The Assassination of Martin Luther King Quiz

Answer: US President Lyndon Johnson announced that he would not seek re-election that year

On Sunday, March 31, US President Lyndon Johnson gave a nationally-televised address in which he surprised people by announcing a reduction in the bombing of Vietnam. He then went on to declare that he would not seek or accept re-election as president that year, an even more unexpected piece of news.

Answer: Memphis, TN

King was in Memphis to rally the city's mostly-black sanitation workers, who were striking for higher wages and better benefits.

Answer: Lorraine Motel

King had visited Memphis two times the month before he was killed, staying at a Holiday Inn. He received unfavorable press coverage for doing so, because of the availability of black-owned motels in the city. When he arrived in Memphis on April 3, he booked Room 306 of the black-owned Lorraine Motel.

Answer: Gave a famous speech

King addressed a group at the Mason Temple in Memphis, giving a long speech in which he talked about the days ahead, and reflected on his life and the times it had been threatened. The speech concluded with the words: "I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

The speech was memorable not just for being his last one, but also because of the eerie way in which it seemed to foretell his own death.

Answer: James Earl Ray

James Earl Ray, a 40-year-old escaped convict who had spent more than half of his life in correctional facilities, was eventually identified as King's killer. Ray succeeded in fleeing to Canada, then England, but was arrested in London on June 8, 1968. Ray often tried to implicate "Raoul" in the assassination, saying that a mysterious figure by that name had been directing his movements in 1968 and was the person actually behind the assassination. No one matching Ray's description of "Raoul" has ever been identified or arrested by law enforcement authorities.

Answer: A rooming house

James Earl Ray, using an alias, checked into a boarding house just a block away from King's motel on April 4. He rejected the first room offered to him - it didn't have a view of the motel - and picked another room from which he could watch King's movements. Using binoculars, he surveyed the motel.

When he saw King appear on his balcony, he moved to a nearby bathroom with a more direct view of King, knocked the screen from the bathroom window, and shot King. He then abandoned several of his belongings, including the rifle, hopped into his car parked outside the building, and fled the scene within two minutes.

The rifle was found later that night.

Answer: A speech given there by Robert Kennedy

Kennedy had been scheduled to speak in Indianapolis that night and learned of King's shooting and death shortly before appearing. Spurning his advisors' recommendation to forego the speech, he informed a shocked crowd about the killing, then spoke extemporaneously about King, and appealed for hope and faith, concluding his speech with the words "Let us dedicate to ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people. Thank you very much." The audience, and the city itself, heeded Kennedy's wish.

Answer: Both of these

Both the Academy Awards and baseball's opening day were scheduled for April 8, the day before King's funeral, but were postponed two days until April 10.

April 8 is a date in baseball history with several events having some racial significance. Besides the postponed 1968 opening day, April 8, 1974 was when Hank Aaron passed Babe Ruth as baseball's all-time home run leader. One year later, Frank Robinson became the first black man to manage a major league team, making his debut with the Cleveland Indians as a player/manager (homering in his first at-bat, he helped the Indians to a 5-3 win over the New York Yankees). On April 8, 1987, the Los Angeles Dodgers fired their general manager, Al Campanis, for racially-insensitive remarks he had made on television a few days before.

Answer: Lyndon Johnson

Although allies in the civil rights struggle, relations between Johnson and King grew strained over differences between the two over the Vietnam War (ironically, King came out publicly against the war for the first time exactly one year before his assassination).

The war had made Johnson a hugely divisive figure by 1968, and he made few public appearances that year because of the controversy he generated. Vice President Hubert Humphrey represented the president at the funeral, which was also attended by all the major contenders in that year's presidential race.

Answer: Pride (In the Name of Love)

"Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride"

Lyrics from "Pride (In the Name of Love)." I've never understood why the song refers to the assassination occurring in the "early morning" when it took place at 6:01 PM Memphis time. The only places in the world where it was early morning at that time, it was already April 5.