King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, owned by black businessman Walter Bailey (and named after his wife). King’s close friend and colleague Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, who was King’s roommate in the motel room the day of the assassination, told the House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel so often that it was known as the “King-Abernathy Suite.”
According to biographer Taylor Branch, King’s last words were to musician Ben Branch, who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was going to attend: “Ben, make sure you play ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’ in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty.”
The Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated, now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum.
At 6:01 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, 1968, while he was standing on the motel’s second floor balcony, King was struck by a single .30 bullet fired from a Remington 760 Gamemaster. The bullet entered through his right cheek, breaking his jaw, neck and several vertebrae as it travelled down, severing the jugular vein and major arteries in the process. Abernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor.
King was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where doctors opened his chest and performed manual heart massage. He was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. According to Taylor Branch, King’s autopsy revealed that though he was only 39 years old, he had the heart of a 60 year old man. (wiki)
March 31, 1965—President Johnson sends the first American troops to Vietnam to assist the South Vietnamese in their fight against the North Vietnamese, who represent communism.
March 31, 1968 – President Johnson stuns the world by announcing his surprise decision not to seek re-election. He also announces a partial bombing halt and urges Hanoi to begin peace talks. “We are prepared to move immediately toward peace through negotiations.” As a result, peace talks soon begin. The bombing halt only affects targets north of the 20th parallel, including Hanoi.
March 31, 1967 - Jimi Hendrix burnt his first guitar / London Astoria / He suffered hand burns and had to visit a hospital.
March 31, 1978: Paul McCartney & Wings release their “London Town” album.
March 31, 1969 – George Harrison & Patti Boyd are fined £250 each for illegal drugs.
March 31, 1972 – Official Beatles Fan Club, closes down.
Way Back Birthday: March 31, 1944 / Michael Geoffrey “Mick” Ralphs is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was a founding member of rock bands, Mott the Hoople and Bad Company.
Way Back Birthday: March 31, 1946 / G. Allan Nichol / guitar (The Turtles)
Eric Patrick Clapton was born in his grandparents’ home at 1 The Green, Ripley, Surrey, England. He was the son of 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton (b. 7 January 1929, d. March 1999) and Edward Walter Fryer (b. 21 March 1920, d. 1985), a 24-year-old Canadian soldier stationed in England during World War II. Before Eric was born, Fryer returned to his wife in Canada. ( Read more at the offical Eric Clapton website.)
1967 – The cover of the Beatles’ “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was staged and photographed by Michael Cooper at Chelsea Manor studios.
1.Sri Yukteswar Gigi (guru) / 2. Aleister Crowley (dabbler in sex, drugs and magic) / 3. Mae West (actress) / 4. Lenny Bruce (comic) / 5. Karlheinz Stockhausen (composer) / 6. W.C. Fields (comic) / 7. Carl Gustav Jung (psychologist) / 8. Edgar Allen Poe (writer) / 9. Fred Astaire (actor) / 10. Richard Merkin (artist) / 11. The Varga Girl (by artist Alberto Vargas) / 12. *Leo Gorcey (Painted out because he requested a fee) / 13. Huntz Hall (actor one of the Bowery Boys) / 14. Simon Rodia (creator of Watts Towers) / 15. Bob Dylan (musician) / 16. Aubrey Beardsley (illustrator) / 17. Sir Robert Peel (politician) / 18. Aldous Huxley (writer) /19. Dylan Thomas (poet) / 20. Terry Southern (writer) / 21. Dion (di Mucci)(singer) / 22. Tony Curtiss (actor) / 23. Wallace Berman (artist) / 24. Tommy Handley (comic) / 25. Marilyn Monroe (actress) / 26. William Burroughs (writer) / 27. Sri Mahavatara Babaji(guru) / 28. Stan Laurel (comic) / 29. Richard Lindner (artist) / 30. Oliver Hardy (comic) / 31. Karl Marx (philosopher/socialist) / 32. H.G. Wells (writer) / 33. Sri Paramahansa Yogananda (guru) / 34. Anonymous (wax hairdresser’s dummy) / 35. Stuart Sutcliffe (artist/former Beatle) / 36. Anonymous (wax hairdresser’s dummy) / 7. Max Miller (comic) / 38. The Pretty Girl (by artist George Petty) / 39. Marlon Brando (actor) / 40. Tom Mix (actor) / 41. Oscar Wilde (writer) / 42. Tyrone Power (actor) / 43. Larry Bell (artist) / 44. Dr. David Livingston (missionary/explorer) / 45. Johnny Weissmuller (swimmer/actor) / 46. Stephen Crane (writer) / 47. Issy Bonn (comic) / 48. George Bernard Shaw (writer) / 49. H.C. Westermann (sculptor) / 50. Albert Stubbins (soccer player) / 51. Sri lahiri Mahasaya (guru) / 52. Lewis Carrol (writer) / 53. T.E. Lawrence (soldier, aka Lawrence of Arabia) / 54. Sonny Liston (boxer) / 55. The Pretty Girl (by artist George Petty) / 56. Wax model of George Harrison / 57. Wax model of John Lennon / 58. Shirley Temple (child actress) / 59. Wax model of Ringo Starr / 60. Wax model of Paul McCartney / 61. Albert Einstein (physicist) / 62. John Lennnon, holding a french horn / 63. Ringo Starr, holding a trumpet / 64. Paul McCartney, holding a cor anglais / 65. George Harrison, holding a flute / 66. Bobby Breen (singer) / 67. Marlene Dietrich (actress) / 68. Mohandas Ghandi (painted out at the request of EMI) / 69. Legionaire from the order of the Buffalos / 70. Diana Dors (actress)/71. Shirley Temple (child actress)/ 72. Cloth grandmother-figure by Jann Haworth / 73. Cloth figure of Shirley Temple by Haworth / 74. Mexican candlestick / 75. Television set / 76. Stone figure of girl / 77. Stone figure / 78. Statue from John Lennon’s house. /79. Trophy /80. Four-armed Indian Doll / 81. Drum skin, designed by Joe Ephgrave. / 82. Hookah (water tobacco-pipe) / 83. Velvet snake / 84. Japanese stone figure / 85. Stone figure of Snow White / 86. Garden gnome / 87. Tuba.
Way Back Birthday: Graeme Edge (drummer Moody Blues) March 30,1942
Way Back Birthday : Dave Ball / March 30, 1946 / Guitarist for the Turtles
1973 – Dr Hook and the Medicine Show make the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show was a pop-country rock band formed around Union City, New Jersey in 1969. They enjoyed considerable commercial success in the 1970s with hit singles including “Sylvia’s Mother“, “The Cover of the Rolling Stone”, “A Little Bit More“, “When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman” and “Sexy Eyes”. In addition to their own originals, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show performed songs written by poet Shel Silverstein, of children’s book fame.
1975 – Led Zeppelin registers all six of its albums on the charts simultaneously, a feat never before made in pop history.
1971 – Charles Manson is sentenced to life imprisonment after 9 1/2 month trial — longest in California history until then.
1976 – Bruce Springsteen jumps fence at Graceland.
Bruce Springsteen, who was enjoying the first rush of great fame and had just played Memphis on his Born to Run tour, decided to catch a cab to Graceland. Noticing a light on up at the house, he climbed the wall and ran to the front door. As he was about to knock, Security interceded.
King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, owned by black businessman Walter Bailey (and named after his wife). King’s close friend and colleague Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, who was King’s roommate in the motel room the day of the assassination, told the House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel so often that it was known as the “King-Abernathy Suite.”
