Birth of Dr. King Jr.

#1. January 15, 1929

Michael King, later known as Martin Luther King, Jr., is born at 501 Auburn Ave. in Atlanta, Georgia.

Birth House

Morehouse College

#2. September 20, 1944

King begins his freshman year at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

MoreHouse

The fight for basic human rights

#3. August 6, 1946

The Atlanta Constitution publishes King’s letter to the editor stating that black people "are entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens."

Morehouse Graduation

#4. June 8, 1948

King receives his bachelor of arts degree in Sociology from Morehouse College.

Dr. King Jr. studies in Boston

#5. September 13, 1951

King begins his graduate studies in Systematic Theology at Boston University.

Boston University

Dr. King Jr. Marries

#6. June 18, 1953

King and Coretta Scott are married at the Scott home near Marion, Alabama.

New Home

MLK begins his service as a Pastor

#7. September 1, 1954

King begins his pastorate at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

Baptist Church

Rosa Parks paves the way

#8. December 1, 1955

Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to vacate her seat and move to the rear of a city bus in Montgomery to make way for a white passenger. Jo Ann Robinson and other Women’s Political Council members mimeograph thousands of leaflets calling for a one-day boycott of the city’s buses on Monday, 5 December.

Parks Arrested

Bombing of MLK's house

#9. January 30, 1956

At 9:15 p.m., while King speaks at a mass meeting, his home is bombed. His wife and daughter are not injured. Later King addresses an angry crowd that gathers outside the house, pleading for nonviolence.

Fight for Change

#10. May 17, 1957

At the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., King delivers his first national address, "Give Us The Ballot," at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom.

Washington D.C.

Meeting President Eisenhower

#11. June 23, 1958

King and other civil rights leaders meet with President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington.

Dr. King Jr.'s arrest

#12. October 19, 1960

King is arrested during a sit-in demonstration at Rich’s department store in Atlanta. He is sentenced to four months hard labor for violating a suspended sentence he received for a 1956 traffic violation. He is released on $2000 bond on 27 October.

The Hateful Roots of Racism

Meeting with President Kennedy

#13.October 16, 1961

King meets with President John F. Kennedy and urges him to issue a second Emancipation Proclamation to eliminate racial segregation.

White House

MLK arrested again

#14. July 27, 1962

King is arrested at an Albany, Georgia prayer vigil and jailed. After spending two weeks in jail, King is released.

March on Washington

#15. August 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. King delivers his "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.

Youngest person ever to receive Nobel peace prize at age 35.

#16. December 10, 1964

King receives the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway. He declares that "every penny" of the $54,000 award will be used in the ongoing civil rights struggle.

Norway Nobel Prize

More protests throughout the mid-1960s

#17. August 12, 1965

King publicly opposes the Vietnam War at a mass rally at the Ninth Annual Convention of SCLC in Birmingham.