The March on Washington and the Civil Rights Act

- On June 11th, 1963, US President John F. Kennedy gave a televised speech calling for action on Civil Rights: “The time has come for America to remove the blight of racial discrimination and fulfil her brilliant promise.”

- On June 19th, 1963, Kennedy submitted a new Civil Rights bill to Congress, aiming to outlaw segregation in public places and grant the federal government power to enforce school desegregation.

- On August 28th, 1963, the March on Washington took place, where 250,000 people marched from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. MLK delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech.

- On September 15th, 1963, a bomb exploded at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, killing four Black girls.

- On November 22nd, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the new US President.

- On July 2nd, 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, making segregation in public places illegal and establishing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to combat workplace discrimination.