Martin Luther King Jr., a reverend and civil-rights activist, was assassinated at 39. However, he inspired several movements and political changes.

Between 1957 and his assassination on April 4, 1968, at age 39, Martin Luther King Jr. gave 2,500 speeches, wrote sermons and homilies and published five books. Meanwhile, the number of books written about King surely number in the thousands.

During the early morning hours every third Monday in January, residents of Savannah and neighboring cities gather in downtown with coffee and folding chairs to stake their spot along the route of the annual Martin Luther King Jr.