Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) (center) with his wife Coretta Scott King and colleagues during march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery. (William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images)
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US civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. waves to supporters on August 28, 1963 from the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall, in Washington DC during the ‘March on Washington’. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, which is credited with mobilizing supporters of desegregation and prompted the 1964 Civil Rights Act. On August 28, 2003 it will mark the 40th anniversary of the speech. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray, who confessed to the shooting and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. (Getty)
Martin Luther King Jr. addresses crowds during the March On Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, where he gave his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. (Getty)
Martin Luther King Jr. appears on the CBS television news program “Face the Nation” in this undated photograph. (Landov)
August 28, 1963, over 250,000 Americans assembled around the Washington Monument in Washington, DC., in a social protest that was the largest ever held in the capital. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, one of the most important speeches in American history. (Landov)
On August 28, 1963, over 250,000 Americans assembled around the Washington Monument in Washington, DC., in a social protest that was the largest ever held in the capital. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, one of the most important speeches in American history. The March on Washington was to stimulate the nation to support the Civil Rights bill and eliminate racial discrimination. (Landov)
Martin Luther King Jr., American clergyman and leader of the civil rights movement, giving a press conference at the Savoy Hotel in London. (Roger Jackson/Central Press/Getty Images)
American Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) speaks at a press conference for Clergy & Laymen Concerned About Vietnam, held at the Belmont Plaza Hotel, New York City, January 12, 1968. He announced the Poor People’s March On Washington at this event. (John Goodwin/Getty Images)
American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 – 1968), watched by Dr. Charles Bousenquet, signs the Degree Roll At Newcastle University after receiving an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree, Newcastle, England, November 14, 1967. (Getty Images)
American civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr. at the ‘Peace On Earth’ convocation in Geneva. (Central Press/Getty Images)
American Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) speaks to reporters during a march en route to Jackson, Mississippi, June 11, 1966. (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)
Dr Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) addresses civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
American civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) and his wife Coretta Scott King lead a black voting rights march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery. (Photo by William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images)
Dr Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) at the Alabama civil rights march which he led. (Photo by William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images)
African-American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 – 1968, centre) listening to a transistor radio in the front line of the third march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to campaign for proper registration of black voters, 23rd March 1965. Among the other marchers are: Ralph Abernathy (1926 – 1990, second from left), Ralph Bunche (1903 – 1971, third from right) and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907 – 1972, far right). The first march ended in violence when marchers were attacked by police. The second was aborted after a legal injunction was issued. (Photo by William Lovelace/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Civil rights campaigner Dr Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) with his wife Coretta Scott King, at a black voting rights march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery. (Photo by William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images)
Dr Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) (right) at a civil rights march in Alabama. Sitting next to him is his fellow civil rights campaigner and clergyman Ralph Abernathy (1926 – 1990). (Photo by William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images)
Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) and his wife Coretta Scott King lead a civil rights march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery. On the left (holding bottle) is American diplomat Ralph Bunche (1904 – 1971). (Photo by William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images)
American pastor, activist, humanitarian, and civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 – 1968) and Canon John Collins (1905 – 1982) attend a press conference, 6th December 1964. (Photo by Terry Disney/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
American civil rights leaders Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) (left) and Ralph Abernathy (1926 – 1990) at the Embankment in London. (Photo by Reg Lancaster/Express/Getty Images)
American clergyman and civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968). (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
Black American civil rights leader and Baptist minister Dr Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) raising his hands in a restaurant. (Photo by William H. Alden/Evening Standard/Getty Images)
President John F. Kennedy meets with civil rights leaders at the White House August 28, 1963. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)
American civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) arriving at London Airport. He is in England to be the chief speaker at a public meeting about colour prejudice and to appear on the BBC television programme ‘Face To Face’. (Photo by J. Wilds/Keystone/Getty Images)
American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 – 1968) sits on a couch and speaks on the telephone after encountering a white mob protesting against the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, May 26, 1961. (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)
American civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King Jr (1929 – 1968) at a press reception at the Ritz Hotel, London, England. (Photo by William H. Alden/Evening Standard/Getty Images)