James Earl Ray, (born March 10, 1928, Alton, Illinois, U.S.—died April 23, 1998, Nashville, Tennessee), American
assassin
of the African American civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
Did James Earl Ray have a job?
Ray took a job at
a Chicago rubber company in 1948
and stayed there for several months before heading to California. By December of 1949, he was in jail, serving a three-month sentence for burglary. The arrest in California marked the beginning of Ray's string of incarcerations across the country.
What was James Earl Ray's occupation?
At the age of 16, Ray left his parents and returned to Alton, where he moved in with his grandmother and landed work in the dye room of the International Shoe Tannery. After getting laid off in 1945, Ray enlisted
in the Army
, eventually getting stationed in West Germany.
Who was James Earl Ray and what did he do?
James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was an
American criminal who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. at
the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.
How was James Earl Ray childhood?
Ray was born into
poverty
on March 10, 1928, in Alton, Illinois. He was the eldest child of Lucille and George Ellis Ray, who briefly moved the family to Bowling Green, Missouri, when Ray was two. … Ray himself was troubled early in life, suffering from such problems as recurring nightmares, stuttering, and bed-wetting.
How old is James Earl Jones?
James Earl Jones, who turns
90 on Jan. 17
, has one of the most famous voices of all time — not just as Darth Vader and Mufasa, but as the voice of CNN and hundreds of other programs.
How old is James Earl Ray?
In 1998, James Earl Ray, who confessed to assassinating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and then insisted he'd been framed, died at a Nashville, Tennessee, hospital
at age 70
.
Where is James Earl Ray buried?
| Birth 10 Mar 1928 Alton, Madison County, Illinois, USA | Burial Cremated, Ashes scattered, Specifically: Ashes Interred somewhere in Ireland |
|---|
How did James Earl Ray escape?
On April 4, 1968,
Martin Luther King, Jr.
was shot in Memphis, Tenn., just outside his hotel room. Ray managed to escape from the scene and wasn't arrested until June 8, when he was caught at Heathrow Airport in London with a fake Canadian passport.
How did James Earl Ray get to England?
On 7 May he
took a flight from Toronto to Heathrow airport
, London. A few hours later he flew on to Lisbon, Portugal. James Earl Ray would later explain he'd wanted to secure a sea-passage from Lisbon to Africa.
Do all states recognize MLK Day?
It took
until 2000 for all fifty states
to officially recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day, some thirty years since King's assassination and almost twenty years since it became a federal holiday.
How old was Martin Luther King Jr when he died?
was killed by an assassin's bullet in Memphis. The world has changed greatly since 1968, but King's message survives intact. On the day of his death, King was in Tennessee to help support a sanitation workers' strike. At the age of
39
, he was already an internationally known figure.
