On the third Monday of January each year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday celebrating the social justice and civil rights leader’s remarkable achievements and impact. Often referred to as MLK, he was born on January 15th, 1929, making 2024 unique since the holiday takes place on his birthday this year—something that won’t happen again until 2029.

MLK was well-known for using nonviolent resistance when standing up against the rampant racism, inequality, and injustices affecting African Americans at the time. In addition to helping found a civil rights organization called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, he played an instrumental role in protests and marches that rallied for desegregation, economic justice, eliminating various forms of discrimination, and more. 

He was involved in such notable events as the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955–1956, the Detroit Walk to Freedom in 1963, and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28th, 1963, where he delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech in front of a crowd of an estimated 250,000 people. In March 1965, MLK also led a grueling 54-mile, five-day march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital building in Montgomery to support African-American voting rights.