Few people in American history have had as strong an impact on the United States as Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader who was slain in 1968 at the age of 39. Through his message of nonviolence and civil disobedience as a means to advancing civil rights for all people, King changed the lives of millions. Those changes are still felt today, more than half a century after his death.

Though his death was tragic, King’s life remains something to celebrate, a fact recognized by the federal government in 1983, when President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. Since 2000, all 50 states have observed the holiday, which has been

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