50 Martin Luther King Jr Trivia Questions for 2024
Martin Luther King Jr trivia questions will test your knowledge and teach you fascinating new things. Explore interesting facts about Martin’s childhood, his famous speech, and the amazing resilience of the civil rights movement.
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” – MLK
Easy Martin Luther King Jr Questions
1. What day is Martin Luther King Jr Day celebrated each year?
2. What famous event, that included MLK, took place on August 28, 1963 near the Lincoln Memorial?
3. Is Martin Luther King Jr. Day a Federal Holiday?
4. What was MLK Jr’s job?
5. MLK Jr. is sometimes referred to as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Why is this?
6. When faced with adversity and violence, what did Martin Luther King Jr preach his followers to do?
7. Who did MLK marry?
8. How many children did they have?
9. What was MLK Jr’s “I have a dream” speech about?
10. In October 1964, what major award did Martin win?
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Multiple Choice MLK Trivia
11. Where was MLK Jr born?
A) Atlanta, Georgia
B) Memphis, Tennessee
C) Charleston, South Carolina
D) New Orleans, Lousiana
12. What year was MLK Jr born in?
A) 1932
B) 1945
C) 1925
D) 1929
13. At what age did Martin Luther King Jr. enter college?
A) 18 years old
B) 16 years old
C) 15 years old
D) 17 years old
14. What college did Martin Luther King Jr. attend at that age?
A) Lincoln University
B) Morehouse College
C) Grinnell College
D) Springfield College
15. How many times total was King arrested?
A) 17 times
B) 29 times
C) 5 times
D) 12 times
16. Martin was a great believer in peaceful protest. Who inspired him in this?
A) Jane Addams
B) Nelson Mandela
C) Leo Tolstoy
D) Mahatma Gandhi
17. MLK’s first major role in the Civil Rights Movement was in 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. Martin helped organize a city bus boycott. What city was this in?
A) Montgomery, Alabama
B) Selma, Alabama
C) Birmingham, Alabama
D) Jackson, Mississippi
18. How long did the Montgomery Bus Boycott last?
A) 250 days
B) 381 days
C) 100 days
D) 57 days
19. In what year did MLK Jr give his famous “I have a dream speech?”
In 1963,
A) 1962
B) 1965
C) 1963
D) 1960
20. How long is the “I Have a Dream” speech?
A) 17 minutes
B) 10 minutes
C) 5 minutes
D) 21 minutes
21. At the rally, called the March on Washington, how many people gathered to hear Martin and other activists speak about civil rights?
A) Over 50,000
B) Over 100,000
C) Over 200,000
D) Over 250,000
22. What happened to Dr. King in 1963?
A) He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
B) He won a Noble Peace Prize
C) He was named Man of the Year in Time Magazine
23. In 1964, what was passed, outlawing racial segregation and discrimination? (King’s leadership played a pivotal role).
A) The Equal Pay Act
B) The Civil Rights Act
C) The Emancipation Proclamation
D) Juneteenth
24. MLK was the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (in 1964). What age was he?
A) 35 years old
B) 40 years old
C) 30 years old
D) 25 years old
25. What city has the biggest Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in the U.S.?
A) Birmingham, Alabama
B) Atlanta, Georgia
C) Los Angeles, California
D) Washington D.C.
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26. Only three other Americans have had their birthdays observed as a holiday in the U.S. Which person is NOT one of them?
A) Cesar Chavez
B) Abraham Lincoln
C) Alexander Hamilton
D) George Washington
27. In what year was MLK Jr assassinated?
A) 1965
B) 1966
C) 1967
D) 1968
28. Where was he when he was assassinated?
A) Little Rock, Arkansas
B) Memphis, Tennessee
C) Greensboro, North Carolina
D) Selma, Alabama
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Quote Trivia from Martin Luther King Jr.
Next, use the word bank in the picture to tell where each famous quote is from.
29. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
Strength to Love, 1963.
30. “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”
From the “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963.
31. “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964.
32. “Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”
March for Integrated Schools, April 18, 1959.
33. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Letter from Birmingham, Alabama jail, April 16, 1963.
34. “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.”
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964
35. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Strength to Love, 1963. (source)
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
MLK
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Hard Martin Luther King Trivia Quiz
Finally, this Martin Luther King Jr trivia is challenging. Find out who the expert is when answering these questions!
36. Martin Luther King Jr. was born with a different first name. What was it?
Michael
37. Why was his name changed?
In 1934, King’s father embarked on a religious journey around the world. He learned about the German monk and theologian Martin Luther. Upon returning, Martin Luther King Sr. changed his name and his son’s name to honor the Protestant Reformation leader.
38. What year was this officially changed on MLK’s birth certificate?
1957 (He was 28)
39. Martin Luther King had his first experience of segregation at just six years old. What happened?
He was told he wasn’t allowed to play with his white friend anymore.
40. King was almost assassinated years before his death. He was at a department store in Harlem for a book signing when a young woman stabbed him in the chest. Why did she do it?
She believed he was working for the communist party.
41. What did Izola Curry try to kill King with?
A letter opener
42. What major award was MLK awarded after his death?
The Presidential Medal of Freedom (recipients of the award have contributed to world peace or other significant movements)
43. Who was officially convicted of MLK’s assassination?
James Earl Ray was convicted of his murder and spent the rest of his life in prison.
44. After his death, the King family filed a civil case against the government and won. Why?
They believed his assassination was a conspiracy and that James Earl Ray was set up to take the blame. On December 8, 1999, twelve jurors reached a unanimous decision that King’s death was a result of a conspiracy between government agencies and the Mafia.
45. How much money was the King family awarded from this civil case?
The King family was awarded $100, which they donated to charity.
46. How many streets in the U.S. are named after Martin Luther King Jr.?
Over 730.
47. What year was MLK Day officially established?
1986
48. What civil rights organization did King start with Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, and Joseph Lowery?
The SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) to have a regional organization that could better coordinate civil rights activities across the South. (source)
49. At what age did King earn his Ph.D. from Boston University?
Age 25
50. Martin’s mother also died by gunshot six years after his assassination. Where was she?
Singing at Ebenezer Baptist Church
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What’s Next?
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“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
MLK