A TIMELINE OF ACHIEVEMENTS

We take a look at the life and times of this equal rights icon.

1-15-1929 : Micheal King, Later known as Martin Luther King Jr., was born at 501 Auburn Ave., Atlanta, GA.

9-20-1944 : Dr.King begins his Freshman year at Morehouse College

8-6-46 : The Atlanta Constitution publishes Dr. Kings Letter to the Editor which he states that African

Americans are entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of all American citizens.

2-25-1948 : Dr. King is ordained and appointed assistant pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

6-8-1948 : Dr. King received his Bachelors of Arts in Sociology from Morehouse College

9-14-1948 : He begins his studies at Crozer Theological Seminary in Cheester, PA.

5-6-1951 : He Graduates Crozer with a Bachelor of Divinity Degree. Where he delivered the valedictory address at commencement.

9-13-1951 : Begins his graduate studies in Systemic Theology at Boston University.

6-18-1953 : Dr. King and Coretta Scott are married at the Scott home near Marion, AL.

9-1-1954 : Begins his Pastorate at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL

6-5-1955 : Dr. King is awarded his doctorate in Systemic Theology from Boston University.

11-17-1955: His first child Yolanda Denise King is Born.

12-1-1955 : The Legendary Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to vacate her seat and move to the rear of the bus. Jo Ann Robinson And the Women’s Political Council members mimeograph thousands of leaflets calling for a one-day boycott of the cities bus system. Carried out on 12-5-1955.

12-5-1955 : The M.I.A. ( Montgomery Improvement Associations) is formed at a mass meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church. Where Dr. King becomes it’s president.

1-27-1956 : Dr. King wrote in Stride Toward Freedom that on this day he received a threatening phone call late in the evening. Bring about a spiritual revelation that gave him the strength and inspiration to fight through the persecution he was surrounded by.

1-30-1956 : At 9:15 pm his home was bombed. Fortunately he was speaking at a mass meeting and both his wife Coretta Scott King and daughter were not injured. In the aftermath of this act of violence Dr. King pleaded outside his home with a angry crowd for nonviolence.

11-13-1956 : U.S. Supreme Court affirms the lower courts opinion in Browser v. Gayle declaring the Montgomery and Alabama Bus Segregation Laws Unconstitutional.

12-21-1956 : Montgomery City Lines resumes full service on all routes. Dr. King is among the first passengers t ride the newly integrated bus system.

1-10-1957 : Southern African American Ministers meet in Atlanta. To discuss strategies to fight segregation where Dr. King is named Chairman of the Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration ( Later dubbed SCLC - Southern Christian Leadership Conference.)

2-18-1957 : Dr. King is featured on the cover of Time Magazine.

3-6-1957 : He attends the independence celebrations of the New Nation of Ghana in West Africa where he meets Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah.

5-17-1957 : At the Lincoln Memorial Dr. King delivers his first national address “ Give Us The Ballot” at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom.

10-23-1957 : Coretta King gives birth to their second child Martin III

10-23-1957 : Dr. King and Other prominent Civil Rights Leaders meet with Pres. Eisenhower in Washington

9-17-1958 : Dr. Kings “ Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story” his first book is published.

9-20-1958 : During a book signing at Blumstein’s Dept Store in Harlem, NY. Dr. King was stabbed by Izola Ware Curry. After being rushed t the hospital doctors successfully removed the 7in letter opener from his chest.

2-3-1959 : Dr. King embarks on a month long visit to India where he met Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and many other followers of Gandhi.

2-1-1960 : Dr. King moves from Montgomery to Atlanta to devote more time to SCLC and the struggle for freedom. Becoming the assistant pastor to his father at Enemezer Baptist Church.

5-25-1960 : Was found not guilty on the charges of Tax Fraud by an all-white jury in Montgomery

6-23-1960 : Dr. King had a private meeting with presidential candite John F. Kennedy

1-19-1960 : He is arrested during a sit-in demonstration at Rich’s department store in Atlanta. He is sentenced to four months hard labor for violating probation conditions he had received earlier that year for driving with an out of state driver’s license. He is released on $2000 bond on 27 October.

1-31-1961 : His third child Dexter Scott was born

5-21-1961 : The Freedom Riders sought to integrate bus terminals in Alabama were assaulted. And Dr. King addressees the mass rally at a mob-besieged Montgomery Church.

10-16-1961 : Dr. King again meets with now President John F. Kennedy urging the issue of a second Emancipation Proclamation to eliminate racial segregation.

