Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made historical past as a defining chief of the Civil Rights motion who preached a message of nonviolent resistance.
His hand in organizing numerous important protests, marches and speeches helped result in landmark laws — most notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — and his message continues to resonate right now.
On April 4, 1968, King was fatally shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. King was solely 39 on the time of his dying. James Earl Ray was arrested in London in June 1968, and the subsequent yr he confessed to the crime and was sentenced to 99 years in jail.
King’s birthday, Jan. 15, was formally acknowledged as a nationwide vacation in 1986. In 2011, he turned the primary African-American to obtain a monument on the Nationwide Mall in Washington.
Because the nation pauses to replicate on the life, dying, and legacy of the towering historic determine, these lesser-known photos depict intimate and iconic moments of Dr. King.
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Camille Fantastic is a trending visible producer on USA TODAY’s NOW staff.
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