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10 interesting facts you may not know about Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. carved his way into history as a civil rights hero whose influence and legacy continue to inspire people around the world more than half a century after his death.
While the civil rights leader may be most remembered for his iconic and oft-quoted “I Have a Dream” address at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington, King did more than just dream during his lifetime.
King was a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and participated in the Selma March, an event that resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act. This legislation helped African Americans exercise their right to vote.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR: THE LIFE AND THE LEGACY
Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to bringing equality to America through his powerful speeches and peaceful protesting. (Getty Images )
As the U.S. celebrates the life of the civil rights hero on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, here are 10 surprising facts you may not know about him.
1. He wasn’t named Martin at birth
King was born on Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, as Michael King Jr.
King’s father Michael, a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, became inspired by the work of Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther during a trip overseas to such places as Rome, Egypt, Jerusalem and Berlin for the Baptist World Alliance.
When he returned in 1934, he decided to change his name and his son’s name from Michael King to Martin Luther King, according to the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford.
However, it wasn’t until 1957, when the younger King was 28 years old, that he officially changed the name on his birth certificate from Michael King Jr. to Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. legally changed his name when he was 28 years old. (Getty Images )
MY UNCLE, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., BELIEVED DEEPLY IN THE PROMISE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM. WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN
2. King started college at age 15
In 1944, King entered Morehouse College in Atlanta under a wartime program that admitted gifted high school students to boost enrollment, according to King’s biography from Encyclopedia Britannica.
King did not initially set out to become a minister, studying medicine and law until his senior year. He was mentored by college president Benjamin Mays, a Baptist minister and rights activist who influenced King’s later decision. King graduated from Morehouse in 1948.
3. He was a Grammy winner
King was posthumously awarded a Grammy in 1970. He won Best Spoken Word Album for “Why I Oppose The War In Vietnam,” recorded from a sermon he delivered in 1967.
He was previously nominated for two Grammys in the spoken-word category for recordings of “I Have a Dream” and “We Shall Overcome.”
4. He survived first assassination attempt in 1958
Almost a decade before his assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968, King survived an attempt on his life.
A 29-year-old King was at a book signing in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood on Sept. 20, 1958, when Izola Ware Curry approached and asked, “Is this Martin Luther King?”
There were over 250,000 people in attendance when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington in 1963. (CNP/Getty Images)
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When King replied, “Yes,” Curry, a 42-year-old mentally ill Black woman, plunged a seven-inch letter opener into his chest, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
King retold the story of this first attempt on his life on the eve of his assassination in 1968, saying that had he merely sneezed, he would have died from his wound.
5. King and George Washington
King joined President George Washington as the only two Americans to have their birthdays observed as a federal holiday in 1983, when President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that recognized the third Monday in January – close to King’s birthday – as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
6. King was arrested 29 times
King was arrested close to 30 times throughout his life. Instances where he was arrested include with Rosa Parks and over 100 others in 1956 for his part in organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott, during an Atlanta-based sit-in, and for traveling 30 mph in a 25 mph zone.
Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested almost 30 times throughout his lifetime. (Getty Images )
7. Over 250,000 people attended King’s “I Have a Dream” speech
There were over 250,000 people in attendance when King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C., according to the National Constitution Center.
Attendees from all over the world came to hear the speech, which was given during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963.
8. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964
King accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, in 1964. The prize was awarded to King a year after he gave his famous “Dream” speech.
He was given the award “for his non-violent struggle for civil rights for the Afro-American population,” as cited by the Nobel Peace Prize website.
King donated the money he received to the Civil Rights Movement.
Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. (Getty Images )
9. Mahatma Gandhi was a great influence on King
One of King’s greatest influences was Mahatma Gandhi, specifically his philosophy of nonviolence.
King first came across Gandhi’s peaceful ways while studying as a seminary student. He never got to meet the man he greatly admired, but he did visit India in 1959 for a month-long trip, where he connected with many of Gandhi’s relatives.
10. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, welcomed four children
King married Coretta Scott King on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parent’s residence.
The married couple went on to welcome four children into their family; Martin Luther King III, Dexter, Yolanda and Bernice.
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Southeast
Florida attorney general demands nursing board revoke license of nurse who wished injury on Karoline Leavitt
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Florida attorney general James Uthmeier is calling for the Florida Board of Nursing to revoke the license of a woman after she said she hoped White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suffers a severe injury in childbirth.
“Women shouldn’t have to worry about a politically driven nurse who wishes them pain and suffering being in the delivery room during childbirth,” Uthmeier told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“It’s evil,” he added. “The Florida Board of Nursing must take action to keep this person away from patients permanently.”
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is expecting her second child this year. (Andrew Harnik)
In a video posted on TikTok, Lexie Lawler, a former labor and delivery nurse at Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital, said, “As a labor and delivery nurse, it gives me great joy to wish Karoline Leavitt a fourth degree tear.”
