What year was MLK Jr. awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

The answer is: 1964

In December 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Oslo, Norway, becoming the youngest person ever (at the time) awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The award recognized his nonviolent resistance in the fight for civil rights, coming just months after the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act.

In his acceptance speech, King declared the prize money (about $54,000) would go entirely to the civil rights movement and he split it amongst various organizations. He called the award "profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time."

Back home, the city of Atlanta planned a celebration dinner for their hometown hero. When local business leaders initially refused to attend an integrated dinner honoring King, Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. and Coca-Cola CEO J. Paul Austin stepped in with a powerful ultimatum. Austin told the city's elite that Coca-Cola and other major businesses would leave Atlanta if they couldn't honor their Nobel laureate properly. The dinner sold out within hours.

The celebration dinner brought together over 1,500 of Atlanta's most prominent citizens to celebrate King's achievement. In his remarks that night, King praised Atlanta but reminded guests their work wasn't finished, famously warning, "We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish as fools."