U.S. holiday January 15th honors Martin Luther King, Jr.

 Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1948 and became one of the most important leaders of the civil rights movement in the United States, advocating a nonviolent approach to the struggle for equal rights. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his work as a peacemaker. On April 4, 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1977, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter. In 1986, Martin Luther King Day was established as a federal holiday in the United States. In 2004, King was posthumously awarded one of the nation's highest honors—the Congressional Gold Medal. For lesson plans, Web links and texts about this American hero, visit the readwritethink.org website.