Forty-five years ago yesterday, four girls were murdered when a bomb went off at Birmingham's 16th St Baptist Church, a base of operations for the SCLC. Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins died when the bomb went off as they were heading to the church basement for final prayers. The first suspect wasn't convicted until 1978 — the last two were sentenced in 2002.

[H/T JJP]