

Day was established as a national holiday in the United States in 1986. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. Here he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. His efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956) and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957), serving as its first president. He became a civil rights activist early in his career. King was a Baptist minister, one of the few leadership roles available to black men at the time.

was one of the pivotal leaders of the American civil rights movement.
