In This Month: April

The King is Dead
On 4th April 1968, US civil rights leader Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. King, who was only 39, was shot dead by James Earl Ray, who was later sentenced to 99 years in prison for the crime. King's killing sent shockwaves through American society and dozens of major cities in the US erupted with race riots in the aftermath.

King was born in Atlanta, Georgia and became a baptist minister, one of the few leadership careers available to black men at the time. In 1955, King became heavily involved in civil rights activism when he led a boycott against a bus company that had arrested a woman for refusing to give up her seat for a white man. He then led a series of non-violent protests against segregation and was instrumental in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1966, where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

For more info about Martin Luther King, check out Sixties Season.