She continued with explicit language, saying she hoped Leavitt would suffer a permanent injury during childbirth.
“I hope you f——- rip from bow to stern and never s— normally again, you c—,” she said.
In December, Leavitt announced that she and her husband Nick are expecting a baby girl due in May, who will join their first son, Niko, born in July 2024.
Lawler was subsequently fired from Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
The hospital told Fox News Digital that her comments “do not reflect our values or the standards we expect of healthcare professionals,” but Lawler has since defended her remarks in another video, and appeared to reference an unrelated shooting in Minnesota while responding to criticism over her comments.
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“Women shouldn’t have to worry about a politically-driven nurse who wishes them pain and suffering being in the delivery room during childbirth,” Uthmeier told Fox News Digital in a statement. (DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
“So they just murdered a man in Minnesota, they murdered a man in Minnesota, and you mother——- are coming after me because I used bad language? F— you. I’m on the right side of this. F— you.”
A “GoFundMe” has been set up for Lawler which has raised nearly $5,000 with a goal of $14,000.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Florida Board of Nursing and Lawler for comment.
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A GoFundMe has been set up for Lawler which has raised over $4,000 with a goal of $14,000. (Photo illustration by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)
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Southeast
Grandson charged with murdering retired grandparents found dead in their South Carolina home
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Authorities in upstate South Carolina have arrested the 19-year-old grandson of a retired couple found slain in their home earlier this month, charging him with two counts of murder in a case that has shaken a small rural community.
The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said Levi Kevin Jones was taken into custody late Friday and charged in connection with the deaths of Larry Moore, 76, and Sandra Moore, 75, who were discovered inside their residence on Cromer Moore Road near Westminster on Jan. 15.
Jones is also charged with two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to arrest warrants obtained by Fox News Digital. He remains in custody pending a bond hearing.
The couple was found after a family member requested a welfare check when repeated attempts to reach them were unsuccessful. Investigators and the county coroner later determined the deaths were homicides.
RETIRED SOUTH CAROLINA COUPLE FOUND DEAD IN HOMICIDE AT HOME
Larry and Sandra Moore are pictured during a church gathering at Calvary Church. The couple was later remembered by the congregation following their deaths. (Calvary Church Facebook)
According to the Oconee County Coroner’s Office, Larry Moore died from multiple stabbing injuries, while Sandra Moore died from manual strangulation. Autopsies were conducted the following day.
Arrest warrants allege Jones stabbed his grandfather multiple times in the torso and neck and strangled his grandmother, cutting off her airway and blood flow. Authorities said a knife was used during the attack.
Authorities have not provided a motive for the attack.
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The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said the couple’s grandson, Levi Kevin Jones, is charged with two counts of murder in the case, as well as two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. (Oconee County Sheriff’s Office)
The Moores were longtime residents of the area and well known in the community as the former owners of Moore & Moore Fish Camp, a local restaurant that operated for decades before the couple retired.
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They were also active members of Calvary Church, where friends described them as regular attendees.
“They were always there,” Stacy Brooks, who attended church, told Fox News Digital. “You expected to see them every time you went. They were faithful people.”
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The Oconee County Coroner’s Office, which assisted in the investigation into the deaths of Larry and Sandra Moore, is shown in an exterior view. (Oconee County Coroner’s Office)
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Brooks said the killings have been difficult for residents of the small upstate South Carolina town to process.
“This is a close community, and something like this just doesn’t happen often,” she said.
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The sheriff’s office previously said the killings appeared to be an isolated incident and that there was no ongoing threat to the public.
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Southeast
Florida deputies race to save 4-year-old who stopped breathing and had no pulse on interstate, video shows
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Deputies in Florida raced to save the life of a 4-year-old child on Interstate 275 after the boy suffered a medical emergency, authorities said Sunday.
Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies responded at around 5:20 p.m. Saturday to a “person down” call involving an unresponsive child on the highway.
When deputies arrived, the child was not breathing and had no pulse.
Bodycam footage shows deputies rushing to the vehicle on the side of the interstate and pulling the child out of the back seat.
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The child was not breathing and had no pulse when deputies arrived at the scene, the sheriff’s office said. (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)
As one deputy picked up the boy, a woman who had been performing CPR could be heard saying, “He’s breathing!”
The deputy carried the child to the side of the interstate, laid him on the ground and began CPR.
Deputies performed CPR immediately and continued until paramedics arrived. (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)
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“There’s something in the mouth. Pull it out!” one rescuer said.
It was unclear what was blocking the child’s breathing, but once it was cleared, first responders continued CPR until Tampa Fire Rescue crews arrived and took over treatment.
The boy was taken to a local hospital where he was recovering in stable condition. (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)
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Officials said the child was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital and is now listed as being in stable condition.
The sheriff’s office credited the deputies’ quick actions with saving the child’s life.
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