Martin Luther King (1929–1968)
Martin Luther King was an African-American Baptist minister and the pacifist leader of the fight for Black civil rights in the United States. He paid with his life for his dream of political and economic equality and remains a legend of 1950s and 60s America. His famous speech “I Have a Dream” (1963), delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, touched most of the US population. At 35, he became the youngest ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and his popularity continued to increase.
In 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which marked the end of segregation in public places. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act strengthened federal control of the electoral process and protected the civil rights of Black people. It marked the official end of the apartheid that had persisted in the Southern states.
Martin Luther King was assassinated on 4 April 1968.
