Martin Luther King Jr

Born: 15 January 1929 Birthplace: Atlanta, Georgia Death: 4 April 1968 (assassination by gunshot) Best Known As: Civil rights hero who said "I have a dream" Martin Luther King, Jr. was an African-American clergyman who advocated social change through non-violent means. His writings and public appearances shaped the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s. In 1963 (the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation), King organized a march on Washington, D.C. that drew 200,000 people demanding equal rights for minorities. In 1964 King won the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming at the time the youngest recipient ever. He was shot to death by James Earl Ray in 1968 while visiting Memphis, Tennessee. King married Coretta Scott on 18 June 1953. The couple had four children: Yolanda (born 1955), Martin Luther III (b. 1957), Dexter (b. 1961), and Bernice (b. 1963).