August 28 Birthday
August 28, 1963: Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to an estimated 250,000 people. The "I have a dream" portion was largely improvised — singer Mahalia Jackson had called out from the crowd, "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" King had used the dream motif in speeches before, but the version at the March on Washington became canonical. The speech is carved in stone at the MLK Memorial in Washington. People born on August 28 fall under the zodiac sign of Virgo. The birthstone is Peridot and the birth flower is Gladiolus. Historical events on August 28 include 1963: MLK delivers "I Have a Dream" speech, 1968: Democratic convention protests in Chicago, 1996: Charles and Diana divorce finalized. Famous people born on August 28 include Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749), Leo Tolstoy (1828), Shania Twain (1965).