Martin Luther King, Jr. facts

Birth: January 15, 1929
Death: April 4, 1968
Place of Birth: Atlanta, Georgia
Known for:

Leading the civil rights movement in the United States

Advocating nonviolent protest against segregation and racial discrimination

Milestones:

1954 Selected as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama

1955 Received his Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston University

1955-1956 Led a successful effort to desegregate Montgomery, Alabama, buses

1957 Helped found and served as the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

1958 Published Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story

1963 Wrote 'Letter from Birmingham Jail,' arguing that it was his moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws

1963 Delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech to civil rights marchers at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

1964 Won the Nobel Peace Prize

1965 Organized a mass march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, that created national support for federal voting-rights legislation

1968 Was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee

Quote: 'I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.' August, 1963, in a speech to civil rights supporters at the March on Washington.

Source: MLK Online

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