The United States has set aside the third Monday of January as Martin Luther King Jnr. Day, a nationwide holiday focused on commemorating and reflecting on the life of the civil rights leader who dedicated his life to justice and equal treatment to all people of color in the United States. King who died aged 39 with a long list of accomplishments to his name, went on to inspire several global leaders, among them Barack Obama, the U.S.’s first black president.