April 2 1984- John Thompson, coach of Georgetown University’s basketball team, became the first African American Coach to win the National Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Division I Basketball Championship.
April 3 1961- Comedian and singer Eddie Murphy was born in Brooklyn, New York. The comedian went on to created movies like Beverly Hills Cop, 48 Hours and was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live.
April 4 1968- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on his hotel balcony by a sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. After emergency chest surgery from gunshot wounds, King died at St. Joseph’s Hospital. The assassination started an uproar of protesting, race rioting and crisis across the country.
April 5 1990- Jazz vocalist and Grammy Award winner Sarah Vaughan died from complications of lung cancer. Vaughan was known for her hit songs, “Black Coffee,” “That Lucky Old Sun,” and “I Cried for You.”
April 6 1931- The first Scottsboro trial began in Scottsboro, Alabama. The trial consisted of nine African American youths accused of raping two White women on a freight train. All but one boy were convicted with rape and sentenced to death by an Alabama court, but soon faced appeals from U.S. Supreme Court.
