Martin Luther King Jr. Day - "I have a dream"

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a Federal Holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King's birthday, January 15.

Martin Luther King Jr. was the chief spokesman of his time for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement; the driving force for racial equality. This movement successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law.

King's "I have a dream" speech given at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963 has been credited for the prompting of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The following year King received the Nobel Peace Prize.

The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his  assassination in 1968. The holiday was signed into law in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan; it was first observed in 1986. It became officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

Click here to read the full speech