Martin Luther King Jr. Day Jan 20, 2025

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today we honor the life and legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Prominent in the 1950s and 1960s, King was a Baptist minister who promoted nonviolent protest to effectuate social change. In 1963, he helped organize the March on Washington, DC, which 250,000 people attended to protest discrimination and support pending civil rights legislation. During this event, King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, imagining America free of racism and segregation. His speech is regarded as one of America"s greatest, and his leadership was instrumental in ending racial segregation of African Americans throughout many parts of the United States. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, but his life was cut short by an assassin in 1968.

© Win McNamee/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Jan 20, 2018Yellow-eyed penguins, Moeraki, New Zealand
Jan 20, 2019It’s Penguin Awareness Day
Jan 20, 2020A march toward a dream
Jan 20, 2021Penguins can t fly!
Jan 20, 2022Penguin Awareness Day
Jan 20, 2023Penguin Awareness Day
Jan 20, 2024Penguin Awareness Day
Jan 20, 2026Penguin Awareness Day

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Oct 19, 2020A cliff-hanging complex of temples
Aug 18, 2020Women s suffrage at 100
May 23, 2019Come out of your shell for World Turtle Day
Jun 22, 2025World Rainforest Day
Sep 23, 2021Last stop before leaving the solar system
May 12, 2018It’s World Migratory Bird Day
Nov 22, 2022Red fox in the Netherlands
Mar 26, 2023Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California
Sep 22, 2018Time for brass bands and beer
Feb 26, 2018A leafy seadragon in the waters off Wool Bay, Australia
Nov 11, 2022Veterans Day
Mar 9, 2026Gray seal sleeping on the beach, Orkney Islands, Scotland
Feb 2, 2019Groundhog Day arrives—beyond a shadow of a doubt
Dec 30, 2019Sky island views
Mar 31, 2021Paradise, found
May 16, 2021A magnificent monolith
Jan 31, 2025Happy International Zebra Day!
Jul 5, 2024Daintree Rainforest and Noah Beach, Queensland, Australia
Nov 1, 2024Native American Heritage Month
Nov 25, 2021Happy Thanksgiving
Jan 26, 2022India Republic Day
Oct 2, 2020A wild and scenic scene
Nov 12, 2021Beavers Bend
Aug 17, 2023Things are looking up
May 21, 2018Is that a face in the sand?
May 26, 2024Methow Valley, North Cascades, Washington
Jan 3, 2024J.R.R. Tolkien Day
Jan 25, 2019Fighting evil with costumes
Dec 25, 2018Happy holidays!
Jan 18, 2025Dunes at White Sands National Park, New Mexico