Social worker Dr Sharadchandra Gokhale remembered on birth anniversary; what happened on September 29

September 29 is the birth anniversary of Dr Sharadchandra Damodar Gokhale, a social worker and thinker of international repute. He was born on September 29, 1925. He devoted his whole life to social welfare, leprosy eradication and the service of the elderly.

Dr Gokhale was first an officer in the social welfare department of the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai government. He then took voluntary retirement and committed himself to social work. He founded important institutions such as the International Leprosy Eradication Organisation and the International Longevity Centre. He also did notable work at the international level as an adviser to the United Nations (UN), UNICEF and the World Health Organization. He died on January 15, 2013.

Here is a look at what happened on September 29 in the history of India and the world. In 1829, the Metropolitan Police of London was established. In 1916, John D. Rockefeller became the first billionaire. In 1917, the first school of the Indian Education Society, King George High School, opened in Dadar, Mumbai. In 1941, during the Second World War, the Nazis killed 33,771 Jews in Kyiv. In 1963, Asia's first planetarium, the Birla Planetarium, opened in Kolkata. In 1991, there was a military coup in Haiti. In 2004, the asteroid 4179 Toutatis passed Earth at a distance of four times that of the Moon. In 2008, the stock market fell along with the Dow Jones index after Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual went bankrupt. In 2012, Altamas Kabir became the 39th Chief Justice of India.

Many notable people were born on this date. In 1786, Guadalupe Victoria, the first president of Mexico, was born (died March 21, 1843). In 1890, Nanashastri Date, an almanac maker, was born. In 1899, Laszlo Biro, inventor of the ballpoint pen, was born (died October 24, 1985). In 1901, Enrico Fermi, the Nobel Prize-winning Italian-American physicist, was born (died November 28, 1954). In 1928, Brajesh Mishra, the National Security Adviser, was born (died September 28, 2012). In 1932, Mehmood, the comedian, director and producer, was born (died July 23, 2004). In 1933, Samora Machel, the first president of Mozambique, was born (died October 19, 1986).

In 1936, Silvio Berlusconi, later Prime Minister of Italy, was born, and in 1938 Wim Kok, later Prime Minister of the Netherlands. In 1943, Lech Walesa, Nobel laureate and head of state of Poland, was born. In 1947, S. H. Kapadia, the 38th Chief Justice of India, was born (died January 4, 2016). In 1951, Michelle Bachelet, Chile's first woman head of state, was born. In 1957, Chris Broad, the English cricketer and umpire, was born, and in 1978, Mohini Bhardwaj, the American gymnast.

Among those who died on this date, the Roman emperor Lothair I died in 855 and King Gustav I of Sweden in 1560. King Ferdinand VII of Spain died in 1833 (born October 14, 1784). Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine, died in 1913 (born March 18, 1858). American industrialist Henry Ford II died in 1987. In 1991, Ustad Yunus Hussain Khan, a vocalist of the 11th generation of the Agra gharana, died (born November 15, 1927).