Video: 'April 4, 1968: President Johnson addresses the nation after death of Martin Luther King Jr.'

(Thursday, April 4, 1968, 9:07 p.m. EST; during the African-American civil rights movement (1954–1968)) — U.S. President Johnson, speaking outside the entrance to the West Lobby at the White House, deplored tonight in a brief television address to the nation the “brutal slaying” of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr., 39, asking “every citizen to reject the blind violence that has struck Dr. King, who lived by non-violence.”

King had been assassinated few hours earlier as he stood on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Video: 'MLK Assassination News Reports (CBS News), April 4, 1968' (Johnson speaks at 5:25)

Video: 'PBS Documentary "Television" - Episode 4 of 8' (Apr. 4, 1968, at 8:37)

Despite the President’s plea for calm, King’s assassination would spark the greatest wave of social unrest in the U.S. since the Civil War. Riots broke out in 110 U.S. cities, resulting in 45+ deaths, 2,500+ injuries and 15,000+ arrests by the end of May 1968.

Video: '45 85 Part 11' (King assassination riots at 4:51)

Video: 'Television & the Presidency Part 6' (King assassination riots at 5:04)

Video: 'Eyes On The Prize - (Part 10) The Promised Land 1967–1968' (King assassination riots at 40:45)

Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - Homefront USA [10/11]' (King assassination riots at 20:53)