How did Martin Luther King, Jr., die?

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Martin Luther King, Jr., was standing on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, when he was shot by James Earl Ray. An hour later, King died at St. Joseph’s hospital. His death sparked riots across the country. In the United States he is memorialized on the third Monday of January every year—Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, which was first observed as a federal holiday in 1986.