The unlikely bond between Julia Roberts and Martin Luther King Jr

The civil rights activist and his wife paid the hospital bill for the birth of the actor because her parents couldn't afford it

An astounding but little-known fact about Julia Roberts has resurfaced after her recent 55th birthday prompted a consultant to call attention to a link between the actor's birth and revered civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.

Roberts, whose birthday was 28 October, first shared the story about the day she was born with journalist Gayle King this September in Washington DC during a HISTORYTalks live event for the History Channel. That day, she said during the talk, the activist known to many simply as MLK - as well as his fellow civil rights champion and wife Coretta Scott King - paid off the hospital bill for her birth because Roberts's parents were poor and couldn't afford it.