Martin Luther King Jr. was born in January 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. King, was both a Baptist minister and civil-rights activist. He had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States, beginning in the mid-1950s. Among many efforts, King headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Through his activism, he played a huge role in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens in the South and other areas of the nation. He also was responsible for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968. Martin Luther King was assassinated in April 1968. He is still remembered as one of the most amazing African Americans to have ever lived. He fought so hard so everyone could be considered equal.