In honor of his birthday, we wanted to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by pointing out a few things that you may or may not know about the acclaimed Civil Rights leader. Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. May you rest in prosperity.(FOR MORE FACTS ABOUT MLK CLICK NEXT)
1. January 15, 2014, is the anniversary of founders day for the lovely ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. What does that have to do with Dr. King? Well, Martin’s lovely wife, Coretta Scott King was a member of the sorority as Martin himself was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. I will say #SkeePhi to all of those that understand what that means.
2. King’s name was originally Michael, not Martin. His father was also Michael King, hence why Martin Luther King Jr. was originally named Michael King Jr. However, after a trip to Germany in 1931, Michael King Sr. changed his own name in homage to historic German theologian Martin Luther. Michael King Jr. was two years old at the time and King Sr. made the decision to change his son’s name to Martin Luther as well
3. Martin skipped two grades in high school, 9th and 11th, and entered Moorehouse College at the tender age of 15 in 1944. By 19, he received a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
4. In 1963, he became was the first African-American to be named Time magazine’s Man of the Year.
5. King is the only non-president to have a national holiday in his name, and is the only non-president with a memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
6. King actually won a Grammy! He won it in 1971 for Best Spoken Word Album for “Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam”.
7.Before his death, King had survived anotherassassination attempt. A mentally ill black woman named Izola Ware Curr stabbed King on Sept. 20, 1958, at a book signing in Harlem.
8.There are at least 730 cities that have streets named after King and Chris Rock once jokingly said, you know you are in the hood if you are on any street named after Dr. King.
9.The King family and others believe that theassassination was carried out by a conspiracy involving the US government, as alleged by Loyd Jowers in 1993, and that James Earl Ray was a scapegoat. In a 1999 civil trial that did not name the US government as a defendant and sought $100 from Jowers [vague], with both the family and Jowers cooperating together and the only presenting parties, the jury ruled that Loyd Jowers and others, including unspecified governmental agencies, were all part of the conspiracy to kill Martin Luther King Jr.
10. Dr. King was a smoker and he was always trying to quit according to several sources including his driver. He also liked pork chop sandwiches from BB Beamon’s or Henry’s Grill on Auburn in his hometown of Atlanta, GA.
