Video: 'President Johnson's Meeting with Governor George Wallace, 3/13/65. MP538.'

(Saturday, March 13, 1965, during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson told Gov. George C. Wallace Alabama today that police brutality in Selma, Alabama, “just must not be repeated” and that federal force would be used if necessary to protect African-Americans there. Continue reading Johnson pledges vote for all, calls Selma ‘American tragedy’ 50 years ago today (Mar 13 1965) →

Video: 'Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech'

(Thursday, December 10, 1964) — The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. accepted the Nobel Peace Prize today on behalf of the civil rights movement and “all men who love peace and brotherhood.”

The Baptist minister, in a ceremony at Oslo University, said the award came “at a moment when 22 million Negroes of the United States are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice.”

(Wednesday, November 18, 1964; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–68)) — FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover today described civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as “the most notorious liar in the country” for allegedly accusing FBI agents in Georgia of failing to act on complaints filed by blacks.

King, who denied making such a claim, replied, “I cannot conceive of Mr. Hoover making a statement like this without being under extreme pressure.”

Video: 'Benjamin Davis'

(Wednesday, October 27, 1954) — U.S. Air Force Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was promoted to brigadier general by President Dwight Eisenhower today, the first black officer to achieve that rank in the USAF.

Video: 'Marian Anderson canta Un ballo in Maschera'

(Thursday, October 7, 1954) — Marian Anderson today became the first black singer hired by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York. Anderson made her Met debut in January 1955 playing the role of Ulrica in Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera.”

Video: 'The True Story of Mississippi Burning' (Aug. 4, 1964, at 32:29)

(Tuesday, August 4, 1964, just after 3:00 p.m. local time; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–68)) — Bodies believed to be those of three civil rights workers (Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney) missing since June 21, 1964, were found buried in an earthen dam early tonight near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Continue reading FBI finds three bodies of missing civil rights workers 50 years ago this hour (Aug 4 1964) →

Video: 'NYC Riots 1964

(Saturday, July 18, 1964, about 10:00 p.m. EDT; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — Nearly a week of rioting erupted tonight in New York’s Harlem neighborhood, two days after the fatal police shooting of a black teenager, James Powell.

Video: 'Malcolm X - By Any Means Necessary - Organization for Afro American Unity'

(Sunday, June 28, 1964; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68)) — Civil rights activist Malcolm X declared, “We want equality by any means necessary” today during the Founding Rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity in New York.

Image: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reacts in St. Augustine after learning that the U.S. Senate passed the Civil Rights Act by two votes, June 19, 1964

(Friday, June 19, 1964, during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–68)) — The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved today by the U.S. Senate, 73-27, after surviving a lengthy filibuster.

(Wednesday, June 10, 1964, during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–68)) — The U.S. Senate voted today to limit further debate on a proposed civil rights bill, shutting off a filibuster by Southern senators. Never in history had the Senate been able to muster enough votes to cut off a filibuster on a civil rights bill.