Video: 'Dutchman--Amiri Baraka'

(Tuesday, March 24, 1964) — Dutchman, a racial drama by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), opened today in Greenwich Village, New York.

Video: 'Cassius Clay To Muhammad Ali The Story FULL' (Mar. 6, 1964, at 34:09)

(Friday, March 6, 1964) — New Heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay, just days after his championship bout with Sonny Liston, changed his name to Muhammad Ali today, saying he converted to Islam and he considered Cassius Clay a “slave name.”

Video: 'Medgar Evers - Part 2, Civil Rights Heroes Discovery Documentary' (Feb. 5, 1994, at 4:57)

(Saturday, February 5, 1994; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–68)) — White separatist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted today in Jackson, Mississippi, of murdering civil rights leader Medgar Evers, 37, on June 12, 1963, and was immediately sentenced to life in prison. De La Beckwith appealed unsuccessfully, and died at age 80 in prison in January 2001.

Video: 'Kanter's Dept Store after Harlem Riots, 1943' (includes references to Aug. 1, 1943, riot at 0:54)

(Sunday, August 1, 1943, evening; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1896–1954) and World War II) — Rioting broke out today in Harlem, the mostly African-American section of New York City, after a white NYPD officer, James Collins, shot a black soldier, Private Robert Bandy, in the shoulder during a scuffle. Continue reading Six African-Americans killed in Harlem Riot of 1943 70 years ago tonight (1943) →

Video: 'President John F. Kennedy's 55th News Conference, May 8, 1963'

(Wednesday, May 8, 1963, 4:00 p.m. EDT; during the Birmingham Campaign, part of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–68)) — U.S. President John F. Kennedy today at his news conference hailed what looked like a compromise in the tense racial situation in Birmingham, Alabama — the halt of African-American demonstrations in exchange for “steps to meet the justifiable needs of the Negro community.”

Video: 'Birmingham 1963' (May 2, 1963, at 0:53)

(Thursday, May 2, 1963; during the American Civil Rights Movement‘s Birmingham Campaign) — The Children’s Crusade began today in Birmingham, Alabama, as more than 1,000 black schoolchildren skipped classes and marched downtown to protest racial segregation; hundreds were arrested. During another march the following day, authorities unleashed police dogs and fire hoses on the young protesters.

Video: 'Harold Washington campaign for Chicago mayor, 1983'

(Friday, April 29, 1983) — Democrat Harold Washington was sworn in today as the first African-American mayor of Chicago, having defeated Republican Bernard Epton 51.7% to 48.0% on April 12.

(Friday, April 12, 1963, Good Friday; during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–68)) — Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested and jailed today in Birmingham, Alabama, charged with contempt of court and parading without a permit for his part in the Birmingham campaign, a planned non-violent protest against racial segregation by Birmingham’s city government and downtown retailers.

During his time behind bars, King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”; he was released on bond on April 20.