—Martin Luther King, Jr.

(Photo taken by Francis Miller/Life Magazine)

Find more pictures of Dr. King here!

The following information was taken from The King Center website. If you would like to learn more about Dr. MLK Jr., go to this website and explore!

• Martin Luther King, Jr. was born at noon on Tuesday, January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents were Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King.
• MLK Jr. skipped both the ninth and twelfth grades, and entered Morehouse at the age of fifteen.
• In 1948, he graduated from Morehouse College with a B.A. degree in Sociology. That fall he enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. While attending Crozer, he also studied at the University of Pennsylvania. He was elected President of the Senior Class and delivered the valedictory address. He won the Peral Plafkner Award as the most outstanding student, and he received the J. Lewis Crozer Fellowship for graduate study at a university of his choice.
•  He was awarded a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozer in 1951.
• In September of 1951, Martin Luther King, Jr. began doctoral studies in Systematic Theology at Boston University. He also studied at Harvard University. His dissertation, “A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman,” was completed in 1955, and the Ph.D. degree was awarded on June 5, 1955.
  
• He married Coretta Scott on June 18, 1953. Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr. performed the service.
• Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King had four children together: Yolanda Denise (November 17, 1955), Martin Luther III (October 23, 1957), Dexter Scott (January 30, 1961), and Bernice Albertine (March 28, 1963)
• Dr. King was a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement. He was elected President of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization that was responsible for the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955 to 1956 (381 days).
• He was arrested thirty times for his participation in civil rights activities.
•  He was a founder and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from 1957 to 1968.
• He was also Vice President of the National Sunday School and Baptist Teaching Union Congress of the National Baptist Convention. He was a member of several national and local boards of directors and served on the boards of trustees of numerous institutions and agencies.
• Dr. King was elected to membership in several learned societies including the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
  
• Dr. King was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968.
• Dr. King was in Memphis to help lead sanitation workers in a protest against low wages and intolerable working conditions.
• James Earl Ray was arrested in London, England on June 8, 1968, and returned to Memphis, Tennessee on July 19, 1969 to stand trial for the assassination of Dr. King. On March 9, 1969, before coming to trial, he entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to ninety-nine years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary.
  
• Dr. King’s funeral services were held on April 9, 1968 at Ebenezer Baptist Church and on the campus of Morehouse College, with the President of the United State proclaiming a day of mourning and flags being flown at half-staff.
• The area where Dr. King is entombed is located on Freedom Plaza and is surrounded by the Freedom Hall Complex of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site. The site is a 23-acre area was listed as a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977 and was made a National Historic Site on October 10, 1980 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
• In November 1983, President Reagan signed legislation creating the third Monday of every January as a national holiday in honor of Dr. King's birthday. Dr. King and George Washington are the only two Americans to have a national holiday celebrating their birthdays.

Although extremely involved with his family, his church, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, activities for peace and justice, his world travels, and his many speaking engagements, Dr. King wrote six books and numerous articles. His volumes include:

• Stride Toward Freedom, (New York: Harper & Row, 1958). The story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• The Measure of a Man, (Philadelphia: Pilgrim Press, 1959). A selection of sermons.
• Why We Can’t Wait, (New York: Harper & Row, 1963). The story of the Birmingham Campaign.
• Strength to Love, (New York: Harper & Row, 1963). A selection of sermons.
• Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? (New York: Harper & Row, 1967). Reflections on the problems of today’s world, the nuclear arms race, etc.
• The Trumpet of Conscience, (New York: Harper & Row, 1968). The Massey Lectures. Sponsored by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. (Posthumously).

Other great biographies of Dr. MLK Jr: 
      Nobelprize.org
      Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
      Seattle Times, "The King Pages"