WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The birth of Martin Luther King Jr. was marked Monday with a traditional national day of service, in which volunteers across the United States helped others.
King's dream of a colorblind United States was an inspiration to President-elect Barack Obama, who was 6 years old when King was assassinated in 1968, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Attending several service events in Washington were Obama and his wife Michelle, and Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill.
In a speech given two years ago at the church in Atlanta where King preached, Obama talked about the way King "led this country through the wilderness" through his words and deeds.
King was born Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta. While his birth certificate said his name was Michael, he was baptized in 1931 as Martin, the Post noted in recapping the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's life.
King followed his father and grandfather into the ministry. King talked of being a firefighter when he was an adult, the biography said. As a child he visited Fire Station No. 6, the first fire station in Atlanta to be integrated.
The orator was an academic wiz -- skipping the ninth grade. In 11th grade he scored so well on a college entrance exam that he skipped 12th grade and entered Morehouse College -- at age 15.
