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April 13, 1945 - Just three months into his fourth term, America's longest-serving president has died. The funeral train carrying the body of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes through Charlotte as it travels from Warm Springs, Georgia to Washington, D.C.
September 13, 1959 - Thousands of worshipers from the eastern U.S. take to the streets as the Daddy Grace parade makes its way through Charlotte's largest black neighborhood, Second Ward. Always held on the second Sunday in September, the parade honors Bishop C.M.
January 5, 1956 - Federal law desegregates interstate buses, meaning it will be illegal for these buses to have separate sections for black and white riders. But the law only applies to buses that travel between states. Buses that run within one state can still be segregated.
February 12, 1970 - Southpark opens on more than 100 acres of farmland southeast of downtown Charlotte. The new shopping mall greets 92,000 visitors its first day. Downtown stores will see a 25% drop in their sales the first year of Southpark's operation.
Many Charlotte-Mecklenburg students must endure long bus rides to faraway schools. Even people who support busing to achieve integration are frustrated. Slowly, blacks and whites begin to talk to each other constructively and ask questions. What does or doesn't work?
May 8, 1961 - The Freedom Riders are a group of civil rights workers traveling the South to challenge the system that separate people according to race, called segregation.
February 1, 1960 - Four black college students refuse to leave Woolworth's whites only lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, until they are served. Charlotte's Franklin McCain is one of the young men who takes part in this sit-in.
February 6, 1975 - Bluegrass musician Arthur Smith has long been a favorite performer on Charlotte's live WBT radio shows. Today, Smith wins almost $200,000 from Warner Brothers.
January 19, 1965 - Darius and Vera Swann want their son, James, to attend school near the family's home. But since the Swanns are black, James is assigned to an all-black school farther away. Lawyer Julius Chambers files legal action against the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.
July 11, 1975 - It has been seven long years since Julius Chambers first filed the legal case, Swann vs. the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. Integration has worked for one year. Judge James B.
November 22, 1965Eight-year-old Kelly Alexander, Jr. lies asleep in his bed. Kelly's father has been working to obtain the same rights for black Americans that whites enjoy.
April 4, 1968 - The Baptist minister who believes in non-violent protest has himself become a victim of violence. Inspirational leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is fatally shot in Memphis, Tennessee. More than 100,000 people attend King's funeral in Atlanta.
April 23, 1969 - There is a new judge presiding over the Swann case, the legal action that tests whether integration can actually work in schools. Judge James B.
June 18, 1989 - After almost two years of renovations, the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County reopens its doors to new and expanded building. The state-of-the-art facility features expanded services and a larger staff..
September 22, 1989 - Charlotte is caught unaware when Hurricane Hugo turns inland from the South Carolina coast and slams into the Queen City during the night. High winds uproot huge trees, tear the roofs off homes and knock down power lines across the region.
October 12, 1980 - The man born at his great-grandfather's home near 2nd and Graham streets returns to the Queen City. Romare Bearden is now a nationally acclaimed artist who creates works of art from small pieces of glass, ceramic or paper in a method called collage.
October 31, 1981 - Discovery Place, Charlotte's hands-on museum opens. It has grown out of the Nature Museum, which has taught young children about the world around them since 1947.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg's explosive growth is creating many challenges. Commuters traveling to and from work jam area roads. Highways can't handle the traffic in and out of the county.
May 18, 1986 - Shalom Park, the new center of Charlotte's Jewish community, is dedicated. The city has two Jewish houses of worship: Temple Israel and Temple Beth El.