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King Speech In NYC

Source: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty

As we celebrate the birthday of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. here are some little-known facts about him.

* At the age of five, his name was legally changed to Martin Luther King Jr.

*He did not formally graduate from high school.

* He skipped the 9th and 12th grades in school and entered Morehouse College at age 15.

*Dr. King was initiated into the Sigma chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. in the Spring of ‘52

* He was the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 at the age of 35.

* In 1964, King became the first black American to be honored as Time magazine’s Man of the Year.

* There are more than 730 cities that have streets named after him.

*From 1957 until his death in 1968, he traveled more than 6 million miles, gave over 2500 speeches during his travels, wrote 5 books and had published countless numbers of articles in newspapers and magazines.

* In a contest sponsored by the Discovery Channel, he was voted the 3rd Greatest American of all time.

* He was a Republican.

*The Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated, is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum.

*He predicted he would die before age 40.