16. He Improvised Large Sections Of His Famous "I Have A Dream" Speech... Including The Immortal Words By Which It Would Come To Be Known
Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech is one of the most-iconic pieces of oratory in the history of mankind - and yet large sections of it appear to have been improvised by the Civil Rights Movement leader while he was up on the podium on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. Facing some 250,000 civil rights supporters following the March on Washington, King - according to Clarence B Jones, who helped draft the speech - added the "dream" reference while he was in mid-flow as it had not been in any of the preliminary copies. With the speech being revised right up until the moment King took to the podium, the civil rights leader was inspired to add the "dream" reference after being prompted to do so by singer Mahalia Jackson.