Who was Martin Luther King, Jr., and when was he assassinated? 
Martin Luther King was an American Baptist minister and activist who was one of the most prominent leaders in the American civil rights movement. He was assassinated on Thursday, 4 April 1968.  He was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray, an escaped fugitive, later confessed to the crime.