It all started with a traffic stop. On Aug. 11, 1965, California Highway Patrol Officer Lee Minikus responded to a report of a reckless driver in the Watts section of Los Angeles. Shortly after 7 ...

It was Aug. 11, 1965, that Los Angeles police officer Lee Minikus tried to arrest Marquette Frye for driving drunk in the city’s Watts neighborhood—an event that led to one of the most ...

1965 Watts Riots: Vandals smashed two windows at the Watts Towers Teen Post at 1807 East 103rd Street, according to the police. John Estrada, 20, is shown surveying the scene.

1965 Watts Riots: Vandals smashed two windows at the Watts Towers Teen Post at 1807 East 103rd Street, according to the police. John Estrada, 20, is shown surveying the scene.

The Watts riots broke out Aug. 11, 1965, and raged for most of a week. When the smoke cleared, 34 people were dead, more than a 1,000 were injured and some 600 buildings were damaged.

Tuesday marks the 55th anniversary of one of the most vivid weeks of racial tension in U.S. history.

Forty-four years ago today, the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts erupts into the worst race riot in recent U.S. history, leaving 34 people dead.

In a few moments, we'll hear from a man who continues to activism that sprang from the 1965 riots, but, first, some history. Adolfo Guzman Lopez of member station KPCC examines why Watts exploded ...

A short article in the Aug. 11, 2006, Los Angeles Times reported on the origins of the 1965 riots in Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood: "Aug. 11, 1965: At 7:19 p.m. in Watts, a California Highway ...

The Watts riots began on the 11th August 1965 following an argument over the arrest of a black drink driver. Following failed negotiation with black community leaders, ...

The Watts Riots occurred in August 1965 in the Watts section of Los Angeles after a white Highway Patrolman pulled over a black male driver on suspicion of drunk driving.

An image from the Watts riots in 1965. Barbara Arnwine, who lived through those riots, says watching the events in Ferguson, Mo., feels like “a time warp.” (CSU Archives/Everett Collection) ...