Martin luther king jr. Man behind the dream

Background: Born Michael Luther King on Jan. 15, 1929, but later changed his name to Martin. Married Coretta Scott on June 18, 1953, and had two sons and two daughters.

Education: Received a bachelor’s degree in 1948 from Morehouse College in Atlanta, bachelor of divinity from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and doctorate from Boston University.

As pastor: Followed his father and grandfather’s tenure at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving as co-pastor from 1960 until his death. Was named in 1954 as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Ala.

Civil rights activist: A member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, he led the first black nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in December 1955 in the United States — a bus boycott that lasted 382 days. In the late 1950s and 1960s, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Ala., that inspired his essay “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” He’s best known for his “I Have a Dream” speech Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during a march on Washington for jobs and freedom.

Honors: Was the youngest man to receive Nobel Peace Prize and donated the prize money of $54,123 to the civil rights movement. Was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963. His birthday is a national holiday, celebrated on the third Monday in January.

Assassinated: April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn., where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers.