March on Washington anniversary: 50 years of change in 6 seconds By Rick Hallman and Alberto Mier, CNN August 28, 2013 -- Updated 2012 GMT (0412 HKT) Fifty years ago 250,000 people converged on the National Mall for a March on Washington. It became the beginning of a new era. August 28, 2013 -- Updated 1750 GMT (0150 HKT) How the speech was crafted is just one of several interesting facts about what is one of the most important moments in the 20th century. August 28, 2013 -- Updated 1858 GMT (0258 HKT) The five decades from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Dream" to Trayvon Martin's death have been the most tumultuous in the country's racial history. August 28, 2013 -- Updated 1407 GMT (2207 HKT) Gay pioneer Jack Nichols stated, "We had marched with Martin Luther King, and from that time on, we'd always had our dream about a (gay) march of similar proportions." August 25, 2013 -- Updated 1441 GMT (2241 HKT) August 26, 2013 -- Updated 1507 GMT (2307 HKT) August 27, 2013 -- Updated 1427 GMT (2227 HKT) The goal was to build pressure on Congress to move forward with the civil rights bill that President Kennedy had proposed. August 26, 2013 -- Updated 0124 GMT (0924 HKT) Today they are lawmakers, professors and grandparents. But 50 years ago, they were the young faces of the civil rights movement.