507 years ago is the answer.
Gandhi took the religious principle of ahimsa which means doing no harm, common to Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism and turned it into a non-violent tool for mass action. He used it to fight not only colonial rule but social evils such as racial discrimination and untouchability as well.
Banks loaned money to rich tycoons who were expanding the railroads
Lyndon Johnson and his push for civil rights for African Americans.
Johnson continued the push for civil rights that had been started by President John F. Kennedy. In the emotional days after JFK's assassination, President Johnson said in an address to Congress: "<span>No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy's memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill for which he fought so long." The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed within months after the Kennedy assassination. The act outlawed discrimination in public places and in employment practices, and provided for integration of public schools.
Incidentally, in defense of Gerald Ford and his fight against high unemployment -- by the end of Ford's term in office, the unemployment rate had begun to improve. But it was too little, too late, and his reelection bid failed. (Voters also were reacting against the Republican administration due to the Nixon Watergate scandal.)</span>
