Between 1957 and his assassination on April 4, 1968, at age 39, Martin Luther King Jr. gave 2,500 speeches, wrote sermons and homilies and published five books. Meanwhile, the number of books written about King surely number in the thousands.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday (Jan. 20), representing a time to remember the legacy of America’s famous Civil Rights leader and give back to the community. More than six decades have passed since Dr.

King would also inspire baseball player Curt Flood, who challenged Major League Baseball’s reserve clause in 1970, bringing an end to what was a St. Louis Cardinal Hall of Fame career. Flood would lose his case in the U.S. Supreme Court, but his fight would open the door for free agency five years later.