Feb. 12 (Top of timeline)

The strike begins, with 930 of 1,100 sanitation workers and 214 of 230 sewer and drainage workers not showing up for work. Their acions were prompted by the deaths of sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker Feb. 1, 1968. Both had climbed into the back of a garbage truck to get out of the rain when they were crushed by a hydraulic ram that started up on its own.

Feb. 13 (Top of timeline)

Officials from the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) come to Tennessee to lead negotiations with the newly elected Mayor Henry Loeb. The mayor declares the strike illegal and refuses to negotiate.

About 800 strikers took their message to the streets Feb. 13, 1968., marching more than three miles to City Hall. BARNEY SELLERS / THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL

Feb. 23 (Top of timeline)

Police, brandishing rifles, use their vehicles to force marchers back toward the sidewalk. Strikers say a police car ran over the foot of a woman. The men react by turning the car over on its side. The strike explodes into violence. Marchers are beaten with nightsticks or sprayed with Mace.

Gallery - Click for more photos

Police sprayed Mace into the faces of marchers. The protesters, some blind from the chemical, dispersed in confusion. COURTESY OF THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL

March 18 (Top of timeline)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. arrives in Memphis and gives a speech to thousands in Mason Temple Church. In the speech, he suggests they should mobilize a work stoppage.

Gallery - Click for more photos

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to an overflow crowd at Mason Temple Church March 18, 1968. VERNON MATTHEWS / THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL

March 28 (Top of timeline)

The march begins with King and his ministerial allies in the lead, flanked by sanitation workers. But it turns violent when members of the Invaders began to break storefront windows and looters take advantage of the situation. Fearful for King's safety, his men sweep him away. Police disperse the marchers with teargas. National Guard troops are called in and seal off black neighborhoods. Martial law is declared by nightfall. More than 60 were injured and one person was killed.

Gallery - Click for more photos

The 'I Am A Man' signs distributed at the March 28, 1968, march came to symbolize the strike effort. COPYRIGHT RICHARD L. COPLEY

March 29 (Top of timeline)

The National Guard patrol the city in armored personnel carriers equipped with 50-caliber machine guns.

Gallery - Click for more photos

An armed National Guardsman stands watch along debris-littered Beale Street on March 29, 1968. SAM PARRISH / UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS LIBRARIES

April 3 (Top of timeline)

King returns to Memphis and gives his last public speech at Mason Temple Church.

Gallery - Click for more photos

Jesse Jackson sits next to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at King's last public speech April 3, 1968. KEN ROSS / UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS LIBRARIES

April 4 (Top of timeline)

Standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel at 6:01 p.m., King is shot to death by a sniper. The bullet came from James Earl Ray, who shot the fatal bullet from a rooming house 207 feet away. He was later caught and pled guilty, receiving a 99 year sentence.

April 5 (Top of timeline)

Mourners pay tribute to King at R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home. His body is later transported to Memphis Metropolitan Airport where his family awaits to take him home to Atlanta.

April 8 (Top of timeline)

King's widow, Coretta Scott King, leads a memorial march in downtown Memphis. Civil rights and union leaders are among the estimated 19,000 people in attendance.

April 16 (Top of timeline)

The strike is settled. The city recognizes the union and the workers get a raise of 10 cents an hour, with another nickel an hour hike to take effect in September. The city agrees to make promotions on the basis of seniority and competence - not race. The workers also win the right to have union dues automatically deducted from their paychecks.