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In honor of MLK day, and the birthday of the iconic civil rights activist (born January 15th, 1929), here are a few facts about the man that you likely didn’t know about before now.
And Happy MLK day everybody!!
**Note: Photos unrelated to the facts**
After delivering his “I Have a Dream Speech”, Martin Luther King Jr. casually gave the original text to volunteer George Raveling. The document is now estimated to be worth as much as $25 million.
Samuel L. Jackson was an usher at Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral.
The FBI sent Martin Luther King Jr. a letter urging him to commit suicide.
Martin Luther King Jr was nearly assassinated at his first book signing in 1958. He survived a knife wound that penetrated his aorta.
Martin Luther King Jr. received a C in public speaking. Here is his report card.
Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize, and the Atlanta community threw him a dinner party that was almost cancelled due to opposition. Coca-Cola’s CEO threatened to move the company out of Atlanta since he thought it was embarrassing that the city’s people wouldn’t honor their Nobel Prize winner.
Frank Sinatra was a fervent anti-racist. He helped desegregate Nevada hotels and casinos and even played a concert at Carnegie Hall For Martin Luther King Jr.
Arizona briefly refused to observe Martin Luther King Jr. day in the early 1990s, and subsequently lost out on hosting the 1993 Super Bowl.
Martin Luther King Jr’s mother was also assassinated, by a gunman while she was playing the organ in church.
The Girl Scouts were one of the first national organizations to actively desegregate. Martin Luther King Jr. called them “a force for desegregation”.
A civil jury found found that Martin Luther King, Jr. had been the victim of assassination by a conspiracy involving the Memphis police as well as federal agencies. The King family sought a mere $100 in restitution to show that they were not pursuing the case for financial gain.
Charlton Heston accompanied Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the March on Washington in 1963.
Although Martin Luther King Jr. was only 39 at the time of his death, autopsy results revealed the he had the heart of a 60-year-old. Doctors believed this was a result of stress.
Nichelle Nichols was talked out of quitting her role as Uhura on ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’ by Martin Luther King Jr., because showing a black woman working alongside white men would help to achieve racial equality.
Don Black, former Grand Wizard of the KKK and founder of Storm Front, was shot in the chest by Jerry Ray, brother of the assassin that killed Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The charges? Going 30 mph in a 25 mph zone.
In his last speech, Martin Luther King Jr. referenced the possibility of an untimely death.
In 1963, Billy Graham posted bail for Martin Luther King, Jr. to be released from jail during the civil rights protests in Birmingham.
Anne Frank and Martin Luther King Jr. were born in the same year, 1929. If both were still alive today, they’d be 84 years old. Also born in 1929: Barbara Walters.