Martin Luther
King, Jr. (January 15, 1929-April 4,
1968), was one of the main leaders of the American civil rights
movement. A Baptist minister by training, King became a civil
rights activist early in his career, leading the Montgomery Bus
Boycott and helping to found the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference. His efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where
King delivered his I Have a Dream speech, raising public
consciousness of the civil rights movement and establishing King as
one of the greatest orators in American history.
In 1964, King
became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his
efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil
disobedience and other non-violent means.
King was assassinated on April
4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
Martin Luther King Day was established as a national holiday in the
United States in 1986. In 2004, King was posthumously awarded a
Congressional Gold Medal.
