Martin Luther King, Jr. was the single most important leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. He advocated for non-violent protests and civil disobedience to end segregation and achieve racial equality. Key events he was involved in included the Montgomery Bus Boycott starting in 1955 and the March on Washington in 1963, where he delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech. The 1965 Selma marches, where peaceful protesters were violently attacked by police, helped spur the passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year.