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Date of birth: January 15, 1929(1929-01-15)
Place of birth: Atlanta, Georgia,United States
Date of death: April 4, 1968 (aged 39)
Place of death: Memphis, Tennessee,United States
Movement: African-American Civil Rights Movement and Peace movement
Major organizations: Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Notable prizes: Nobel Peace Prize (1964),Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977, posthumous),Congressional Gold Medal (2004, posthumous)
Major monuments: Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial (planned)
Alma mater: Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary, Boston University
Religion: Baptist
Influences: Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Benjamin Mays, Hosea Williams, Rosa Parks, Bayard Rustin, Henry David Thoreau, Howard Thurman, Leo Tolstoy
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States and he is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today. King is recognized as a martyr by two Christian churches. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history.
In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 1986.
His previous name was Michael King, Jr. However his father, Michael King, Sr., changed both of their names to Martin Luther in honor of the German Protestant leader Martin Luther. King married Coretta Scott, on June 18, 1953, in Heiberger, Alabama.
King delivered his speeches and wrote frequently. His "Letter from Birmingham Jail", written in 1963, is a "passionate" statement of his crusade for justice. In the year 1955, there were cases on racism. King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted for 385 days. As a result, his house was bombed and King was arrested. However, his arrest ended the racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses.
In 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct non-violent protests in the service of civil rights reform. King led the SCLC until his death. In 1958, while signing copies of his book Strive Toward Freedom in a Harlem department store, he was stabbed in the chest by Izola Curry, a deranged black woman with a letter opener, and narrowly escaped death.
Until his death, King continued to try to erase racial discrimination, especially toward the African-Americans, as well as for justice and peace. However this cost him his very life. On April 3, 1968, King addressed a rally and delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey, in Memphis, and was shot at 6:01 p.m. April 4, 1968 while he was standing on the motel's second floor balcony and died. Riots broke out in more than 100 cities after his assassination, which shows that he is a really prominent figure in the public.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.
