-
1968 BCE
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray, a convicted criminal. However, there are many conspiracy theories surrounding his death. -
1965 BCE
Malcolm X is murdered
Malcolm X, a civil rights leader, was assassinated on February 21, 1965 in Harlem, New York. He was shot and killed at age 39 while preparing to give a speech at the Audubon Ballroom. -
1964 BCE
black panther party
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) was founded in October 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, who met at Merritt College in Oakland. -
1963 BCE
16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
Planted by members of the Ku Klux Klan, the bomb killed four girls, Addie Mae Collins (14), Denise McNair (11), Carole Robertson (14), and Cynthia Wesley (14) and injured seventeen others -
1963 BCE
Medgar Evers
the Mississippi state field secretary for the NAACP, was shot and killed in the back on June 12, 1963. The assassination galvanized the civil rights movement and helped lead to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
1955 BCE
Rosa Parks Arrest
refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Her arrest helped spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Civil Rights Movement. -
1955 BCE
Emmett Till is murdered
was a 14-year-old Black boy who was murdered in 1955 while visiting family in Mississippi. His death sparked the Civil Rights Movement. -
1955 BCE
Montgomery Bus Boycott
It was a key event in the American civil rights movement. -
1948 BCE
Executive Order 9981 signed by President Truman
mandated the desegregation of the U.S. military, effectively abolishing racial discrimination in the armed forces based on race, color, religion, or national origin; it essentially ensured "equality of treatment and opportunity" for all service members regardless of background. -
1947 BCE
Jackie Robinson enters Major League Baseball
Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball on April 15, 1947. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957 is passed
It was the first federal civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a 1964 civil rights campaign to register Black voters in Mississippi. It was a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. -
The Birmingham Children’s March
The Birmingham Children's March, also known as the Children's Crusade, was a series of nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. The march was a pivotal moment in the civil rights movemen