As a Brit, I have to say that MLK's assassination ws one of those moments that I still remember - along with JFK and, to a lesser extent, Lennon.
When I first signed on to Napster to see what they had, I search for the "I hve a dream " speech and downloaded it - and it had me in floods of tears; call me a honky white liberal, but it is one of the finest, noblest pieces of oratory we have. (I don't like Napster as a concept, but for that one download, I'm grateful)
My best friend at school was black/irish (an amazingly common mix in the UK for some reason) and we spent hours as youngsters trying to learn that speech off by heart - God knows why; it's just that even as kids we recognised its power and its importance.
For the memories of my friendship with Chris, for the poetry and sher power of his words, and despite all his foibles, MLK remains one of my all-time heroes.