Martin Luther King Jr.
Baptist minister and civil-rights activist
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. ”
Major King Events Chronology: 1929-1968
- 1929-15-January
- Is born at 501 Auburn Ave. in Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1941-Summer
- The King family moves from 501 Auburn Avenue to 193 Boulevard in Atlanta.
- 1944- 20-September
- King begins his freshman year at Morehouse College in Atlanta.
- 1946- 6-August
- 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."
- 1948- 25-February
- Is ordained and appointed assistant pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
- 8-June
- Receives his bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Morehouse College.
- 14-September:
- King begins his studies at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania.
- 1951- 6-8-May
- Graduates from Crozer with a bachelor of divinity degree, delivering the valedictory address at commencement.
- 1953- 18-June
- King and Coretta Scott are married at the Scott home near Marion, Alabama.
- 1954- 1-September
- Begins his pastorate at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
- 1955- 5-June
- is awarded his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University.
- 17-November
- Yolanda Denise King, the Kings’ first child, is born.
- 1-December
- 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.
- 5-December
- At a mass meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church, the Montgomery Improvement Association(MIA) is formed. King becomes its president.
- 1956-30-January
- 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.
- 21 December
- Montgomery City Lines resumes full service on all routes. King is among the first passengers to ride the buses in an integrated fashion after few weeks the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the lower court opinion in Browder v. Gayle had declared Montgomery and Alabama bus segregation laws were unconstitutional.
- 1957- 10-11-January
- Southern black ministers meet in Atlanta to share strategies in the fight against segregation. King is named chairman of the Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration (later known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC).
- 23-October
- Coretta King gives birth to their second child, Martin, III.
- 1958-17-September
- King’s first book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story is published.
- 20 September
- During a book signing at Blumstein’s Department Store in Harlem, New York, King is stabbed by Izola Ware Curry. He is rushed to Harlem Hospital where a team of doctors successfully remove a seven-inch letter opener from his chest.
- 1960-19-October
- 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.
- 1961- 31-January
- Dexter Scott, King’s third child, is born.
- 1962- 27-July-10 August
- Is arrested at an Albany, Georgia prayer vigil and jailed. After spending two weeks in jail, King is released.
- 1963- 28-March
- Bernice Albertine, King’s fourth child, is born.
- 1963-6-April
- While protesting in Birmingham, Alabama, King is arrested for protesting without a permit. This makes Birmingham the focus of the Civil Rights Movement and King writes his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
- 5-June
- Strength to Love, King's book of sermons, is published.
- 28-August
- The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom attracts more than two hundred thousand demonstrators to the Lincoln Memorial.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.
- 1964-26-March
- King meets Malcolm X in Washington, D.C. for the first and only time.
- June
- King's book Why We Can’t Wait is published.
- 10 December
- 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.
- 1967-June
- King’s book Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? is published.
- 1968-3-April
- King returns to Memphis, determined to lead a peaceful march. During an evening rally at Mason Temple in Memphis, King delivers his final speech, "I’ve Been to the Mountaintop."
- 4-April
- King is shot and killed while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
- 9-April
- King is buried in Atlanta.