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© Dick DeMarsico/New York World-Telegram
1929: Martin Luther King Jr. is born. Though his work for civil rights and peace will become widely known, he will also deliver an important warning on the perils of technological amorality.

King delivered a lecture at the University of Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 11, 1964, the day after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. He argued that progress in science and technology has not been equaled by "moral progress" - instead, humanity is suffering from a "moral and spiritual lag."

At 35, King was then the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was recognized for using nonviolent methods, including civil disobedience and the boycott (as well as the power of his oratory), to fight racial segregation and advance the civil rights movement in the United States.

King, a Baptist minister who was the son of a Baptist minister, preached that material advancement was meaningless without an accompanying moral structure. A visit with Mahatma Gandhi's family on a trip to India only reinforced this conviction, while at the same time strengthening King's commitment to nonviolence as an instrument of change.

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