Martin Luther King Jr. has carved its way into history as a civil rights hero whose influence and legacy continues to inspire throughout the world more than half a century after his death.
Although the civil rights leader can best be remembered for his iconic and often quoted ‘I Have a Dream’ speech at the Lincoln Memorial in March 1963 in Washington, King dreamed more than just during his lifetime.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR: LIFE AND HERITAGE
Through his violent approach to protest and social change, he became the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. A year later, King took part in the Selma march, which led to the adoption of the Voting Rights Act, legislation that helps Africa use Americans’ right to vote.
As the U.S. celebrates the life of the civil rights icon on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, here are five surprising facts you may not know about King.
He was not named Martin at birth
King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, as Michael King Jr.
But King’s father Michael, a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, was inspired by the work of Protestant Reform leader Martin Luther during an overseas trip to places like Rome, Egypt, Jerusalem, and Berlin for the Baptist World Alliance.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, spoke to thousands during his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the March for Washington for Work and Freedom, in Washington, DC, on August 28 1963. (AP Photo / File)
When he returned in 1934, he decided to change his name and the name of his son from Michael King to Martin Luther King, according to Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute in Stanford.
However, it was not until 1957, when the younger King was 28, that he officially changed the name on his birth certificate from Michael King Jr. in Martin Luther King Jr.
Started college at age 15
In 1944, King entered the Morehouse College in Atlanta under a war program that allowed gifted high school students to advance their enrollment, according to King’s biography of Encylopedia Britannica.
ALVEDA KING SS OF MLK’S ICONIC SPEECH, 57 YEARS LATER: ‘WE STILL HAVE A DREAM’
King initially decided to become a minister and studied medicine and law until his senior year. He was mentored by university president Benjamin Mays, a Baptist pastor and rights activist who influenced King’s later decision. King studied at Morehouse in 1948.
Grammy won
In 1970, King was awarded a Grammy. He won the best spoken word album for ‘Why I Oppose The War In Vietnam’, recorded from a sermon he delivered in 1967.
Dr. Martin Luther King jr. Recognize the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial for his speech “I Have a Dream” during the March March in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963. (AP Photo)
He was previously nominated for two Grammys in the spoken word category for recordings of ‘I Have a Dream’ and ‘We Shall Overcome’.
The first assassination attempt survives in 1958
Nearly a decade before his assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968, King survived an attempt in his life.
A 29-year-old King was at a signing on September 20, 1958, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, when Izola Ware Curry approached and asked, “Is this Martin Luther King?”
When King answered “yes”, Curry, a 42-year-old mentally ill black woman, plunged a seven-inch letter opener into his chest, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
King tells the story of this first attempt in his life on the eve of his assassination in 1968 and says that if he simply sneezed, he would die from his wound.
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King and George Washington
King joined President George Washington as the only two Americans to celebrate their birthdays in 1983 as a federal holiday, when President Ronald Reagan signed a bill calling Martin Luther King the third Monday in January – close to King’s birthday. Jr. Day recognized.