18 Interesting Facts About Martin Luther King Jr.

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King’s first name was Michael

One of the facts about Martin Luther King Jr. that most people are unaware of: His birth certificate reads Michael King, an ode to his father, a former pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. But when Rev. Michael King took a church trip to Germany, he became inspired by Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation. Once he’d returned home, King changed his and his son’s names to Martin Luther. Still, some of Martin Luther King Jr.’s closest relatives continued to call him Mike throughout his life.

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King was 15 years old when he started college

Here’s an incredible Martin Luther King Jr. fact you might not know: King was a total prodigy! He skipped not one but two grades in high school—9th and 12th—and started college at just 15 years old. In 1944, he enrolled at Morehouse College, a prestigious HBCU for men in Atlanta, GA. He was following the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who were also proud Morehouse men.

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King founded the Poor People’s Campaign

In 1967, King unveiled one of his most heartfelt efforts: the Poor People’s Campaign. He announced the initiative during a Southern Christian Leadership Conference staff retreat, envisioning a united movement of poor people across all races and backgrounds. Tragically, it would become the final campaign King would lead.

Despite his untimely death, the campaign achieved significant victories, including helping 200 counties qualify for free surplus food distribution and securing commitments from federal agencies to hire poor individuals to manage programs designed to help the poor. 

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King was a Star Trek fan

One of the most fun facts about Martin Luther King. Jr. is that he was, in fact, a Trekkie! It’s true! He once told Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura on the original series, not to quit the show. Why? Because, as he told her, her role was one of the very few examples of true equality on American television at the time. King even shared that Star Trek was the only show he and his wife let their kids stay up late to watch. 

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King was a doctor—just not the type you might think

You’ve likely read about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in your history books, but you might have misunderstood the “doctor” part of his name. The activist wasn’t a medical doctor—he was a scholar. He earned a bachelor of arts in sociology from Morehouse College and a bachelor of divinity from Crozer Theological Seminary. And in 1955, he graduated with a doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University, where he met his wife Coretta.

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In King’s downtime, he was known to love a good joke

“He was the comedian of the Civil Rights Movement,” the Rev. Lewis Baldwin, a Martin Luther King Jr. historian, told CNN. King even tried a brief stint of stand-up comedy after graduating from college. His career as a funnyman was ultimately short-lived, but he was known to crack jokes with pals behind the scenes.

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Combating racism wasn’t King’s only focus

Wherever and whenever Martin Luther King Jr. saw an injustice, he used his celebrity status to shine a light on the matter. He famously sought to end racism, but his hopes for equality didn’t stop there. He highlighted how economic disparities hindered low-income Americans, preventing them from equal opportunities. The Vietnam War was another thorn in King’s side, and he delivered one of his most controversial speeches about the matter. “We were taking the Black young men,” said King, “who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem.”

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King and Malcolm X weren’t enemies

Although they had opposing views in the quest for civil rights—King sought peaceful protests, while Malcolm X had a more radical approach—the two civil rights leaders had some things in common, like their shared pride in being Black and their shared disdain for the Vietnam War. They both published books too.

“Martin had the greatest respect for Malcolm, and he agreed with him in terms of the feeling of racial pride and the fact that Black people should believe in themselves and see themselves as lovable and beautiful,” said Coretta Scott King during a 1988 interview. “I think if the two had lived, I am sure that at some point they would have come closer together and would have been a very strong force in the total struggle for liberation and self-determination of Black people in our society.”

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King survived being stabbed in the chest during an assassination attempt

In 1958, a decade before his assassination, Dr. King survived an attempt on his life while he signed copies of his book, Stride Toward Freedom, in Harlem, New York. Posing as an autograph-seeker, a woman named Izola Ware Curry plunged a seven-inch steel letter opener into King’s chest. King was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery to remove the weapon, which narrowly missed his aorta. Ever the peacekeeper, he would later make a statement reinforcing his nonviolent principles while confiding that he harbored no ill will toward his attacker.

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“I Have a Dream” was not King’s first speech

Six years before King gave his timeless “I Have a Dream” speech, he stood before an estimated 25,000 people who had gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. There, he gave an address on voting rights. The speech would position him as a leading Black figure in the Civil Rights Movement, setting the stage for the historic “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. Incidentally, that took place in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial.

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King wasn’t a natural-born public speaker

Martin Luther King Jr.’s quotes and speeches sparked movements and transcended generations—you’re probably familiar with some of his powerful quotes about racism—and his audiences listened with rapt attention and erupted in thunderous roars. But surprisingly, public speaking wasn’t always King’s forte. One of the most interesting facts about Martin Luther King Jr. was that, while he attended seminary school, records show he received a C in public speaking.

