Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is voted the most inspiring of all time, followed by the iconic speeches of Sir Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela.

They were the words that helped define an era and still resonate today.

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech has been crowned the most inspiring of all time. The American civil rights leader’s speech won 45 percent of the vote in a British poll.

It was delivered on August 28, 1963, at a march in Washington, DC, and called for equal civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States.

The speech played an important role in helping pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the United States.

In the poll of the most powerful speeches of all time, Winston Churchill’s “We Will Fight on the Beaches” speech came in second with 42 percent.

The 1940 speech was intended to counter the jubilant reaction to the Dunkirk evacuation and to remind the public that the Battle of Britain was about to begin.

His subsequent speech to the Commons, with his first reference to our heroic RAF pilots as the “few”, was number four.

Also on the list, according to research by insights agency Perspectus Global, was Nelson Mandela’s 1964 speech, “Prepared to Die,” at 20 percent.

He achieved this while in court facing the death penalty for sabotage, promoting communism and aiding foreign powers.

The late Queen’s 2020 ‘We Will Meet Again’ speech, a rare broadcast to unite the nation in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, received 16 per cent.

Margaret Thatcher’s 1980 speech at the Conservative Conference, in which she declared: “The lady is not about to turn!” was the favorite with 13 percent.

Caitlin MacLean of Perspectus Global said: “It’s fascinating that a 60-year-old speech by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr is the one that moves Britons the most.”