Volume 13 , Issue 14

This Day In History (April 4)

On this day in history, April 4th, 1968, 43 years ago today, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., preached non-violence and racial brotherhood, was fatally shot April 4, 1968 by a distant gunman. King was pronounced dead at 7:05 P.M. Central standard time by staff doctors.

Dr. King had come back to Memphis to organize support once again for 1,300 sanitation workers who had been striking since February, 1968, Lincoln's Birthday.

1818 - Congress decided the U.S. flag would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state.

1841 - President William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia one month after his inauguration, becoming the first U.S. president to die in office.

1850 - The city of Los Angeles was incorporated.

1887 - Susanna Medora Salter became the first woman elected mayor of an American community - Argonia, Kan.

1888 - Baseball Hall of Famer Tris Speaker was born in Hubbard, Texas.

1902 - British financier Cecil Rhodes left $10 million in his will to provide scholarships at Oxford University in England.

1915 - Muddy Waters, American blues musician, was born. Folloiwng his death on April 30, 1983, his obituary appeared in The Times.

1945 - U.S. forces liberated the Nazi death camp Ohrdruf in Germany.

1949 - Twelve nations, including the United States, signed the North Atlantic Treaty.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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