Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Did you know that:

• In 1964, at age 35, Martin Luther King, Jr., became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for having “contributed the most to the furtherance of peace among men.”
• Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested thirty times for his participation in civil rights activities before he was gunned down by James Earl Ray in Memphis Tennessee on April 4, 1968
• It took 15 years to create the Federal Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.
• Congress passed the holiday legislation in 1983, which was then signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.
• In 1994, Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act, designating the King Holiday as a national day of volunteer service.  Instead of a day off, you can make it a day on.
• On December 8, 1999, a jury of twelve citizens of Memphis, TN concluded in a court case that Loyd Jowers and governmental agencies including the City of Memphis, the State of Tennessee, and the federal government were party to the conspiracy to assassinate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

tweet