Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. He was shot by James Earl Ray; Ray pleaded guilty to the murder on March 10, 1969 and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, though he later recanted and sought a new trial. The Lorraine Motel building now houses the National Civil Rights Museum, which preserves the room and balcony where the shooting occurred.