Four African-American schoolgirls killed in Birmingham

( September 15, 2011 )

On September 15, 1963, a bomb explodes during Sunday morning services in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls. The church bombing was the third in Birmingham in 11 days after a federal order came down to integrate Alabama's school system. Fifteen sticks of dynamite were planted in the church basement, underneath what turned out to be the girls' restroom. The bomb detonated at 10:19 a.m., killing Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collins--all 14 years old--and 11-year-old Denise McNair. A well-known Klan member, Robert Chambliss, was charged and eventually convicted of the murders in 1977. Years later, two other men - Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas E. Blanton, Jr. - were also convicted of helping Chamblis. A fourth man, Herman Cash, died before he could face charges. - This Day in History, History.com