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King wasn’t “colorblind”

Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter Bernice, says people often misconstrue the message of her late father’s “I Have a Dream” speech in conversations about race. One line, in particular, is often misinterpreted: “I have a dream that my four 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.”

“People are always saying Dr. King was for a colorblind America,” says Bernice King, “and nothing could be further from the truth. He was basically explaining that, no, there’s a beauty in who I am as a Black person, but I should not be judged by those standards. It’s not that you don’t see my race. You see my race, you acknowledge my race, and you accept everything I bring along with that.”

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King was the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize

Here’s a fun Martin Luther King Jr. fact: King was just 35 years old when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his nonviolent resistance to racial oppression. He received it after a banner year in which he led the March on Washington, delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech; helped ratify the 24th Amendment, which abolished the poll tax; and helped create the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed racial discrimination in employment and education. King reportedly donated the prize money, worth $53,123, to the Civil Rights Movement.

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King was jailed 29 times

The late congressman and activist Rep. John Lewis called it “good trouble”—the kind necessary to create real change. And King knew it well. Throughout his short life, he was thrown behind bars 29 times for petty offenses like loitering and acts of civil disobedience. “I tell friends and family, colleagues and especially young people that when you see something that’s not right or fair, you have to do something, you have to speak up, you have to get in the way,” Lewis once said. “Dr. King and others inspired me to get in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. And I think we’re going to have generations for years to come that will be prepared to get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble and lead us to higher heights. It’s a struggle that doesn’t last one day, one week, one month, one year. It is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe many lifetimes.”

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Muhammad Ali was a secret BFF

Famed boxer Muhammad Ali was a disciple of the Nation of Islam, the principles of which centered on Black power and Black separatist beliefs. That ran counter to King’s message of racial equality and unity. Still, the two men struck up a friendship, and Ali even called King his “brother.” (Fun fact: Ali was also born with a different name.) Before one of Ali’s 1961 boxing matches, King sent him a telegram as a quiet show of support. Ali returned the favor when King was imprisoned for organizing a 1967 protest; his message read “Hope that you are comfortable, not suffering.” The clandestine friendship was unearthed by wiretaps and more surveillance conducted on the two men by the FBI.

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King was one of the most hated men in America

A civil rights teddy bear, King was not. “Please don’t act like everyone loved my father,” tweeted Bernice King. “He was assassinated. A 1967 poll reflected that he was one of the most hated men in America. Most hated. Many who quote him now and evoke him to deter justice today would likely hate, and may already hate, the authentic King.” Indeed, before King’s untimely death at the age of 39, a Harris poll showed a 75% disapproval rating due to both his unpopular anti–Vietnam War stance and his push for economic and racial justice.

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King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, founded Martin Luther King Jr. Day

After Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968, Coretta made it her mission to ensure her husband’s life and legacy would be properly memorialized year after year. She founded the King Center, which honored the first anniversary of his death with the first-ever Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January 1969. Although Saint Louis would establish a citywide observance of MLK Day in 1970, it would take years for the holiday to be recognized on a nationwide scale. That happened in 1986, when President Ronald Reagan signed a bill making Martin Luther King Jr. Day a federal holiday—largely due to Coretta’s persistence, a fact his daughter Bernice doesn’t want the world to ever forget. “Without #CorettaScottKing,” she tweeted, “there would be no #MLKDay.”

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day doesn’t actually fall on his birthday

This may be one of the more surprising facts about Martin Luther King Jr. Plenty of people conflate the holiday and his birthday, but while Martin Luther King Jr. Day sometimes lands on Jan. 15 (the day King was born), it doesn’t always. Because of a federal law called the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, the holiday falls on the third Monday of January, no matter the date. The act ensures federal employees can celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day and enjoy a long weekend with their families.

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Sources:

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Why Martin Luther King Jr.’s father changed their names”
• Time: “Why Martin Luther King Jr. Loved Star Trek”
• The King Institute: “Poor People’s Campaign”
• Today: “Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter explains how people misuse her father’s words”
• Historic America: “The Decades Long Battle for Martin Luther King Jr. Day”
• History.com: “10 Things You May Not Know About Martin Luther King Jr.”
• History.com: “Quotes from 7 of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Most Notable Speeches”
• TIME: “Why Getting into Trouble Is Necessary to Make Change”