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Graduates from Morehouse College and enters Crozer Theological Seminary.
Ordained to the Baptist ministry, February 25, 1948, at age 19. -
Marries Coretta Scott and settles in Montgomery, Alabama.
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On November 13, the Supreme Court rules that bus segregation is illegal, ensuring victory for the boycott.
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King forms the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to fight segregation and achieve civil rights. On May 17, Dr. King speaks to a crowd of 15,000 in Washington, D.C.
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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.
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During the unsuccessful Albany, Georgia movement, King is arrested on July 27 and jailed. 1963
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On February 2, King is arrested in Selma, Alabama during a voting rights demonstration. After President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law, Martin Luther King, Jr. turns to socioeconomic problems
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The Supreme Court upholds a conviction of MLK by a Birmingham court for demonstrating without a permit. King spends four days in Birmingham jail. On November 27, King announces the inception of the Poor People's Campaign focusing on jobs and freedom for the poor of all races.
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At sunset on April 4, Martin Luther King, Jr. is fatally shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
