Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an American Baptist minister and a prominent figure in the civil rights movement, is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, while in town supporting striking Black sanitation workers.

He is widely regarded for preaching nonviolent civil disobedience, and lesser known for his critiques of capitalism, militarism, and racism.

Throughout his life, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) constantly surveilled King and conducted covert operations against him, fearing he would: “unify Black nationalists should he abandon his supposed ‘obedience’ to ‘white liberal doctrines’ (nonviolence) and embrace Black nationalism" (Stanford).

His death sparks massive civil unrest across the country in over 100 cities.