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Born on at noon on January 15, 1929.
Parents: The Reverend and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Sr.
Home: 501 Auburn Avenue, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia. -
Began his studies at Morehouse College at the age of 15
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Graduates from Morehouse College and enters Crozer Theological Seminary.
Ordained to the Baptist ministry, February 25, 1948, at age 19. -
Enters Boston University for graduate studies.
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Martin Luther King marries Coretta Scott at her parent's home in Alabama
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Received Doctorate of Philosophy in Systematic Theology from Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts on June 5, 1955.
Dissertation Title: A Comparison of the Conception of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman. Joins the bus boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1. On December 5, he is elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, making him the official spokesman for the boycott. -
the Supreme Court rules that bus segregation is illegal, ensuring victory for the boycott.
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Visited India to study Mohandas Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence.
Resigns from pastoring the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church to concentrate on civil rights full time. He moved to Atlanta to direct the activities of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. -
In November, the Interstate Commerce Commission bans segregation in interstate travel due to work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Freedom Riders.
Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) began first Freedom Ride through the South, in a Greyhound bus, after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregation in interstate transportation. -
During the unsuccessful Albany, Georgia movement, King is arrested on July 27 and jailed.
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The March on Washington held August 28 is the largest civil rights demonstration in history with nearly 250,000 people in attendance.
At the march, King makes his famous I Have a Dream speech. -
King appears on the cover of Time magazine as its Man of the Year. King attends the signing ceremony of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the White House on July 2. During the summer, King experiences his first hurtful rejection by black people when he is stoned by Black Muslims in Harlem. King is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10. Dr. King is the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Peace at age 35.
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In June, King and others begin the March Against Fear through the South. On July 10, King initiates a campaign to end discrimination in housing, employment, and schools in Chicago.
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King announces that the Poor People's Campaign will culminate in a March on Washington demanding a $12 billion Economic Bill of Rights guaranteeing employment to the able-bodied, incomes to those unable to work, and an end to housing discrimination. Dr. King marches in support of sanitation workers on strike in Memphis, Tennessee. On March 28, King lead a march that turns violent. This was the first time one of his events had turned violent.
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On November 2, a national holiday is proclaimed in King's honor.
President Reagan signs a law declaring the third Monday in January Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday.
