Martin Luther King Day
January 18, 2021
Yearly Date: Third Monday in January
Martin Luther King Day is celebrated in the United States on the third Monday in January to honor the life of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and the tremendous efforts he accomplished to advance civil liberties for all Americans.
King was born on January 15, 1929.
Early on, he felt the call to become a Christian minister and through passionate speeches became one of the most influential voices to decry civil injustice. He landed on the national stage in 1955 when he led a boycott protesting segregation on buses.
In 1963 his famous “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered in Washington D.C. to an audience of over 250,000. In 1964 King became the youngest recipient to date to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to achieve racial equality. In 1968 he was assassinated.
In 2000, MLK Day was officially made a national holiday in the United States.
Celebrate this incredible man today by first of all, learning more about his life and efforts, and then pay it forward by volunteering to help your community.
Our world is better because of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Quote for the Day
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
Famous People Born in January
January 1, 1735– Paul Revere, Revolutionary War.
January 1, 1752– Betsy Ross, designed first U.S.flag
January 1, 1895– J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director
January 2, 1920– Isaac Asimov, Science Fiction Writer
January 3, 1892– J.R.R. Tolkien, Author of “Lord of the Rings”
January 3, 1950– Victoria Principal, Actress
January 3, 1956– Mel Gibson, actor, director
January 4, 1643 – Isaac Newton, Astronomer, Physicist, MAthematician
January 4, 1937– Dyan Cannon, Actress
January 5, 1946- Diane Keaton, Actress
January 6, 1412- Joan of Arc
January 7, 1800- Millard Filmore, 13th President, (1850-1853)
January 7, 1948- Kenny Loggins, Singer/Songwriter
January 7, Katie Couric, Today Show host
January 7, 1964- Nicolas Cage, Actor
January 8, 1889 – Edward Elijah Perkins, creator of Kool-Aid
January 8, 1926- Soupy Sales, TV Actor
January 8, 1935- Elvis Presley, King of Rock ‘n Roll
January 9, 1913 – Richard M. Nixon, 37th President (1969-1974)
January 9, 1935- Bob Denver, TV Actor “Gilligan”
January 9, 1951- Crystal Gayle, Country Singer
January 9, 1967- Dave Matthews, singer, band leader, song writer
January 10, 1945- Rod Stewart, Rock Singer
January 10, 1949- George Foreman, Heavyweight boxing champion, and creator of the “George Foreman Grill”
January 11, 1952- Ben Crenshaw, golfing great
January 12, 1944- Joe Frazier, heavyweight boxing champion
January 12, 1954- Howard Stern, radio and TV “shock jock”
January 12, 1955- Kirstie Alley, TV actress
January 12, 1964 – Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com
January 13, 1919- Robert Stack, Actor” Elliot Ness” on Tv show “Untouchables”
January 13, 1961- Julia Louis-Dreyfus, comedy actress “Elaine” on the “Seinfeld”
January 14, 1741- Benedict Arnold, traitor in American Revolutionary War.
January 14, 1919- Andy Rooney, author and commentator on “60 Minutes”
January 14, 1941- Faye Dunaway, Actress
January 14, 1968 – LL Cool J, actor and rapper
January 15, 1906 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek Shipping tycoon, married Jackie Bouvier-Kennedy
January 15, 1913- Lloyd Bridges, Actor, TV series “Sea Hunt”
January 15th, 1929- Martin Luther King Jr., Civil Rights Activist
January 15, 1951- Charo, Singer, dancer
January 16, 1853- Andre Michelin, inflatable auto tire inventor
January 16, 1909- Ethel Merman, Singer and actress
January 16, 1935- A.J. Foyt, race car driver
January 17, 1706- Benjamin Franklin, inventor, statesman, writer
January 17, 1899- l Capone, notorious 1920’s gangster
January 17, 1928- Vidal Sassoon, British hair stylist, fashion designer
January 17, 1934- Shari Lewis, TV children’s puppeteer
January 17, 1942- Mohammad Ali, formerly “Casius Clay”, arguably the best ever heavyweight boxing champion
January 18, 1779- Peter Roget, author of Roget’s Thesaurus
January 18, 1782- Daniel Webster, politician and speaker
January 18, 1882- A.A. Milne, author of Children’s’ storybooks. Created Winnie the Pooh and friends.
January 18, 1892- Oliver Hardy, “Ollie” in Stan and Laurel comedies
January 18, 1904- Cary Grant, Actor
January 18, 1913- Danny Kaye, comic actor
January 18, 1955- Kevin Costner, Actor
January 19, 1807- Robert E. Lee, Civil War Confederate Army General
January 19, 1809- Edgar Allen Poe, Author and Poet, most notably macabre and horror stories
January 19, 1943- Janis Joplin, 1960’s rock singer
January 19, 1946- Dolly Parton, buxom country western singer and actress
January 20, 1896- George Burns, comedian
January 20, 1920 Deforrest Kelley, Doctor McCoy on Tv’s original “Star Trek”
January 20,1930- Edwin “Buzz Aldrin, Astronaut, walked on the moon
January 21, 1738- Ethan Allen, Revolutionary War Hero
January 21, 1824- Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Confederate Army general
January 21,1924- Telley Savalas, Tv’s “Kojak”
January 21, 1925- Benny Hill, British comedian
January 21, 1976- “Baby Spice” of The Spice Girls
January 22, 1934- Bill Bixby, the “Incredible Hulk” Star
January 23, 1737- John Hancock, politician, first to sign the Declaration of Independence.
January 24, 1917- Ernest Borgnine, Actor, most notably TV’s “McHales’ Navy”
January 24, 1941- Neil Diamond, singer
January 22, 1949- John Belushi, comedian, actor, SNL and Blues Brothers
January 24, 1968- Mary Lou Retton, won gold medal in Gymnastics, at 1984 Olympics
January 25, 1931- Dean Jones, actor, “The Love Bug”
January 25, 1981- Alicia Keys, singer, Grammy winner
January 26, 1880- Douglas MaCarthur, WWII General, Quote: “I shall return!”
January 26, 1925- Paul Newman, Oscar winning actor
January 26, 1955- Eddie Van Halen, singer, rock band
January 26, 1958- Ellen DeGeneres, actress, talk show hostess
January 26, 1961- Wayne Gretzky, Hockey’s “Great One”
January 27, 1756- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the greatest musical composers ever
January 27, 1832- Lewis Carroll, wrote “Alice in Wonderland”
January 27, 1921- Donna Reed, TV and movie actress
January 28, 1887- Arthur Rubenstein, classical pianist
January 28, 1936- Alan Alda, Hawkeye Pierce in Tv series “M*A*S*H”
January 29, 1843 – William McKinley, 25th U.S. President(1897-1901), assassinated while in office.
January 29, 1880- W. C. Fields, comedian
January 29, 1918- John Forsythe, actor, Charlie’s Angels, Dynasty
January 29, 1945- Tom Selleck, Actor, “Magnum P.I.
January 29, 1954- Oprah Winfrey, talk show hostess
January 30, 1882 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd U.S. President, elected to four terms (1933-1945)
January 30, 1922- Dick Martin, comedian
January 30, 1930- Gene Hackman, actor
January 30, 1937, Boris Spassky, World Chess champion
January 30, 1951- Phil Collins, singer
January 31, 1919- Jackie Robinson, first Afro-American to to play in Major League Baseball
January 31, 1923- Carol Channing, actress, “Hello Dolly”
January 31, 1937- Suzanne Pleshette, actress
January 31, 1947- Nolan Ryan, MLB pitcher for 27 years
January 31, 1981- Justin Timberlake, singer