Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth name was Michael.

Famous Figures

S ome of America's most famous names weren't birth names. Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III, John Wayne was originally Marion Robert Morrison, and Martin Luther King Jr. was Michael King Jr. until he was 5 years old. The change was prompted by his father, Reverend Michael King. In 1934, King Sr. attended the Fifth Baptist World Congress in Berlin. In response to the rise of Nazism, the BWA put out a fierce proclamation condemning all racial discrimination and oppression.

The elder King traveled throughout Germany during his stay, learning more about the German theologian Martin Luther in the process. Born in the town of Eisleben in 1483, Luther began the Protestant Reformation when he posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of a castle church in 1517. Reverend King was so inspired by the reformer that he changed both his own name and that of his son, though the younger King's birth certificate wasn't officially amended until July 23, 1957, when he was 28 years old.

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By the Numbers

Words in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech

1,667

Times MLK was arrested

Did you know?

Martin Luther King Jr. was a devoted Star Trek fan.

One fateful Friday in 1967, Nichelle Nichols made one of the toughest choices of her career: resigning from Star Trek. The actress, who played Uhura on the groundbreaking sci-fi series, delivered the news personally to series creator Gene Roddenberry, who urged her to take the weekend to reconsider. She agreed, and was at an event in Beverly Hills that same weekend when one of the organizers told her an admirer of the show wanted to meet her. It was Martin Luther King Jr., who introduced himself as her biggest fan and explained that Star Trek was the only TV show he and his wife allowed their children to stay up late to watch. When she told him she was leaving the show, he was taken aback. "This is the future," he said of Star Trek. "He [Roddenberry] has established us as we should be seen… When we see you, we see ourselves, and we see ourselves as intelligent and beautiful and proud." The following Monday, Nichols returned to Roddenberry's office and told him she was staying.