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Born
Martin Luther King, Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia. He is son of Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr, and Alberta Williams King. Martin's father always dreamed of having a son because he wanted him to be the future pastor at their church. -
Attended Morehouse College
Martin Luther King Jr.attended Morehouse College at age fifteen. He skipped two grades at Booker T. Washington High School and graduated in the same year as his older sister. Martin went to school to become a minister like his father and grandfather. -
Graduated from Morehouse College
He graduated from Morehouse with a degree in sociology. He then went on to further his education at Crozer Theological Seminary. -
Married Coretta Scott
King married Coretta Scott, on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama.Martin said that when he got a glance at Coretta for a brief second he said it was love at first site when their eyes met. -
Became Pastor
King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama when he was twenty-five years old. -
Rosa Parks & Bus Boycott
December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus and was arrested. -
Supreme Court Segregated Seating
The Supreme Court ruled segregated seating on public buses unconstitutional, the following year King and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a group committed to achieving full equality for African Americans through nonviolence. -
Birmingham Campaign
King was arrested for his involvement in a march that protested unfair hiring practices and other injustices in one of America’s most racially divided cities, Birmingham, Alabama. -
March on Washington/"I Have a Dream"
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a peaceful political rally designed to show the injustices African Americans continued to face across the country, it was during this march that King gave his most famous address, known as the “I have a dream” speech. Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the event is said to be a huge factor in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
Nobel Peace Prize
He was named Man of the Year by TIME magazine for combating racial inequality through nonviolence and became the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. -
Fighting for Voting Rights
SNCC organized a campaign for voting rights in Selma, Alabama. Violence erupted between white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators. Captured on television, the brutal scene outraged many Americans and inspired supporters from across the country to gather in Selma and take part in a march to Montgomery led by King. That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed the right to vote to all African Americans. -
Poor People's Campaign
King and the SCLC started program known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was aimed to fight poverty among Americans of all races. This campaign was to include a massive march on the capital. -
Death
King was fatally shot while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, where he had traveled to support a workers’ strike.
