Martin Luther King Jr Birthday: Civil Rights Leader Would Have Been 85 (PICTURES, VIDEO)

Wednesday marks the anniversary of late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr's 85th birthday.

Dr King was fatally shot on 4 April 1968 as he stood on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee.

Escaped convict and white supremacist James Earl Ray was found guilty of his murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison.

Wednesday would have been Martin Luther King Jr's 85th birthday

Below are some of Dr King's most famous speeches in which he foresees great social progress, rails against the evils of war and warns that American freedoms guaranteed on paper are not granted to all.

Click here for the full text of one of Dr King's most famous speeches, I Have a Dream.