The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Born: Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta

Graduated Morehouse College, 1948

Received a bachelor’s degree in divinity from Crozier Theological Seminary, 1951

Married Coretta Scott, 1953

Became pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, 1954

Received doctorate in theology from Boston University, 1955

Received national attention for his role in organizing successful Black boycott of Montgomery, Alabama, buses, 1955-56

Founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to educate Blacks in non-violent civil disobedience, 1957

Delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963

Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1964

Organized campaign for voter registration in Selma, Alabama, and the march from Selma to Montgomery, 1965

Began work in urban slums of Chicago, 1965-66

Organized Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, D.C., 1968

Assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, April 4, 1968

First national celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 1986

Groundbreaking for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, 2006