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Martin Luther King began his graduate studies in Systematic Theology - Boston University.
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Martin Luther King married Coretta Scott at Scott's home near Marion, Alabama. His father Martin Luther King Sr performed the ceremony.
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Martin Luther King began his first full time pastorship at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
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He was awarded his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University
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The couple's first child Yolanda Denise King a daughter, was born.
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King became president of the Montgomery Improvement Association(MIA) - one of the groups instrumental in maintaining the Montgomery bus boycott.
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At 9:15 p.m., while King spoke at a mass meeting, his home was bombed. His wife and daughter were not injured. Later King addressed an angry crowd that gathered outside the house, pleading for nonviolence.
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Bus boycott success - Martin Luther King and several allies boarded a public bus in front of King’s home on December 21, 1956
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MLK became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference - a new group dedicated to abolishing legalized segregation and ending the disfranchisement of black southerners in a non-violent manner.
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At the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., King delivered his first national address, "Give Us The Ballot," at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. Nearly 25,000 demonstrators were present where he urged he president and members of Congress to ensure voting rights for African Americans
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Coretta King gave birth to their second child, Martin, III.
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King and other civil rights leaders meet with President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington.
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King’s first book "Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story" is published.
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During a book signing at Blumstein’s Department Store in Harlem, New York, King was stabbed by Izola Ware Curry. He was ushed to Harlem Hospital where a team of doctors successfully removed a seven-inch letter opener from his chest
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MLK was arrested during a sit-in demonstration at Rich’s department store in Atlanta. He was sentenced to four months hard labor for violating a suspended sentence he received for a 1956 traffic violation. He was released on $2000 bond on 27 October.
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Martin Luther King, Ralph Abernathy, Albany Movement president William G. Anderson, and other protesters are arrested by Laurie Pritchett during a campaign in Albany, Georgia.
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King is arrested at an Albany, Georgia prayer vigil and jailed. After spending two weeks in jail, King is released.Dr. King wrote a personal diary of his day-to-day experiences while in an Albany, Georgia jail for attempting to pray in front of City Hall. He pledged to return to jail, if necessary, if the City Commission refused to negotiate with Negro leaders on demands for immediate desegregation of all public facilities.
