The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was born 92 years ago today. When he was born Jan. 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr.’s name was Michael. It’s the name originally on his birth certificate.
He was named after his father, the Rev. Michael King, who was senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
Michael King toured much of Germany, the country that is the birthplace of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. When he returned to Atlanta, the senior King decided to change his name and his son's from Michael to Martin Luther, after the German Protestant leader, according to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford.
Twitter users, including his children, Bernice King and Martin Luther King III, honored the civil rights leader on his birthday.
The wishes weren’t just from Atlanta, though. “Hamilton” creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted not just “Happy Birthday,” but also attached a song honoring King that has been taught in the elementary school he attended for years.
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