In 2011, the holiday falls on Monday, January 17th. It celebrates the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr., an influential American civil rights leader. He is most well-known for his campaigns to end racial segregation on public transport and for racial equality in the United States.

During his lifetime, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sought to forge the common ground on which people from all walks of life could join together as equals to address important community issues. Service, he realized, was the great equalizer. As he once said, "Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve."
Dr. King, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent struggle for civil rights, was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.