It was first proposed four days after King's 1968 assassination outside a Memphis motel. It took 15 years until it became a federal holiday.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was one of the most prominent leaders of America's Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s. His words and actions have left a lasting mark on America and the world as a whole,

Martin Luther King III asked President-elect Donald Trump to unify the United States, specifically calling on the incoming president to talk to “everybody” on both sides of the political aisle. Trump’s inauguration on Monday will also fall on Martin Luther King Jr.