Today, we honor the achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister and civil rights leader who advocated for the use of nonviolent means to end racial segregation. As one of the most influential African American civil rights leaders during the 1960s, King was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination in public accommodations, facilities, and employment. He was also awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964.  MLK day was first established as a federal holiday in 1983, and the first nationwide observance took place in 1986.