Martin Luther King Facts at a Glance

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King Facts at a Glance

1929	Born January 15 in Atlanta.

1948	Received B.A. in sociology from Morehouse College.
1948	Appointed assistant pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga.

1951	Received B.D. (Bachelor of Divinity) from Crozer Theological Seminary.

1953	Married Coretta Scott on June 18.

1955	Received Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston University.
	Became pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.
	Montgomery bus boycott begins on December 5 and lasts until December 20, 1956.

1957	Elected president of newly formed Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.).

1961	King becomes chair of the Freedom Rides Coordinating Committee, an organization that tests racial discrimination on interstate bus rides.

1962	S.C.L.C. begins Voter Education Project to register African-American voters in Southern states.
	Campaign for civil rights in Albany, Ga., stalls.
	FBI intensifies investigation of King and S.C.L.C. for ostensible communist activities.

1963	Beginning of Birmingham, Ala., campaign for civil rights.
	King's open letters to critics, written from a Birmingham jail cell on April 16, is eventually re-printed in 40 languages.
	March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, where King delivers his "I Have a Dream" address. Some 250,000 people attend, as a national television audience watches.

1964	J. Edgar Hoover refers to King as "the most notorious liar in America."
1964	Awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

1965	S.C.L.C. begins campaign in Selma Ala.

1966	Formation of Chicago Freedom Movement.

1967	King delivers his first public address condemning the war in Vietnam.

1968	King is assassinated on April 4 in Memphis by James Earl Ray.

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King Facts at a Glance

1929	Born January 15 in Atlanta.

1948	Received B.A. in sociology from Morehouse College.
1948	Appointed assistant pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga.

1951	Received B.D. (Bachelor of Divinity) from Crozer Theological Seminary.

1953	Married Coretta Scott on June 18.

1955	Received Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston University.
	Became pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.
	Montgomery bus boycott begins on December 5 and lasts until December 20, 1956.

1957	Elected president of newly formed Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.).

1961	King becomes chair of the Freedom Rides Coordinating Committee, an organization that tests racial discrimination on interstate bus rides.

1962	S.C.L.C. begins Voter Education Project to register African-American voters in Southern states.
	Campaign for civil rights in Albany, Ga., stalls.
	FBI intensifies investigation of King and S.C.L.C. for ostensible communist activities.

1963	Beginning of Birmingham, Ala., campaign for civil rights.
	King's open letters to critics, written from a Birmingham jail cell on April 16, is eventually re-printed in 40 languages.
	March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, where King delivers his "I Have a Dream" address. Some 250,000 people attend, as a national television audience watches.

1964	J. Edgar Hoover refers to King as "the most notorious liar in America."
1964	Awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

1965	S.C.L.C. begins campaign in Selma Ala.

1966	Formation of Chicago Freedom Movement.

1967	King delivers his first public address condemning the war in Vietnam.

1968	King is assassinated on April 4 in Memphis by James Earl Ray.