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After much build-up, special sections, museum exhibits and discussion aboiut what to call it, the 50th anniversary of the Detroit 1967 riot arrives today, July 23.
It was on an early Sunday morning on 12th Street 50 years ago that disturbances were touched off. Detroit, like other urban centers, was a fuse waiting to be lit. The city would never be the same.
Today, there's a much touted comeback in Midtown, downtown and Corktown, as well as some other parts of the city. But some neighborhoods have never recovered, and recovery remains elusive. There are empty fields where stores once stood, and some blocks have only a couple of occupied homes.
Some people feel left out from the recovery, as The Detroit News chronicles today.
To observe the half-century mark, the Detroit Free Press -- with assistance from the Detroit Historical Museum and Deadline Detroit co-founder Bill McGraw -- presents an hour-by-hour account of significant developments during what some call a rebellion.
That chronology is adapted imaginatively on social media as "live tweets" and Facebook status updates at the time of each original event.
Here's a sampling of the published timeline:
Sunday, July 23
3:35 a.m.: Detroit Police Officer Joseph Brown, working undercover, slips into the blind pig at 12th and Clairmount and buys a beer.
4:05 a.m.: Cops begin loading 85 blind-pig patrons into patrol wagons. A small crowd is gathering.
4:40 a.m.: The crowd on 12th Street is growing and becoming hostile.
5:10 a.m.: People are throwing bottles and breaking store windows as police pull out with the last prisoners.
5:20 a.m.: Police commanders notify Commissioner Ray Girardin. He calls Mayor Jerome Cavanagh.
5:30 a.m.: Police send reinforcements into the 10th (Livernois) Precinct, which surrounds 12th and Clairmount.
7:45 a.m.: Police Commissioner Girardin orders cops to seal off Belle Isle.
