Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr.. (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968). The son of a Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr. was the second of three children. In 1939, he sang with his church choir at the premiere of Gone with the Wind. His non-violent leadership for civil rights and racial equality transformed the United States and brought media coverage to the issue. During the 13 years of his activism, he faced violence and death repeatedly, as opponents of integration sought to project their entrenched position at all costs. When his life was ended at age 39 by an assassin's bullet, he had become a symbol of peaceful protest against bigotry and indifference. His influence on struggles for equality continues to extend throughout the world long after his death., 1944 , King graduated from high school at 15 years old and entered Morehouse College. He later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology in 1948. He went on to also receive a Bachelor of Divinity and a Doctor of Philosophy., 1954 , King became a pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery Alabama, when he was only 25 years old., 1955 , After Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery city bus, King led a 381-day bus boycott during which he was arrested and his house was bombed., 1957 , King co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to mobilize African-American churches in civil rights reform., Watershed Moment , 1963 , Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a lifelong leader of the American civil rights movement, became known as one of America's greatest orators after his "I Have a Dream" speech. On August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, King spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the single largest gathering of protestors in Washington, D.C., at the time. He began his speech with written remarks, but in a burst of impromptu inspiration he included the memorable phrases built around the powerful "I have a dream.", 1964 , King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. He was honored for his leadership of the non-violent movement to end racial injustice in the United States., 1965 , King moved his family to Chicago to spread his message. He faced more death threats and more violence than he had seen in the South.