Timeline Martin Luther King

The birth Martin Luther King

Jan 15, 1929

Michael King, later known as Martin Luther King, Jr., is born at 501 Auburn Ave. in Atlanta, Georgia. The birth of a hero.

Martin Luther King timeline

Period: Jan 15, 1929 to Apr 4, 1968

Martin Luther King goes to college

Sep 20, 1944

King begins his freshman year at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

King writes a letter

Aug 6, 1946

The Atlanta Constitution publishes King’s letter to the editor stating that black people "are entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens."

Martin Luther King gets married

Jun 18, 1953

King and Coretta Scott are married at the Scott home near Marion, Alabama.

King becomes leader of church

Dec 5, 1955

At a mass meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) is formed. King becomes its president.

Recives first threat

Jan 27, 1956

According to King’s later account in Stride Toward Freedom, he receives a threatening phone call late in the evening, prompting a spiritual revelation that fills him with strength to carry on in spite of persecution.

Kings house gets bombed

Jan 30, 1956

At 9:15 p.m., while King speaks at a mass meeting, his home is bombed. His wife and daughter are not injured. Later King addresses an angry crowd that gathers outside the house, pleading for nonviolence.

Meets with black minsters

Jan 10, 1957

Southern black ministers meet in Atlanta to share strategies in the fight against segregation. King is named chairman of the Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration (later known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC).

King appears on magizaines

Jan 10, 1957

King appears on the cover of Time magazine.

king meets with vice president

Jun 13, 1957

King and Ralph D. Abernathy meet with Vice President Richard M. Nixon and issue a statement on their meeting.

King meets with the president

Jun 23, 1958

King and other civil rights leaders meet with President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington.

King meets with president

Oct 16, 1961

King meets with President John F. Kennedy and urges him to issue a second Emancipation Proclamation to eliminate racial segregation.

King spends two weeks in jail

Jul 10, 1963

King is arrested at an Albany, Georgia prayer vigil and jailed. After spending two weeks in jail, King is released.

King gets arrseted for protesting

Jul 10, 1963

King, Ralph Abernathy, Albany Movement president William G. Anderson, and other protesters are arrested by Laurie Pritchett during a campaign in Albany, Georgia.

King meets with Malcom X

Mar 26, 1964

King meets Malcolm X in Washington, D.C. for the first and only time.

The poor people campaign

Jun 7, 1967

King publicly reveals his plans to organize a mass civil disobedience campaign, the Poor People's Campaign, in Washington, D.C., to force the government to end poverty.

King leads a huge protest

Mar 28, 1968

King leads a march of six thousand protesters in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis. The march descends into violence and looting, and King is rushed from the scene.

king is detrimend to lead a peacful march

Mar 30, 1968

King returns to Memphis, determined to lead a peaceful march. During an evening rally at Mason Temple in Memphis, King delivers his final speech, "I’ve Been to the Mountaintop."

King gets shot

Apr 4, 1968

King is shot and killed while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.