1951

Graduates with a B.D. from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pa.

1953

June 18. King marries Coretta Scott in Marion, Ala.. They will have four children: Yolanda Denise (b.1955), Martin Luther King III (b.1957), Dexter (b.1961), Bernice Albertine (b.1963).

1954

September. King moves to Montgomery, Ala. to preach at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

1955

After coursework at New England colleges, King finishes his Ph. D. in systematic theology.

He leads protests within the scope of the Montgomery bus boycott and achieves his goal of making sure the campaign remains free of violence.

1956

King is arrested for driving 30 m.p.h. in a 25 m.p.h. zone.

January 30. King's house bombed.

1957

January. Black ministers form what became known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King is named first president one month later.

In this typical year of demonstrations, King traveled 780,000 miles and made 208 speeches.

1958

King's first book published, Stride Toward Freedom  (Harper), his recollections of the Montgomery bus boycott. While King is promoting his book in a Harlem book store, an African American woman stabs him.

1959

King visits India. He had a lifelong admiration for Mahatma Gandhi, and credited Gandhi's passive resistance techniques for his civil-rights successes.

1960

King leaves for Atlanta to pastor his father's church, Ebenezer Baptist Church.

1962

King meets with President John F. Kennedy to urge support for civil rights.

1963

King leads protests in Birmingham for desegregated department store facilities, and fair hiring.

April. Arrested after demonstrating in defiance of a court order, King writes Letter From Birmingham Jail". This eloquent letter, later widely circulated, became a classic of the civil-rights movement.

28.08.1963

250,000 civil-rights supporters attended the March on Washington (photo). At the Lincoln Memorial, King delivers the famous "I have a dream" speech.

King is named Man of The Year by Time Magazine.

1964

King's book published: Why We Can't Wait.

King visits with West Berlin Mayor Willy Brant and Pope Paul VI.

10.12.1964

King becomes the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize (Nobel Peace Prize speech).

1965

January 18. King successfully registers to vote at the Hotel Albert in Selma, Ala. and is assaulted by James George Robinson of Birmingham.

February. King continues to protest discrimination in voter registration, is arrested and jailed. Meets with President Lyndon B. Johnson Feb. 9 and other American leaders about voting rights for African Americans.

March 16-21. King and 3,200 people march from Selma to Montgomery.

04.04.1968

King is assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. by James Earl Ray.

20.01.1986

January 20 is the first national celebration of King's birthday as a holiday.