7 Things You Never Knew About Dr. Martin Luther King Jr...

On this wonderful day where we commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I felt the need to share some seldomly known things about the him and his life. Things ranging from his actual name, favorite food, to even his impacts on Hollywood. Do enjoy and share with others.

1. Fact: When Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott got married, they decided to stay in a White motel to celebrate the occasion. Upon arrival,  they were denied access and had to spend the night at Black-owned funeral home.
2. Fact: Martin Luther King's favorite foods were pecan pie and fried chicken.
3. Fact: King skipped the ninth and eleventh grades and never graduated from high school. He enrolled in Morehouse College in 1944 when he was just 15. He completed his doctorate at Boston University when he was 25.
4. Fact: Dr. King apparently improvised parts of the “I Have A Dream” speech in August 1963, including its title passage. Clarence B. Jones worked on the draft of the speech, which was being revised up to the time Dr. King took the podium. He says Dr. King’s remarks were up in the air about 12 hours before he spoke, and the “dream” reference wasn’t in the speech. Dr. King later added it live when singer Mahalia Jackson prompted him to speak about the “dream.” In June 1963, Dr. King had talked about his dream in a speech in Detroit.
5. Fact: King was jailed 29 times over the course of his life. Most of the reasons he was jailed were for acts of civil disobedience, and utterly ridiculous charges including driving 30mph in a 25mph zone- evidence of the time.
6. Fact: When Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, at the time he was the youngest Peace Prize winner ever, at the age of 35.
7. Fact: Actress Nichelle Nichols, who made history playing the first non-black stereotype role on a television show, planned to quit Star Trek after the first year when her role as Uhura was reduced to a supporting character. It was only after King sought her out at an event to tell her he was a huge fan -- and entreated her to stay when she told him of her imminent departure -- that she reconsidered and stayed.

Happy King Day!