Martin Luther King Jr. (Jan. 15, 1929–April 4, 1968) was one of the most prominent leaders of America's civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. His words and actions have left a lasting mark on America and the world as a whole, with a powerful legacy that is as undeniable as it is inspiring. These 33facts about Martin Luther King Jr. help us learn more about this incredible man. Dr. King had been a part of the civil rights movement for about a decade by the time the Civil Rights Act (forbidding segregation in businesses and public places, and making discriminatory practices in employment illegal) was passed on July 2, 1964. Born and raised in Georgia, he attended segregated schools. Growing up, he attended Ebenezer Baptist Church, where his grandfather and then his father served as pastors (his great-grandfather had been a pastor as well, but at a different church).
Dr. King himself served as associate pastor of Ebenezer starting in 1960. Also, like his father, he served on the executive committee of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). Tragically, his work as a non-violent civil rights activist was cut short when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, at a hotel in Memphis, Tenn. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan declared the third Monday of January each year Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday. This year, the observance takes place on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. Those are some of the basic MLK facts, but keep reading for more Martin Luther King Jr. trivia! These Dr. King facts for kids and adults educate us all as we celebrate and honor his lasting legacy. Related: 60 Famous Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes for MLK Day
Fascinating Martin Luther King Jr. Facts That You Probably Didn't Know
Monument of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, D.C.Wilson Rodriguez/Canva
1. Guests can tour the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. at 501 Auburn Avenue, located in Atlanta's "Sweet Auburn" residential section. This was the home of his maternal grandparents, and he lived there for the first 12 years of his life.
2. Dr. King's father traveled to Germany in 1929 and became inspired by Martin Luther, a Protestant Reformation leader. So much so that he changed both his first name and his five-year-old son's name, from Michael to Martin, also adding Luther as a middle name.
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3. Dr. King graduated from high school at the age of 15. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College (like his grandfather and father). In 1951, he was awarded a Bachelor of Divinity from Pennsylvania's Crozer Theological Seminary. He received a Ph.D. from Boston University in 1955.
4. Dr. King held two pastorates. While finishing his doctoral dissertation, he was appointed pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. He resigned from this role in 1960 to dedicate more of his time to civil rights. He remained a local pastor by partnering with his father at the church of his childhood, Ebenezer Baptist Church, in Atlanta.
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5. Mahatma Gandhi, who fought for Indian independence from British rule using nonviolent methods, had a great influence on Dr. King. In 1959, he visited India, 11 years after Gandhi was assassinated, and wrote a short story about that trip, entitled "My Trip to the Land of Gandhi."
6. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi were influenced by Henry David Thoreau, a 19th-century American essayist and philosopher who wrote about his philosophy of civil disobedience in a popular essay, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience."
7. On June 18, 1953, Dr. King married Coretta Scott on the lawn of her mother's home in Marion, Ala. They met through a mutual friend the year prior and were married for 15 years.
8. The Kings had four children: Yolanda, Martin Luther King III, Dexter and Bernice.
9. Coretta Scott King opened the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in the basement of their home just two months after her husband's assassination.
Related: Learn About Civil Rights Activist Coretta Scott King, Including How She Met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
10. Eventually, this organization became the King Center and moved to its own campus east of Ebenezer Baptist Church.
11. Upon his death, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s remains were carried in a farm wagon drawn by mules to Southview Cemetery—the oldest African-American cemetery in Atlanta, Ga. In 1970, Dr. King's remains were removed from Southview Cemetery, and placed in a family crypt, faced with Georgia marble, at the King Center.
12. The King Center added an Eternal Flame, symbolizing Dr. King's dream of the "Beloved Community," in 1977.
13. Beginning in 2001, Ebenezer Baptist Church's sanctuary and fellowship hall were restored to their style from the 1960s period.
