This Day In Market History: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Is Assassinated

Each day, Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that happened on this date.

What Happened

On the evening of April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot in Memphis, Tennessee.

Where Was The Market

The S&P 500 was trading around 95.67 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average around 893.37. Today, the S&P 500 is at 2,873 and the Dow is at 26,218.

What Else Was Going On In The World

The Vietnam War continued to rage, the first “Planet of the Apes” had just hit theaters, and Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” topped the Billboard Charts.

MLK Is Assassinated

While in Memphis to support a sanitation workers’ strike, King Jr., 39, was shot and killed on his hotel balcony. Riots soon erupted in cities across the United States.

One day later, the New York Stock Exchange held a minute of silence to honor the civil rights leader, and on April 9, it closed for a national day of mourning during MLK’s Atlanta funeral.

Prior to this memorial, the NYSE had only closed to honor presidents, British monarchs and J.P. Morgan.

The U.S. equities and bond markets now close the third Monday of January each year to commemorate MLK's birth.

Related Links:

This Day In Market History: Judge Rules Microsoft A Monopoly

This Day In Market History: Eurozone Unemployment Hits 12%