Last week, when I was thinking of a topic to start off this project strong, I noticed that it was 57 years since the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr's iconic "I have a dream" speech. And you'd have to not have seen the news this year to appreciate it means just as much now as it did then.

Although it is impossible to summarise this incredible man's life and achievements in one short email, in true to the spirit of history tapas, let's start learning...

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Early Days & Education

King was born in Atlanta, Georgia on the 15th January 1929 to Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. King has a religious and strict upbringing as his father was a Baptist pastor in Atlanta.

Sadly, like many African American children, King was awakened to racial tensions young. At 6 years old the parents of his friend, a white boy, told him that they couldn't be friends because they were white and King was "coloured". This led King's parents to explain the history of slavery and racism in America.

Martin Luther King attended segregated public schools in Georgia before going on to achieve impressive academic achievements including a BA degree from Morehouse College in 1948, a BD in theological study from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1951 and a doctorate from Boston University in 1953.

It was in Boston that King met his wife Coretta Scott, an intelligent young woman, and the couple went on to have 2 sons and two daughters together. In 1954, King followed in the footsteps of his father and became the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

Civil Rights Activism

Having seen his father stand up to racial segregation and discrimination through acts of bravery in every day settings and organising a civil rights march against voting rights in 1936, King was also a strong proponent for civil rights. He was a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

To summarise just a few of his most iconic moments:

• Provided leadership for the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted 382 days from December 1955 which led to tangible change. On November 13 1956 the Supreme Court of the United States declared the laws requiring segregation on buses unconstitutional and African Americans and whites rode the buses as equals.
• In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a group committed to achieving full equality for African Americans through nonviolent protest.
• Led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama which was publicised on TV, swaying public opinion in support of the black protestors for civil rights. Here King was famously arrested and the events inspired his "Letter from Birmingham Jail".
• He planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of black voters.
• King directed the peaceful March on Washington of 250,000 people on 28 August 1963 where he delivered his legendary speech, "l Have a Dream". Which led to the Civil Rights Act 1964.
• At the age of 35 in 1964, King became the youngest man to received the Nobel Peace Prize and announced he would put all $54,123 of prize money towards furthering the civil rights movement.

Between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over 2500 times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action. At the same time, he wrote five books and numerous articles.

He conferred with presidents of the time, JFK and Lyndon B. Johnson on legal reform, was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963, and became not only the symbolic leader of African American but also a world figure.

For his acts of bravery and solidarity, King was arrested more than 20 times, assaulted at least 4 times and his home was bombed. Tragically, on the evening of April 4, 1968, King was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee.

Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the American Civil Rights movement for 13 before years until his assassination. He is held to be one of the most influential figures of all time and his efforts led to genuine progress in racial equality in the US. He is remembered on Martin Luther King Jr. day, an American public celebrated on the third Monday of January every year.

Little known fact: King allegedly jumped out of a second-story window to kill himself on two occasions as a child because he thought his childish actions had harmed or even caused the death his grandmother (they hadn't!).