On this date in 1966, Sammy Younge Jr. was a 21-year-old civil rights activist and a student at Tuskegee Institute who was tragically shot and killed on January 3, 1966, in Macon County, Alabama.

Younge, a Navy veteran, was actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement, working with the **Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)** to fight for voting rights and racial justice. On the day of his murder, he stopped at a gas station and attempted to use the “Whites-only” restroom. The white attendant, Marvin Segrest, confronted him and later shot him in the back of the head.

Younge’s death sparked outrage and became a rallying point for civil rights activists. SNCC issued its first public statement opposing the Vietnam War in response to his killing, drawing a connection between racial injustice at home and abroad. However, despite the activism surrounding his case, Segrest was acquitted by an all-white jury in 1967.

His murder remains a significant moment in the fight for racial equality in America.