The Hit Song that Gave Us MLK Day

June 8, 1191. The Crusaders and Muslim forces are locked in battle over the city of Acre. On one side is Saladin, the great Muslim leader who has already recaptured Jerusalem. On the other, an armada arrives carrying England’s king: Richard the Lionheart.The Crusades will become ...  Show more

June 6, 1944. As thousands of Allied soldiers prepare to storm the beaches of Normandy, they climb down rope nets into small wooden landing craft bobbing in the dark waters of the English Channel. Within hours, these boats will carry them into the largest amphibious invasion in h ...  Show more

Martin Luther King Jr. talks about leadership, his childhood, and the civil rights struggle in America. This amazing recording of King from 60 years ago is just as relevant today as it was then. This BBC interview was recorded about seven years before MLK's death in 1961.Speaker: ...  Show more

The peaceful figurehead of the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960s, Dr Martin Luther King had inspired hundreds of thousands to demand equal rights for African Americans. But by 1968, the once uniting leader seemed to be losing popularity, both amongst activists and in the p ...  Show more

The Daily Show unpacks the many ways Americans have found to misunderstand and misappropriate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Leslie Jones confronts people on the streets about how they’re celebrating. Dulce Sloan reminds us our heroes aren’t perfect, they’re people. Roy Wood Jr. on ...  Show more

Some of the most enduring photos of the civil rights movement were taken by Ernest Withers. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Withers earned the trust of Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. But as it turns out, he was secretly taking photos for the federal gov ...