Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States to father, Martin Luther King Sr., and mother, Alberta Wiliams King. He became a civil rights activist in his early career. After he became the civil rights activists, he led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, while serving as its first president.
Later Martin received a Nobel Peace Prize for combing a racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. During last year of his life, he expanded his focus to include opposition towards the Vietnam War, poverty alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech called Beyond Vietnam.
Martin also spoke about the national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign. James Earl Ray killed Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, the United States. His last breath was followed by riots in many U.S. cities. Two months later Ray was arrested at London Heathrow Airport and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Ray died in 1998 from hepatitis while serving his sentence.
After the death, Martin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. His last day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states which was beginning in 1971. More than hundreds of streets of the U.S. have been renamed in his honor.
Martin was an American by nationality and belongs to black ethnicity. He married his long-term girlfriend, Coretta Scott, after dating her for a long time. The couple was blessed with four children including Yolanda Denise King, Dexter Scott King, Martin Luther King III, and Bernice Albertine King. The husband and wife continued their relationship for a long time without having any controversies of divorce.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a great civil rights activist, who had earned a huge amount of money from his professional career. It has been reported that he has generated income from the licensing of his image and by charging fees for his speeches. His net worth at that time was around $2 million.
