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Quiz: What Do You Know About Martin Luther King Jr.?

Test your knowledge of the civil rights icon

Randy Lilleston,

AARP

En español

Published January 11, 2023

9 Questions

Quiz: What Do You Know About Martin Luther King Jr.?

[ {
  "question" : "Martin Luther King Jr. was born Jan. 15, 1929. However, he had a different first name, which his father later changed. What was it?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "John",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "William",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Benjamin",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Michael",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The elder King — also named Michael — decided to change his name and his son’s after a 1934 trip to Germany, the birthplace of Protestant reformer Martin Luther.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Where did King earn his doctorate?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Morehouse College",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Crozer Theological Seminary",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Virginia Union University",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Boston University",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "King received his doctorate in systematic theology in 1955.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "True or false? King once spent a month in India, where he met with followers of Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent principles.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "True",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "False",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "He made the trip in 1959, also meeting with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "The campaign to end segregation at lunch counters and in hiring practices in Birmingham, Alabama, led to King’s arrest for violating an injunction against demonstrations. King subsequently was incarcerated for about a week, during which he wrote the “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” in response to critics of the campaign. In what year did this occur?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "1959",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "1961",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "1963",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "1965",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” King wrote.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "From 1960 until his death in 1968, King served as co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in this city.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Montgomery, Alabama",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Memphis, Tennessee",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Jackson, Mississippi",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Atlanta, Georgia",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is currently senior pastor at the church.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "On Aug. 28, 1963, King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. What was the event where the address took place?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "The Million Man March",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "The Poor People’s March",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "The Freedom Riders March",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The speech built upon themes King had used in speeches over several previous years.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Why was King in Memphis, Tennessee, when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "To plan a multiday march across Tennessee",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "For a rally on behalf of a congressional candidate",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "For a march to support striking sanitation workers",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "For a brief stop on his way back to Atlanta",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "James Earl Ray, a fugitive who had escaped from a Missouri prison in 1967, was convicted in King’s death.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was unveiled in Washington in 2011. Where in the city is it located?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "The Capitol Complex",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "The National Mall",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Rock Creek Park",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "None of the above",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "King was the first African American to be honored with a memorial on the Mall.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "King has been a popular subject in television and film. Which of these actors played King on screen?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "David Oyelowo",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Jeffrey Wright",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Paul Winfield",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "All of the above",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Oyelowo portrayed King in \"Selma,\" Wright played him in \"Boycott\" and Winfield played him in \"King: The Martin Luther King Jr. Story.\"",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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Randy Lilleston is the homepage editor for AARP.org. He previously served as editor-in-chief for business news publisher Industry Dive and was a senior digital editor for NPR, USA Today and CNN.