The life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will once again be celebrated and honored Monday in events around the nation.

It was first proposed four days after King's 1968 assassination outside a Memphis motel. It took 15 years until it became a federal holiday.

American activist who put his life on the line to bring equality and justice to all during the Civil Rights movement died, but those who honor the reformation Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. created continue to remember his name.