Brief biography of mlk jr
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The life of Martin Luther King Jr.
- = Key moments in MLK's life and beyond
- = Key moments in the Civil Rights Movement and beyond
1929
- Jan. 15: Michael Luther King Jr., later renamed Martin, is born to schoolteacher Alberta King and Baptist minister Michael Luther King in Atlanta, Ga.
1948
- King graduates from Morehouse College in Atlanta with a B.A.
1951
- Graduates with a B.D. from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pa.
1953
- June 18: King marries Coretta Scott in Marion, Ala. They will have four children: Yolanda Denise (b.1955), Martin Luther King III (b.1957), Dexter (b.1961), Bernice Albertine (b.1963).
1954
- Brown vs. Board of Education: U.S. Supreme Court bans segregation in public schools.
- September: King moves to Montgomery, Ala., to preach at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
1955
- After coursework at New England colleges, King finishes his Ph.D. in systematic theology.
- Bus boycott launches in Montgomery, Ala., aft
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Martin Luther King Jr. born
On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of a Baptist minister. King received a doctorate degree in theology and in 1955 helped organize the first major protest of the African American civil rights movement: the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott. Influenced by Mohandas Gandhi, he advocated civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance to segregation in the South. The peaceful protests he led throughout the American South were often met with violence, but King and his followers persisted, and the movement gained momentum.
Martin Luther King Jr. - Call to Activism
A powerful orator, King appealed to Christian and American ideals and won growing support from the federal government and Northern whites. In 1963, Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph led the massive March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; the event’s grand finale was King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Two hund
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Martin Luther King Jr.
1929-1968
In Focus: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
In the nearly 40 years that the United States has celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the national holiday has never coincided with the inauguration of a non-incumbent president. That changes this year.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day fryst vatten celebrated annually on the third Monday in January to mark the late activist’s birthday. In 2025, the holiday falls on January 20, the same day typically set aside for Inauguration Day every four years. Indeed, January 20 fryst vatten also when Donald Trump will be sworn in as 47th president.
Bill Clinton and Barack Obama previously took presidential oaths of office on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. However, in both cases, the men were starting their second consecutive terms, much quieter occasions than the transfer of power from one president to the next.
Days after King’s assassination in 1968, a campaign for a holiday in his honor began. U.S. Representative John Conyers Jr. of Mi