14. Visitors to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Park in Atlanta, Ga., can tour a visitor's center, the DREAM gallery, the BEHOLD monument, Dr. King's birthplace, Ebenezer Baptist Church's "Heritage Sanctuary," the "I Have a Dream" world peace rose garden, the historic Fire Station No. 6, and the King Center.
15.Six years before his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington, Dr. King gave another speech at the Lincoln Memorial. He joined other civil rights leaders at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom on May 17, 1957, and spoke then.
Related: The Vintage Recipe That Was One of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Favorite Desserts
16. Dr. King was arrested at least 30 times—mostly for his involvement with various civil rights actions. For example, he was arrested and jailed on July 27, 1962, for holding a prayer vigil in Albany, Ga.
17. Not quite a year later, on April 12, 1963, he was jailed in Birmingham, Ala. While there, he wrote the historic "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
18. The original recipients of this Birmingham jail letter were eight white Alabama clergymen who had "A Call for Unity," a statement made against Dr. King and his methods, smuggled into the jail.
19.Eventually, Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was published as a pamphlet distributed by the American Friends Service Committee.
20. Magazines such as Christian Century, Christian and Crisis, the New York Post, and Ebony, published the "Letter from Birmingham" in articles as well.
21. William Fitts Ryan (D-NY) introduced the letter before Congress as testimony, and it was published in the Congressional Record.
22. Finally, in 1964, Dr. King revised the letter, and it became a chapter in his memoir, Why We Can't Wait, written about the Birmingham events.
23. The bulk of Dr. King's civil rights work occurred over an 11-year period. During that time, he traveled over six million miles, gave more than 2,500 talks or speeches and wrote five books, as well as numerous articles.
24. On Aug. 28, 1963, before more than 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., King gave perhaps his most famous speech, "I Have A Dream." Each speaker was allotted 15 minutes, but King's landmark statement on civil rights in America emerged as timeless.
25. One of the most famous lines from this speech, drawn from material he'd used over the years in various sermons and speeches, is this: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
26. In 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for his non-violent struggle for civil rights for the Afro-American population." At the age of 35, he was, at the time, the youngest man to ever receive this honor.
27.The Nobel Prize money amounted to $54,123, which King donated to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.
28. King first appeared on the cover of Time on Feb. 18, 1957, for his role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Since then, he has been on the cover at least 20 times.
29.Malcolm X, another civil rights leader at the time who called for a more militant approach to achieve equality, met with Martin Luther King Jr. only one time (in Washington, D.C., on March 26, 1964). The meeting was a short one, and less than a year later, Malcolm X was assassinated.
Related: 35 of Coretta Scott King's Most Inspiring Quotes
30. Martin Luther King Jr. held meetings with three U.S. presidents: Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
31.In April 1968, Dr. King was in Memphis, Tenn., showing support for the city's sanitation strike. The night before he died, he delivered the following words in his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech at Mason Temple Church: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now … I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
32. According to Jesse Jackson, who spoke to King moments before he was shot, MLK's last words were to jazz musician Ben Branch. While standing on a motel balcony, he allegedly asked Branch to play his favorite song at an upcoming rally, saying, "Make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord.' Play it real pretty." The next second, King was shot by James Earl Ray.
33. Biographer Taylor Branchsaid that King's autopsy showed he had the heart of a 60-year-old, despite being 39 when he died. Branch believed this was due to stress, saying, "The Movement took a huge toll on him ... The Movement was his life."
34. One of the advocates for the passage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday on the third Monday of January (which is near King's birthday) was musician Stevie Wonder. In 1981, the singer wrote and released the song "Happy Birthday" to spread the message about the proposed recognition for Dr. King. Although it was released as a single throughout the world, strangely it was never a single in the U.S., and yet it became widely popular and remains a signature Stevie Wonder songs.
35. While they don't have nationally recognized holidays, several countries around the world acknowledge the day or Dr. King himself with ceremonies and other commemorations, including Canada, Israel, Japan and The Netherlands.
Related: Who Are Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King's Kids? All About the Racial Justice Activists' Family
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