifth spiritual successor of Swaminarayan, was born as Shantilal Patel on December 7, 1921, inGujarat’s Chansad village to Motibhai and Diwaliben Patel. Shantilal’s parents were disciples of Shastriji Maharaj and part of the Akshar Purushottam religious order. The Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) describes itself as a “socio-spiritual Hindu organisation with its roots in... Read More →

The 16th century Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was demolished by kar sevaks on December 6, 1992, an event that polarised India and led to communal riots in many parts of the country. Many Hindus consider Ayodhya to be the holy city where Lord Ram was born. In 1528 one of Mughal emperor Babur’s generals erected a mosque that came to... Read More →