Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Image from People Magazine

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

    Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prominent leader of the American Civil Rights movement. He utilized peaceful protest and his powerful rhetoric to press for civil rights laws and behaviors, incredibly noted in his "Letter From Birmingham Jail" and his "I Have a Dream" speech. In 1964, the Johnson administration passed the Civil Rights Act and MLK earned the Nobel Peace Prize. 

    On April 3, Dr. King spoke to a rally of his supporters in Memphis, Tennessee. After the rally, he checked into the Lorraine Motel. The next evening while leaning over a hotel balcony to chat with his friends, he was shot by James Earl Ray. The shot proved fatal, and within the span of approximately one hour, Dr. King was dead. 

    King's death was announced in a speech by presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy (who was assassinated only two months later, in June 1968). The assassination sparked national outrage and violent riots broke out in major cities such as Chicago, Boston, and Detroit. Several thousands of arrests were made, property was destroyed, several were killed and many more injured, and the National Guard was brought in to many of these riots.