Memphis, Tennessee Timeline of Events

Home / Timelines / Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

Timeline of Events

1862

6.4.1862

American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.

1934

11.6.1934

Memphis, Tennessee becomes the first major city to join the Tennessee Valley Authority.

1968

4.4.1968

Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

1969

3.10.1969

In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. He later retracts his guilty plea.