The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of leaders of the civil rights movement in the 1950s, and 1960s. His birthday is the only American holiday honoring a black man. Under his leadership, the civil rights movement successfully won full civil rights for minorities in the United States. He is best known for his ability to effect political change using non-violent protest, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Before the 1960s, racial segregation was common practice in much of the southern US. Black Americans could not eat in restaurants that served white Americans, stay in the same hotels as white Americans, or attend the same public schools. They were even forced to use separate restrooms from whites. Blacks could only ride in the rear of public buses. Often the separate facilities blacks were forced to use were inferior to those used by their white counterparts. Many higher paying jobs were closed to blacks. In some places, blacks could not vote in public elections.

In 1956, Martin Luther King, Jr. successfully attacked the practice of segregation on buses, when he organized a boycott in Montgomery Alabama. His actions eventually lead to a Supreme Court decision banning the practice of segregation on buses. After that, he continued to organize peaceful protests, demonstrations, and freedom marches in support of minority civil rights. Due to his efforts, in 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed. It made the practice of segregation illegal. It guaranteed everyone, regardless of race, the right to vote, the right to a fair and impartial trial by jury, and equal access to public schools.

On April 4, 1968 Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated while leading a strike in Memphis Tennessee.

The first observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday as a holiday was held in 1969 in Atlanta Georgia. Eventually, 27 states observed his birthday, January 15, as a holiday. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan declared the third Monday in January as a federal holiday in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. In Virginia, the holiday is combined with state holidays honoring former President Andrew Jackson, and Confederate General - Robert E. Lee. The holiday is known as Jackson-Lee-King Day in Virginia.

Note: This holiday is one of Calendar Mine's over 500 built-in observances.

See Also

Holiday Catalogue

American (USA) Observances