Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15, 1929, to Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams. He was educated at Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary, and Boston University. While at Boston University, in June 1953, he married Coretta Scott. Dr. King later became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
While in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, Dr. King received his Ph.D. degree and was asked to lead a bus boycott to revolt against the arrest of Rosa Parks, a black woman who would not give up her bus seat to a white person. During the time period of the boycott, Dr. King was arrested, jailed, his home was bombed, and many people threatened him. It ended in 1956 when the Supreme Court ordered that all public transportation not to be segregated. After this, Dr. King was highly respected and became president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference(SCLC).
In 1959, Dr. King visited India to learn the technique of nonviolent persuasion developed by Gandhi. When he returned to Atlanta the next year, he became copastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church.
In Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963, Dr. King led the historic Million-Man March and delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the next year.
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray was found guilty and was sentenced to ninety-nine years in jail in March of 1969. The third Monday in January is now an annual memorial of Martin Luther King, Jr. His underwater grave is a national historic site in Atlanta.
