Martin Luther King: Lesser-known facts about the civil rights icon - The Washington Post

Martin Luther King Jr. was named Michael erstwhile helium was calved successful Atlanta connected Jan. 15, 1929. His father, Martin Luther King Sr., a pastor astatine the Ebenezer Baptist Church successful Atlanta was besides named Michael. However, successful 1934, helium took an eye-opening travel to Germany — wherever successful 1517, a monk named Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the doorway of the Wittenberg castle church, igniting the Protestant Reformation. King Sr., who was an aboriginal fig successful the American civilian rights movement, traveled backmost to the United States and swiftly changed his and his son’s names, erstwhile young Martin was astatine astir 5.

When helium was 28, King Jr. officially revised his commencement certificate. In 1957, helium crossed retired the sanction Michael and replaced it with “Martin Luther, Jr.” successful achromatic ink.

A prodigy, King skipped astatine slightest 2 grades, graduating from Booker T. Washington High School successful Atlanta earlier helium was admitted to adjacent Morehouse College, a historically Black men’s schoolhouse besides attended by his begetter and grandfather.

“My days successful assemblage were precise breathtaking ones. There was a escaped ambiance astatine Morehouse, and it was determination I had my archetypal frank treatment connected race,” helium aboriginal wrote successful his autobiography.

When King was 19, successful 1948, helium finished assemblage and enrolled astatine the Crozer Theological Seminary, wherever helium was ordained arsenic a Baptist minister. He went connected to survey systematic theology and earn a PhD from Boston University. King was aboriginal awarded galore honorary degrees from world institutions crossed the world.

“Education indispensable alteration 1 to sift and measurement evidence, to discern the existent from the false, the existent from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction,” helium wrote successful a pupil paper successful 1947.

Later known arsenic a large orator, King erstwhile struggled with giving speeches and received a C successful nationalist speaking erstwhile helium was grooming to go a minister.

In his youth, King had a mischievous streak. He tried to scare passersby connected the thoroughfare by putting his mother’s fox furs connected a instrumentality and rustling the bushes. He besides tried to thrust distant his soft teacher by getting the stool to illness and would sometimes destruct his older sister’s doll heads to usage arsenic baseballs.

One of history’s astir consequential speeches was delivered successful little than 18 minutes during the March connected Washington connected Aug. 28, 1963.

But erstwhile King was drafting the code — which drew connected the Bible, the Declaration of Independence and the words of William Shakespeare — helium did not include the celebrated refrain: “I person a imagination that 1 time this federation volition emergence up and unrecorded retired the existent meaning of its creed: ‘We clasp these truths to beryllium self-evident, that each men are created equal.’”

According to reports, the American gospel vocalist Mahalia Jackson called retired during the speech: “Tell them astir the dream, Martin,” prompting King to deploy the present historical phrase, which helium had utilized successful erstwhile nationalist addresses.

When the Hollywood histrion was calved 55 years agone successful Smyrna, Ga., King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, paid the infirmary bills for her parents, Walter and Betty. The communicative came to airy lone past year, erstwhile Roberts confirmed the information successful an interrogation with tv property Gayle King (no relation).

“The time you were born, who paid for the infirmary bill?” King asked Roberts during HistoryTalks, a September lawsuit successful D.C. hosted by the History Channel and A&E Networks. “The King household paid for my infirmary bill,” Roberts replied. “My parents couldn’t wage for the infirmary bill.”

Roberts explained that her parents owned a theatre schoolhouse successful Atlanta called the Actors and Writers Workshop, which they welcomed the King children to be astatine a clip erstwhile radical tensions remained high.

“One day, Coretta Scott King called my parent and asked if her kids could beryllium portion of the school, due to the fact that they were having a hard clip uncovering a spot that would judge her kids,” Roberts said. “My ma was like, ‘Sure, travel connected over.’ And truthful they conscionable each became friends, and they helped america retired of a jam.”

Her revelation sparked astonishment connected the net and drew praise, including from King’s youngest child, Bernice King.

In 1958, King was autographing books astatine the Blumstein’s Department Store successful Harlem erstwhile a well-dressed pistillate wearing glasses stepped retired of the enactment and shouted: “Is this Martin Luther King?”

King, past 29, looked up from signing copies of his memoir astir the Montgomery, Ala., autobus boycott and answered: “Yes, it is.”

King was rushed to a infirmary for surgery. Doctors aboriginal told him that if helium had sneezed, the blade, which was lodged adjacent his aorta, could person killed him. The attacker was Izola Ware Curry, the Black girl of sharecroppers, and King aboriginal referred to her arsenic a “demented woman.”

He was changeable dormant 10 years aboriginal connected the balcony of the Lorraine Motel successful Memphis successful 1968.

Just six years later, his mother, Alberta Williams King, was besides assassinated. She was killed successful 1974 portion playing the organ astatine a work astatine Ebenezer Baptist Church successful Atlanta, changeable by Marcus Wayne Chenault, a young antheral from Ohio who claimed helium had been aiming for Martin Luther King Sr., who was besides astatine the church.

King often spoke of the affirmative power his parent had connected his development, calling her “the champion parent successful the world.”

King was nominated for a Grammy connected 2 erstwhile occasions, successful 1969, for his “I Have a Dream” speech, and successful 1964, for his “We Shall Overcome” address.