King martin luther jr. biography
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About Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1955, he was recruited to serve as spokesman for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was a campaign by the African-American population of Montgomery, Alabama to force integration of the city’s bus lines. After 381 days of nearly universal participation by citizens of the black community, many of whom had to walk miles to work each day as a result, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in transportation was unconstitutional.
In 1957, Dr. King was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization designed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. He would serve as head of the SCLC until his assassination in 1968, a period during which he would emerge as the most important social leader of the modern American civil rights movement.
In 1963, he led a coalition of numerous civil rights groups in a nonviolent campaign aimed at Birmingham, Alabama, which at the t
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Meet the civil rights leader in our Martin Luther King facts and discover how he changed history for millions of African-American people during the Civil Rights Movement…
Martin Luther King facts
Full name: Dr Martin Luther King Jr
Born: 15 January 1929.
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Occupation: Minister and activist.
Died: 4 April 1968.
Best known for: Campaigning for the rights of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
1) Martin Luther King Jr was born in the United States of America to African American parents. At birth he was named Michael King, but his father later changed his name to Martin Luther King Jr.
2) When Martin Luther King was growing up, life was hard for African Americans. The Southern United States operated under the ‘Jim Crow laws’ that kept black and vit people separated in what was called ‘segregation’. Black people had different schools, toi
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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 is 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 is 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