Dr. Martin L.
King's Dream Lives as He is Honored by Many in the United States and Around the
World.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Center Home Page
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Memorial Foundation
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from
Birmingham
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Calendar
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Papers Project at Stanford
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Pictures
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Statue
Foundation
|
1929
|
Michael Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, and later renamed Martin. He was born to schoolteacher Alberta King and Baptist minister Michael Luther King. |
| 1948 | Dr. King graduates from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., with a B.A. |
| 1951 | Dr. King graduates with a B.D. from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pa. |
| 1953 | June 18. Dr. 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 | September. Dr. King moves to Montgomery, Ala., to preach at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. |
| 1955 | After coursework at New England colleges, Dr. King finishes his Ph.D. in systematic theology |
| 1956 | January 26. Dr. King is
arrested for driving 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. January 30. Dr. King's house bombed. |
| 1957 | January. Black ministers form what became known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Dr. King is named first president one month later. In this typical year of demonstrations, he traveled 780,000 miles and made 208 speeches. |
| 1958 | Dr. King's first book published, "Stride Toward Freedom" (Harper), his recollections of the Montgomery bus boycott. While Dr. King is promoting his book in a Harlem book store, an African American woman stabs him. While in the hospital he would receive many letters of encouragement from all over the world. |
| 1959 | Dr. King visits India. He had a lifelong admiration for Mohandas K. Gandhi, and credited Gandhi's passive resistance techniques for his civil-rights successes. |
| 1960 | Dr. King leaves for Atlanta to pastor his father's church, Ebenezer Baptist Church |
| 1962 | Dr. King meets with President John F. Kennedy to urge support for civil rights. |
| 1963 | Dr. King leads protests in Birmingham
for desegregated department store facilities, and fair hiring. April.
Arrested after demonstrating in defiance of a court order, Dr. King writes "Letter From Birmingham Jail" This eloquent letter, later widely circulated, became a classic of the civil-rights movement. August 28. 250,000 civil-rights supporters attended the March on Washington. At the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King delivers the famous "I have a dream" speech |
| 1964 | "Why We Can't Wait" published. Dr. King visits with West Berlin Mayor Willy Brant and Pope Paul VI. December 10. Dr. King will win the Nobel Peace Prize |
| 1965 | January 18. Dr. King successfully
registers to vote at the Hotel Albert in Selma, Ala. and is assaulted by
James Robinson of Birmingham. In February. Dr. King continues to protest discrimination in voter registration, is arrested and jailed. Meets with President Lyndon B. Johnson Feb. 9 and other American leaders about voting rights for African Americans. March 16-21. Dr. King and 3,200 people successfully march from Selma to Montgomery. |
| 1968 | April 4. Dr. King is assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., by James Earl Ray. Riots would breakout all over the United States.. |
| 1986 | January 20 is the first national celebration of Dr. King's birthday as a holiday. This was signed into law by then President Reagan. |
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Updated by K. Ferguson Kelly:
January 22, 2004