** Known now to the public as “I Have A Dream,” in reality those words were never included in the original draft of his 1963 speech. Instead, Martin Luther King Jr. ad libbed them as he stood up at the pulpit. The original draft is said to have had several names, including “The Normalcy Speech” and “A Cancelled Check.” It is thought to have been drafted in New York and then in Washington hours before the rally began


According to his co-authors for the speech, Dr. King was so busy with the march that even up to TWELVE hours before delivering it, he still did not have a firm idea what he was going to say. As co-author Clarence B. Jones stated in an interview, “the speech went on to depart drastically from the draft I’d delivered,” adding: “In front of all those people, cameras, and microphones, Martin winged it.”

(NOTE- if you listen to the whole speech, you can hear mahalia jackson shout "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" before he goes 'offscript')


** Martin Luther King Jr. day was not actually recognized as a paid national holiday by all 50 states until the year 2000.



** Although he was only 39 at the time of his death, autopsy results revealed the Civil Rights icon had the heart of a 60-year old. The doctor believed this was a result of the stress he endured in his years as a civil rights activist.


** Known as one of the most popular street names in the United States, there are over 900 streets named after Dr. King. At least 40 US states have at least one MLK Jr. road of their own.


** A little known present day fact, Dr. King’s “traveling bible” was used to swear in President Obama at his second inauguration.


** King donated all of the $54,123 (about $400,000 today) he received for his Nobel Peace Prize to the Civil Rights movement. During his acceptance speech, he stated “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.”



** His “I Have a Dream” speech painted an even bigger target before on his back, not just with certain people in the general public, but with the FBI. This was a memo circulated throughout the FBI offices after the speech:

In the light of King’s powerful demagogic speech yesterday he stands heads and shoulders over all other Negro leaders put together when it comes to influencing great masses of Negros. We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro, and national security.

** His honeymoon was spent at a funeral parlor… not because someone died, simply because a friend owned the parlor and offered to let him use it for his honeymoon.

** King convinced “Uhura” on Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols (who incidentally later went on to work for NASA), to continue on with the role after the first season. Nichols stated he told her not to leave the show because she was not only playing a black person as a main character on TV, but she was also playing a character that didn’t conform to the stereotypical black person of the day, usually portrayed. Rather, Uhura was portrayed as an intelligent member of the crew and an equal to those around her.

This seems to have had the intended effect. Whoopi Goldberg once stated when she first saw the character of Uhura on TV, she said “Momma! There’s a black lady on TV, and she ain’t no maid!” It was partially because of this that Goldberg became a huge Star Trek fan and later pushed so hard to get a character on Star Trek the Next Generation, despite the disbelief of the producers that she’d actually want to be on the show.

Astronaut Ronald McNair, the second black person in space (who also died in the Challenger explosion), was inspired to become an astronaut because of the character of Uhura.


** Martin Luther King Jr. was nearly assassinated a decade earlier than his ultimate death. While on a book tour, signing copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom, on September 20, 1958, King was approached by Izola Ware Curry who asked him if he was Martin Luther King Jr., which he of course replied affirmatively. When he said he was, she said “I’ve been looking for you for five years.” She then pulled out a letter opener and stabbed him in the chest.

It took three full hours to remove the blade. The reason? The sharp point end of the blade was pressing against his aorta and the doctors had to be extremely careful while removing it because of this. The doctor, Dr. Maynard, told him after, “If you had sneezed during all those hours of waiting, your aorta would have been punctured and you would have drowned in your own blood.”

** King Jr. skipped two grades in high school, 9th and 11th, and entered college (Moorehouse College) at the tender age of 15 in 1944. By 19, he received a bachelor’s degree in sociology.

** He almost didn’t become a minister. After graduating from college, he still had serious doubts about Christianity and the Bible and told his father (who was a Baptist minister, as his grandfather had also been) that he didn’t want to be a minister and instead was considering becoming a doctor or a lawyer. He later decided that the Bible had “many profound truths which one cannot escape” and chose to become a minister, entering seminary at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. He graduated with his PhD at the age of 25.

** Although King today is often remembered as being an amazing public speaker, he got a C in public speaking during his first year at seminary. This likely isn’t because he was actually bad at public speaking at this point. His father noted that even before going to seminary King Jr. was one of the best public speakers he’d seen. Whatever caused his professor to give him a C, by his final year King had straight A’s, was the valedictorian of his class, and the student body president.