12-16-1961 : Dr. King as well as other Civil Rights Leaders were arrested by Laurie Pritchett during a protest campaign in Albany, GA

7-27-1962 : He’s arrested again at Albany, GA during a prayer vigil and jailed for two weeks.

9-28-1962 : During the closing sessions of the SCLC conference in Birmingham, AL a member of the ANP ( American Nazi Party ) Assaulted Dr. King.

3-28-1963 : His fourth child Bernice Albertine was born.

4-16-1963 : Responding to eight Jewish and Christian clergymen’s advice that African Americans wait patiently for justice, King pens his "Letter from Birmingham Jail." King and Abernathy were arrested on 12 April and released on 19 April.

5-7-1963 : The Conflict in Birmingham reaches its peak when high-pressure fire hoses force demonstrators from the business district. In addition to hoses, Police Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor employs dogs, clubs, and cattle prods to disperse four thousand demonstrators in downtown Birmingham.

6-5-1963 : “ Strength of Love “ A book of Dr. Kings sermons was published

8-28-1963 : The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom attracts more than two hundred thousand demonstrators to the Lincoln Memorial. Organized by A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, the march is supported by all major civil rights organizations as well as by many labor and religious groups. Dr. King delivers his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech. After the march, King and other civil rights leaders meet with President John F. Kennedy and Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House.

9-18-1963 : King delivers the eulogy at the funerals of Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, and Cynthia Dianne Wesley, three of the four children that were killed during the 15 September bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Carole Robertson, the fourth victim, was buried in a separate ceremony.

10-10-1963 : U.S. Attorney General authorizes the FBI to wiretap Dr. King’s home

1-3-1964 : Dr. King is named “ Man of the Year” By Time Magazine.

1-18-1964 : President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Dr. King, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young and James Farmer, to seek support for his War on Poverty Initiative.

2-9-1964 : Dr.King and the SCLC is invited to St. Augustine, FL by Robert Hayling to join the struggle against segregation.

3-26-1964 : Dr.King and Malcolm X meet in Washington D.C. for the first and only time.

6-1964 : Dr.King’s book “ Why We Can’t Wait” is published

6-11-1964 : He is arrested and jailed for demanding service at a white-only restaurant in St. Augustine, FL.

7-20-1964 : Dr. King and SCLC Staff launch a People-to-People tour of Mississippi to assist the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in the Mississippi Freedom Summer campaign.

11-18-1964 : Dr. King criticizes the FBI for their failure to properly protect civil rights worker. FBI director J.Edgar Hoover denounces King as “ The most notorious liar in the country” and a mere week later states the SCLC is spearheaded by Communists and moral degenerates.

12-1-1964 : Dr.King meets with FBI Director J.Edgar Hoover at the Justice Department

Dr. King receives the Nobel Peace Prize at the ceremony in Oslo, Norway he declares “ Every Penny” of his award money will be used in the ongoing civil rights struggle.

3-7-1965 : What is now known as Bloody Sunday occurred where voting rights marchers are beaten at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL. as they attempt to march to Montgomery.

3-17-1965 : Dr. King, James Foreman, and John Lewis lead civil rights marchers from Selma to Montgomery after the U.S> District judge upholds the right of demonstrators to conduct an orderly march.

8-12-1965 : Dr. King publicly opposes the Vietnam War at a mass rally during the Ninth Annual Convention of SCLC in Birmingham.

1-26-1966 : Dr.King and his family move to Chicago to draw attention to the city’s poor housing conditions.

2-28-1966 : Dr. King meets the Leader of the Nation of Islam Elijah Muhammad.

6-7-1966 : Dr.King along with Floyd McKissick of CORE and Stokely Carmichael of SNCC resume James Meredith’s “ March Against Fear” from Memphis to Jackson. After Meredith was shot and wounded near Memphis.

4-4-1967 : He delivers “ Beyond Vietnam “ to a gathering of Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam at Riverside Church in New York City. Demanding initiatives be taken by the U.S> Government to end the war.

6-1967 : Dr. King’s book “ Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?” is published.

12-4-1967 : He reveals his plans to organize a mass civil disobedience campaign, the Poor Peoples Campaign, in Washington D.C. to force the government to end poverty.

3-28-1968 : Dr.King Leads a march of 6’000 protesters in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis. The march son falls apart descending into violence and Looting as King is rushed from the scene.

4-3-1968 : He returns to Memphis, determined to lead a peaceful march. During an rally at Mason Temple in Memphis. Dr. King delivers his final speech “ I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”

4-4-1968 : Dr. King is shot and killed while standing on a balcony of The Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

4-9-1968 : This civil rights Icon is laid to rest in Atlanta

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