On this day, Aug. 11, in 1965, riots and looting began in the Watts section of Los Angeles in the costliest example of racial tension during the Civil Rights era. The violence was triggered by the arrest of 21-year-old Marquette Frye for suspicion of driving drunk. The officers refused to allow his brother to drive the car home and ordered it impounded.

Their mother showed up and tried to intervene, and all three were arrested. A crowd began to throw objects.