King is the most famous leader of the American Civil Rights movement. He was a political activist and an American Baptist minister in Atlanta. He is recognized as a national hero. Committed to the principle of nonviolence, he successfully led the American Civil Rights movement for nearly a decade. His efforts culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when he also won the Nobel Prize. His religious faith was a motivating and integral factor in his civic endeavors. His life ended abruptly when he was assassinated in 1968.