August 22, 2011: The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Opens

August 22, 2011: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. It is in West Potomac Park, adjacent to the National Mall, between the memorials for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Korean War veterans.

The statue is 30 feet high. Though the likeness is excellent, it's made of white marble -- not "Caucasian," but, literally, white -- and Dr. King looks angry. Most people, if they were to design a statue for the most familiar figure of the 20th Century's Civil Rights Movement, would not make it look like an angry white man.

The sculptor was Lei Yixin, a Chinese man who had previously been known for statues of Mao Zedong. Perhaps another bad choice: While Dr. King was alive, his enemies tried to tie him to "the worldwide Communist conspiracy."

But the message was right. The inspiration for the memorial design is a line from King's 1963 speech to the March On Washington, nearby at the Lincoln Memorial. Not, "I have a dream," but, "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope." And the mailing address was right: 1964 Independence Avenue Southwest, commemorating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was also the year that King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

A dedication ceremony was set for the following Sunday, August 28, the Anniversary of that March. But Hurricane Irene postponed it, and it was held on October 16.

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August 22, 2011 was a Monday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-0 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Cliff Lee pitched 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, with David Herndon completing the 5-hit shutout.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-1 at Nationals Park in Washington, 2 1/2 miles southeast of the MLK Memorial.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* A doubleheader was spilt at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Milwaukee Brewers won the 1st game, 8-1. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the 2nd game, 9-2.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. It took 4 Braves pitchers to pitch a 9-hit shutout.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-1 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-0 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Houston Astros, 9-5 at Coors Field in Denver.

* And the New York Yankees, the Chicago White Sox, the Cincinnati Reds, the Florida Marlins, the Kansas City Royals, the Los Angeles Angels, the Oakland Athletics, the San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants and the Toronto Blue Jays were not scheduled.