MLK Day encourages service

Mrs. Coretta Scott King and musician Stevie Wonder fought for years to make it a federal holiday. Wonder told CNN that they started with tours and marches in the early 1980s. "And so our first march was in 1981, and we had another one in '82, '83. And then ultimately the bill was signed by President Reagan."

Below are some facts and numbers related to the federal holiday, in which Americans are encouraged to participate in a day of service. The numbers tell the story.

That's all this whole thing is about. We aren't engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people.

Martin Luther King Jr.

64 years ago

December 1, 1955 - The Montgomery Bus Boycott

The Montgomery Bus Boycott against segregated seating lasted approximately one year, starting December 1, 1955. This is what Dr. King said in his book, "Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story": We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.
51 years ago

February 4, 1968 - Dr. King encourages his congregation to seek greatness through service and love

"Everybody can be great because everybody can serve," Dr. King said in his sermon "The Drum Major Instinct." Mrs. King read the same statement when, in 1994, she asked congress to make the holiday an official national day of humanitarian service.
51 years ago

April 8, 1968 - The first legislative bill to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) sponsored the bill to establish the federal holiday on April 8, 1968.
39 years ago

1980 - Stevie Wonder calls for a day of remembrance

Stevie Wonder's release of "Happy Birthday," a song asking for a day "in full remembrance."
36 years ago

November 3, 1983 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day becomes a national holiday

President Ronald Reagan signed the November 3, 1983 legislation, creating the national holiday, which started in 1986.
33 years ago

January 20, 1986 - The very first national celebration

The very first national celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day happened on January 20, 1986.
25 years ago

August 23, 1994 - The holiday becomes a day of service

The holiday became a day of service, August 23, 1994, when President Bill Clinton signed the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday and Service Act.