Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a vital figure of the modern era. His lectures and dialogues stirred the concern and sparked the conscience of a generation. The movements and marches he led brought significant changes in the fabric of American life through his courage and selfless devotion. This devotion gave direction to thirteen years of civil rights activities. His charismatic leadership inspired men and women, young and old, in this nation and around the world.

1929
January 15, 1929 - Martin Luther King, Jr. is born to Rev. and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Sr. (former Alberta Christine Williams) in Atlanta, Georgia.

1935-1944
Dr.King attends David T. Howard Elementary School, Atlanta University Laboratory School, and Brooker T. Washington High School. He passes the entrance examination to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia without graduation from high school.

1951-1953
May 6-8, 1951 - Dr. King graduates from Crozer with a Bachelor of Divinity degree.

June 18, 1953 - Dr. King marries Coretta Scott in Marion, Alabama.

1955-1957
June 5, 1955 - Dr. King receives a Ph.D degree in Systematic Theology from Boston University

January 26, 1956 - Dr. King is arrested on a charge of traveling thirty miles per hour in a twenty-five miles per hour zone in Montgomery. He is released on his own recognizance.

Feburary 21, 1956 - Dr. King is indicted with other figures in the Montgomery bus boycott on the charge of being party to a conspiracy to hinder and prevent the operation of business without "just or legal cause"

January 27, 1957 - An unexploded bomb is discovered on the front porch of the King's house.

May 17, 1957 - Dr. King delivers a speech for the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom celebrating the third anniversary of the Supreme Court's desegregation decision. The speech, titled "Give Us The Ballot" is given at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

1958-1960
September 3, 1958 - Dr. King is arrested on a charge of loitering (later changed to "failure to obey an officer") in the vicinity of the Montgomery Recorder's Court. He is released on $100.00 bond.

September 17 1958 - Dr. King's book, Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, is published
by Harper & Row.

September 20, 1958 - Dr. King is stabbed in the chest by Mrs. Izola Curry, who is subsequently alleged to be mentally deranged. The stabing occurs in Harlem, New York while Dr. King is autographing his recently published book. His condition was siad to be serious but not critical.

Feburary 17 1960 - A warrant is issued for Dr. King's arrest on charges that he had falsified his 1956 and 1958 Alabama state income tax returns.

October 19 1960 - Dr. King is arrested at an Atlanta sit-in and is jailed on a charge of violating the
state's trespassing law.

1961-1963
December 15, 1961 - Dr. King arrives in Albany, Georgia in response to a call from Dr. W.G. Anderson, the leader of the Albany Movement to desegregate public facilities, which began in January 1961.

December 16, 1961 - Dr. King is arrested at an Albany, Georgia demonstration . He is charged with obstructing the sidewalk and parading without a permit.

Feburary 27, 1962 - Dr. King is tired and convicted for leading the December march in Albany, Georgia.

June, 1963 - Dr. King's book, Strength To Love, is published by Harper & Row.

August 28, 1963 - The March on Washington, the first large integrated protest march, is held in Washington, D.C. Dr King delivers his " I Have A Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Afterwarsds, he and other Civil Rights leaders meet with President John F. Kennedy in the White House.

1964-1966
June, 1964 - Dr. King's book, Why We Can't Wait, is published by Harper & Row.

July 2, 1964 - Dr. King attends the signing of the Public Accomadations Bill, (Part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House.

December 10, 1964 - Dr. King receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.

August 6, 1965 - The 1965 Voting Rights Act is signed by President Johnson.

Spring, 1966 - Dr. King tours Alabama to help elect black candidates.

May 16, 1966 - An antiwar statement by Dr. King is read at a large Washington rally to protest the war in Vietnam. Dr. King agrees to serve as a co-chairman of Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam.

1967-1968
January, 1967 - Dr. King writes his book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? while in Jamaica.

April 4, 1967 - Dr. King makes a statement about the war in Vietnam, "Beyond Vietman" at the Riverside Church in New York City.

July 26, 1967 - Black leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young appeal for an end to the riots, "which have proved ineffective and damaging to the civil rights cause and the entire nation."

November 27, 1967 - Dr. King announces the formation by SCLC of a Poor People's Campaign, wiith the aim of representing the problems of poor blacks and whites.

April 3, 1968 - Dr. King's last speech titled "I've Been to the Mountain Top" is delivered at the Memphis Masonic Temple.

April 4, 1968 - Dr. King is assassinated as he stands talking on the balcony of his second-floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. He dies in St. Joseph's Hospital from a gunshot wound to the neck.

April 9, 1968 - Dr. King is buried in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. King's concepts of "somebodiness," which symbolized the celebration of human worth and the conquest of subjugation, gave black and poor people hope and a sense of dignity. His philosophy of nonviolent direct action, and his strategies for rational and non-destructive social change, galvanized the conscience of this nation and reordered its priorities. His wisdom, his commitment, his actions, his words, and his dream for a new way of life are intertwined with the American experience.