African American leader Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965.

Malcolm X, a sometimes controversial religious and civil rights leader, was shot by members from the Nation of Islam.

The Nation of Islam was a religious group he used to be a minister for, before he broke away started his own group, called the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

Many expected his impact to wane after death, but the opposite happened. He became an icon for racist persecution. His rise was in part due to the publication of his autobiography a few months after his death. It was named one of Time's most important non-fiction books of the 20th century.

And according to Time, the combination of the book and his death caused his life story to be remembered for his perseverance rather than his focus on racial separatism.