Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister, activist humanitarian, and also known for

being the leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Martin Luther King was

born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15th in 1929. Now the world knows him today as Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr, but his name wasn't always Martin. He was actually born and given

the name Michael, by his father, but that all changed during a trip to Germany where

the theologian Martin Luther impressed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s father so much that

he changed his name and his son’s name too. Now when it came to education Dr. Martin Luther

King Jr. was very smart. That's right when he was a kid he literally skipped two grades

the 9th and the 11th to enter Morehouse College at the young age of 15 in 1944. Later on Dr.

King entered Boston University. There he completed his school work in 1953 earning a doctorate

in systematic theology two years later. Also while he was there he met his love Coretta

Scott. That's right Coretta Scott was a young singer from Alabama who was studying at the

New England Conservatory of Music. They later got married in 1953. Not long thereafter he

got involved in the civil rights movement taking part in the Montgomery Bus Boycott,

after Rosa Parks had been arrested by not going to the back of the bus after the bus

driver told her she couldn’t sit at the front. Of course many know Dr. Martin Luther

King Jr from taking part in the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, where his world famous,

“I have a dream,” speech set a fire to the civil rights movement there can still

be echoed today of people wanting freedom and wanting to be treated equally. From there

his name only group and in 1964 dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace

Prize. Sadly Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's life was cut short being assassinated on April

4 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. Although

the nation was sad the voice and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would still ring loud today.

The hard work that he did during the civil rights movement would soon be listened to

and that's when the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was passed by Congress and although many celebrated

his birthday around the country in multiple cities at the White House Rose Garden on November

2nd 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor Dr.

King's works and those were fun facts about dr. Martin Luther King Jr.