1929- Martin Luther King Jr, was born to the Reverend and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Sr. in Atlanta, Georgia

1948- Martin Luther King Jr. Graduates from Morehouse college, without ever graduating from high school.

1953- King is married to Coretta Scott in Marion, Alabama.

1954- After choosing to become a minister he becomes the twentieth pastor of the Dexter Avenue Church, Montgomery.

1955- King receives his PHD from Boston University. Mrs. Rosa Parks is arrested for failing to give up a bus seat to a white man. African American's boycott the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama. King is unanimously elected president of an organization named the Montgomery Improvement Association. Bus service in the Black neighborhoods is suspended.

1956- A bomb is thrown onto the porch of the King home in Montgomery. King is indicted on charges of hindering the operation of buses without legal cause. District court rules that bus segregation is unconstitutional. Montgomery buses return to the African American neighborhoods with unsegregated service.

1957- Another bomb is placed on the porch of the King's home but fails to explode. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is founded King is elected its president. National guards are ordered by the vice president to escort 9 black students to a white high school. The Civil Rights Commission is created by the federal government.

1958- King's book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story is published by Harper & Row. King is stabbed in the chest while doing a book signing in the heart of Harlem. The stabber, Mrs. Izola Curry, is supposedly mentally ill.

1959- King and family travel to India to study Ghandi's techniques of non-violence as guests of the Prime Minister.

1960- After the King family move to Atlanta Martin is made co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. The first lunch-counter sit-in to desegregate eating facilities is held. King is acquitted of the tax evasion charge by an all white jury in Montgomery. King is arrested in Atlanta after conducting a sit-in on charges of violating trepassing laws. King is held on a 2,000 dollar bond which is immediately paid and he is released.

1961- A group called the freedom riders intent on desegregating the interstate bus system heads out from Washington D.C. on a bus. In Anniston, Alabama the bus is raided by a mob and the freedom riders are beaten viciously. In Albany Georgia, King conducts a demonstration to desegregate public facilities. He is arrested while doing this on charges of parading without a permit.

1962- King is convicted for leading the march in Albany. After leaving jail, King joins the Birmingham protests. In Albany again, King is arrested for obstructing the sidewalk and for disorderly conduct. The first African American attempt at attending the University of Mississippi is made and is a success thanks to the Supreme Court.

1963- During another demonstration King is arrested for a sit-in to protest segregation of eating facilities. While imprisoned King writes his letter "From a Birmingham Jail". Use of police dogs and fire hoses upon marching protesters is ordered in Birmingham. The Supreme Court rules Birmingham's segregation laws are unconstitutional. King's book "Strength to Love" is published by Harper & Row. The march on Washington is the first large scale desegregation march ever held. King delivers his "I Have A Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

1964- King joins workers in demonstrations for the integration of public accommodations in St. Augustine, Florida, because of this he is arrested. Soon King's book "Why We Can`t Wait" is published by Harper & Row. King attends the signing of the Public Accommodations Bill. Riots occur in Harlem and a black man his killed; more riots take place in New Jersey, Illinois and Pennsylvania. King receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.

1965- President Johnson addresses the nation and Congress. He describes the voting rights bill he will submit to Congress in two days. Police on horseback beat demonstrators in Montgomery. Over 3,000 protest marchers leave Selma for a march to Montgomery. They are joined along the way by a total of 25,000 marchers. Upon reaching the Capitol they hear a speech by King. King visits Chicago and aids in the effort to improve the Chicago Projects. The 1965 Voting Rights Act is signed by President Johnson.

1966- King rents an apartment in a black ghetto of Chicago. King takes over a Chicago slum building and is sued by its owner. The Supreme Court rules any poll tax unconstitutional. King launches a drive to make Chicago an open city in regards to housing. King is stoned in Chicago as he leads a march through crowds of angry whites.

1967- King writes his final book "Where Do We Go from Here"?, while visiting Jamaica. Alabama is ordered to desegregate all public schools by the federal government. Twenty-three people die, 725 are injured in riots in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. King announces the formation of a Poor People's Campaign, with the aim of representing the problems of poor blacks and whites.

1968- King leads a parade of 6,000 protesters in support of striking African American sanitation workers. King's last speech, entitled "I've Been to the Mountain Top," is delivered at the Memphis Masonic Temple. King is assasinated by a sniper at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. He dies minutes later, in St. Joseph's Hospital from a gunshot wound in the neck. James Earl Ray, the sniper, is later arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 99 years in prison.