When was Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated?

Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. James Earl Ray plead guilty to murdering King and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary.

King was shot in the head while standing on the second floor balcony outside of room 306 at 6:01 p.m. He was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. Witnesses claimed to have seen Ray fleeing from a rooming house across the street. Police discovered a package nearby that had a rifle and binoculars with Ray's fingerprints on them. Hundreds of riots throughout the United States ensued in reaction to King's assassination.