Martin Luther King Jr.

===Survived knife attack, 1958===

On September 20, 1958, King was signing copies of his book ''[[Stride Toward Freedom]]'' in Blumstein's department store in Harlem<ref>{{cite book |last=Pearson |first=Hugh |year=2002 |title=When Harlem Nearly Killed King: The 1958 Stabbing of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |publisher=Seven Stories Press |page=37 |isbn=978-1-58322-614-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RyVQUJHo55IC&pg=PA37 |access-date=June 3, 2020 |archive-date=January 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123124428/https://books.google.com/books?id=RyVQUJHo55IC&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> when [[Izola Curry]]—a mentally ill black woman who thought that King was conspiring against her with communists—stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener, which nearly impinged on the aorta. King received first aid by police officers [[Al Howard]] and Philip Romano.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Michael |title=Before 'I Have a Dream,' Martin Luther King Almost Died. This Man Saved Him |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/nyregion/martin-luther-king-stabbed-harlem.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113101051/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/nyregion/martin-luther-king-stabbed-harlem.html |archive-date=November 13, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 13, 2020 |access-date=November 13, 2020}}</ref> King underwent emergency surgery by [[Aubre de Lambert Maynard]], [[Emil Naclerio]] and [[John W. V. Cordice]]; he remained hospitalized for several weeks. Curry was later found mentally incompetent to stand trial.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7694472.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514044835/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7694472.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 14, 2013 |title='King' is a Deft Exploration of the Civil Rights Leader's Stabbing |date=February 4, 2002 |author=Graham, Renee |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=January 20, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-51d3eceac5094ac7a08d8dd326287c79.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514060644/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1A1-51d3eceac5094ac7a08d8dd326287c79.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 14, 2013 |title=Today in History, September 20 |agency=Associated Press |date=September 19, 2012|access-date=January 20, 2013}}</ref>