Martin Luther King Jr. was brought into the world on January fifteenth, 1929 to Michael King Sr. his dad, and Alberta Williams King, his mom. He was brought into the world in Atlanta, Georgia, with the legitimate name of Michael King. In 1934 his dad changed both of their names to Martin and added ‘Luther’ to pay tribute to a German reformer named Martin Luther. Martin Luther King Jr. had a more established sister Willie Christine King and a more youthful sibling Alfred Daniel Williams King. After he procured both a B.A. what’s more, B.Div. Degree he wedded Coretta Scott and had four kids. Ruler dedicated his life to the social liberties development and was a minister until his death in 1968 at 39 years old.
Martin Luther King Jr. skipped grade 9 and grade 12. As a result, he was only 15 years old when he entered college.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s father was a Baptist minister.
After completing a divinity degree at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, King went to graduate school at Boston University. He earned his PhD in 1955.
Martin left high school when he was 15 and enrolled at Morehouse College.
Six years prior to his famous march in Washington, King was among civil rights leaders who spoke at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1957 Prayer for Pilgrimage.
At the age of 19 Martin earned a B.A. in sociology from Morehouse College.
King went to jail a reported 29 times.
In 1951 Martin earned a degree from Crozer Theological Seminary.
He was arrested multiple times for civil disobedience, and once for driving 30 miles per hour in a 25 zone.
Martin married Coretta Scott in 1953.
In October 1958, King was signing copies of his book in Blumstein’s department store when Izola Curry approached him. She asked him if he was Martin Luther King, and he said yes. She then replied, “I’ve been looking for you for five years” and plunged a letter opener into his chest, just below his collar.
In 1954 Martin became a minister of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama.
King underwent hours of surgery to remove the blade of the letter opener from beside his aorta. Later, the doctors told him that one sneeze could have punctured the aorta and killed him.
Martin’s house was bombed in 1956, the result of him leading a boycott of segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama.
The night before King was assassinated, he made a speech that foretold his death.
In 1957 Martin helped to form the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference).
King’s assassin, James Earl Ray, pled guilty to murder but later recanted.
In 1958 Martin Luther King Jr. was stabbed in the chest with a letter opener while he was signing books on his book tour for Stride Toward Freedom. The woman who had tried to kill him that day was Izola Ware Curry.
King’s widow Coretta Scott believed that the mafia, local, state, and federal governments were involved in a conspiracy to murder her husband.
In 1963 Martin was arrested and sent to jail over anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Alabama. This was the same year he gave his famous speech ‘I Have a Dream’ to 200,000 protesters during the March on Washington.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s mother Alberta was shot and killed while playing the organ at a Sunday church service in 1974.
In 1964 Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to combat racial inequality without using violence. He was the youngest male to win the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of only 35.
Other than George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. is the only other American to have his birthday celebrated as a federal holiday.
Martin Luther King Jr. won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album in 1971. His album was called Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam.
In 1983, President Reagan signed the bill creating a holiday to celebrate King.
In 1974 Martin Luther King Jr.’s mother was murdered while attending church and playing the organ.
Not many people know that Martin Luther King Jr. was a smoker.
There are more than 700 streets in the United States named after Martin Luther King Jr. There are also many schools and other buildings named after him.
During his first year at seminary, King’s professor gave him a C in public speaking. By his final year he had straight A’s and was the valedictorian of his class.
On April 4th, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed.
At the time of King’s wedding to Coretta Scott, honeymoon suites did not allow African Americans. A friend of King’s owned a funeral parlor and offered to lend it to the couple for their honeymoon.
In 1969, James Earl Ray received a 99-year sentence after pleading guilty to Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder.
King once convinced Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on Star Trek, to stay on the Science Fiction show. Nichols was intending to quit after the first season of Star Trek, but King persuaded her of the importance of her role as a black woman playing a main character.
After his death Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as the Congressional Gold Medal.
King’s mother was an talented organist and choir leader.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day began to be celebrated in 1971 in many cities and states. In 1986 it became a federal holiday.
King received $54,123 for winning the Nobel Prize (equivalent to about $400,000 now), all of which he donated to the Civil Rights Movement.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is located in Washington, D.C. in West Potomac Park.
The Martin Luther King Jr. National Monument was the first monument on the National Mall in Washington to be dedicated to an African American. The statue is located between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.
The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site (also known as the King Center) is located in Atlanta, Georgia.
