A grieving relative is led away from the site of the <a href="index.php?page=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2013%2F06%2F13%2Fus%2F1963-birmingham-church-bombing-fast-facts%2Findex.html">16th Street Baptist Church bombing</a> in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963. Four black girls were killed and at least 14 others were injured, sparking riots and a national outcry.
1963 Birmingham church bombing —
A grieving relative is led away from the site of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963. Four black girls were killed and at least 14 others were injured, sparking riots and a national outcry.
AP
From left, 11-year-old Denise McNair and 14-year-olds Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins and Cynthia Wesley were killed while attending Sunday services. Three Ku Klux Klan members were later convicted of murder.
1963 Birmingham church bombing —
From left, 11-year-old Denise McNair and 14-year-olds Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins and Cynthia Wesley were killed while attending Sunday services. Three Ku Klux Klan members were later convicted of murder.
AP
Firefighters and ambulance attendants remove a body from the church.
1963 Birmingham church bombing —
Firefighters and ambulance attendants remove a body from the church.
AP
Cars parked beside the church were damaged by the blast.
1963 Birmingham church bombing —
Cars parked beside the church were damaged by the blast.
AP
The 16th Street Baptist Church served as a rallying point during the civil rights movement. It was declared a national historic landmark in 2006.
1963 Birmingham church bombing —
The 16th Street Baptist Church served as a rallying point during the civil rights movement. It was declared a national historic landmark in 2006.
Burton Mcneely//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Sarah Jean Collins, 12, lost an eye in the blast. Her sister was one of the girls who died.
1963 Birmingham church bombing —
Sarah Jean Collins, 12, lost an eye in the blast. Her sister was one of the girls who died.
Frank Dandridge//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Martin Luther King Jr. holds a press conference in Birmingham the day after the attack. He said the U.S. Army "ought to come to Birmingham and take over this city and run it."
1963 Birmingham church bombing —
Martin Luther King Jr. holds a press conference in Birmingham the day after the attack. He said the U.S. Army "ought to come to Birmingham and take over this city and run it."
AP
Family and friends of Carole Robertson attend graveside services for her in Birmingham on September 17, 1963.
1963 Birmingham church bombing —
Family and friends of Carole Robertson attend graveside services for her in Birmingham on September 17, 1963.
Horace Cort/AP
A man digs a grave for one of the girls.
1963 Birmingham church bombing —
A man digs a grave for one of the girls.
Burton Mcneely//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
A coffin is loaded into a hearse at a funeral for the girls. An estimated 8,000 people attended the service.
1963 Birmingham church bombing —
A coffin is loaded into a hearse at a funeral for the girls. An estimated 8,000 people attended the service.
Burton Mcneely//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Mourners embrace at the funeral. In his eulogy, Dr. King said, "These children -- unoffending, innocent and beautiful -- were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity."
1963 Birmingham church bombing —
Mourners embrace at the funeral. In his eulogy, Dr. King said, "These children -- unoffending, innocent and beautiful -- were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity."
Burton Mcneely//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Photos: 1963 Birmingham church bombing
CNN  — 

September 15, 1963 – A dynamite bomb explodes at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing 11-year-old Carol Denise McNair and 14-year-olds Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins and Carole Robertson.

1965 – Birmingham FBI agents recommend that at least four suspects be charged with the bombing. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover blocks the prosecution of the suspects, saying the chance of winning a conviction was “remote.”

1968 - Federal authorities pull out of the investigation without charges being filed.

1971 - Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopens the case.

September 26, 1977 Robert Chambliss, 73, a retired auto mechanic and former Ku Klux Klan member, is indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury on four counts of first-degree murder.

November 18, 1977– Chambliss is convicted of first-degree murder in connection with Carol’s death and sentenced to life imprisonment.

1980 – Jefferson County’s district attorney reopens the case after a U.S. Justice Department report found that Hoover had blocked evidence that prosecutors could have used. No additional charges are filed.

October 29, 1985 – Chambliss dies of natural causes at age 81 without ever publicly admitting any role in the bombing.

October, 1988 – Federal and state prosecutors reopen their investigation into the church bombing after Gary A. Tucker, a former bus driver dying of cancer, said he helped set the bomb. No new charges are filed.

July 10, 1997 – The FBI reopens its investigation into the bombing after a secret yearlong review.

May 4, 2000 – A lawyer for longtime bombing suspect Bobby Frank Cherry says his client rejected a deal in which he would receive probation if he pleaded guilty to transporting explosives over state lines. Cherry, in jail in Texas on charges of raping his stepdaughter in 1971, continues to deny any involvement in the bombing.

May 17, 2000 – Former Ku Klux Klan members Cherry and Thomas Blanton Jr. surrender to authorities after a Jefferson County, Alabama, grand jury indicts them on first-degree murder charges in connection with the 1963 bombing.

April 2, 2001 – A judge rejects a request by lawyers for Blanton and Cherry to move the trial out of Birmingham. The defense argues that pretrial publicity and the emotional nature of the case warrant a change of venue. The men face life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.

May 1, 2001 – Blanton is found guilty of first-degree murder and is sentenced to four life terms.

May 22, 2002 –Cherry is found guilty and given a sentence of four life terms.