Martin Luther King Jr. carved his way into history as a civil rights hero whose influence and legacy continue to inspire people around the world more than half a century after his death.
While the civil rights leader may be most remembered for his iconic and oft-quoted “I Have a Dream” address at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington, King did more than just dream during his lifetime.
King was a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and participated in the Selma March, an event that resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act. This legislation helped African Americans exercise their right to vote.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR: THE LIFE AND THE LEGACY
As the U.S. celebrates the life of the civil rights hero on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, here are 10 surprising facts you may not know about him.
1. He wasn’t named Martin at birth
King was born on Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, as Michael King Jr.
King’s father Michael, a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, became inspired by the work of Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther during a trip overseas to such places as Rome, Egypt, Jerusalem and Berlin for the Baptist World Alliance.
When he returned in 1934, he decided to change his name and his son’s name from Michael King to Martin Luther King, according to the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford.
However, it wasn’t until 1957, when the younger King was 28 years old, that he officially changed the name on his birth certificate from Michael King Jr. to Martin Luther King Jr.
MY UNCLE, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., BELIEVED DEEPLY IN THE PROMISE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM. WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN
2. King started college at age 15
In 1944, King entered Morehouse College in Atlanta under a wartime program that admitted gifted high school students to boost enrollment, according to King’s biography from Encyclopedia Britannica.
King did not initially set out to become a minister, studying medicine and law until his senior…
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