Today In History logo TIH
Featured Event 1929 Birth

January 15

MLK Born: America's Voice for Justice and Equality

Martin Luther King Jr. was 26 years old when Rosa Parks was arrested and he was chosen to lead the Montgomery bus boycott. He'd been pastor of his church for exactly one year. The boycott lasted 381 days. It worked. Over the next 13 years, he was arrested 30 times, had his home bombed, was stabbed in the chest by a woman who thought he was a communist, and was surveilled constantly by the FBI, which tried to blackmail him into suicide. He was 35 when he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was 39 when James Earl Ray shot him on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

January 15, 1929

97 years ago

What Else Happened on January 15

Talk to History

Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.

Talk to Martin Luther King