Malcolm X Assassination Facts: 5 Things To Know About Civil Rights Icon's Murder 52 Years Ago

Malcolm X, the civil rights activist who gained notoriety with his militant approach, was killed 52 years ago Tuesday.

When he was assassinated in February of 1965, he was just 39 years old. Malcolm X was known as the counterpoint of sorts to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who preached a non-violent approach during the civil rights movement. The man born as Malcolm Little promoted the attitude of "by any means necessary" and helped grow the black Muslim group the Nation of Islam, but later grew less militant and left the group disillusioned and highly critical of its ways.

Here are 5 quick facts about Malcolm X's death on the anniversary of his death.

1. He was shot and killed. Three men from the Nation of Islam, Thomas Hagan, Norman Butler and Thomas Johnson, were charged with the crime and sentenced to spend decades in prison. Only Hagan confessed to the crime while the other two maintained their innocence.

2. He was delivering a speech in New York City. Malcolm X was set to begin his remarks at the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem when the men rushed the stage and shot the leader.

3. There are theories that there was more to his murder. A CNN article from 2015 noted that there was no police presence at the event, an anomaly, and that many documentary-makers and journalists were beginning to question the police's version of the events. The crime scene was apparently mishandled and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who ordered close surveillance on Malcolm X's every move, even sent a 1964 telegram simply stating, "Do something about Malcolm X enough of this black violence in NY."

4. Malcolm X expressed shortly before his death that he had received death threats from the Nation of Islam. "I'm a marked man. It doesn't frighten me for myself as long as I felt they would not hurt my family. ... No one can get out with out trouble, and this thing with me will be resolved by death and violence," he told the New York Times.

5. His home in the Queens borough of New York City had been fire-bombed just the week prior. Attackers threw two Molotov cocktails into his house in East Elmhurst, the entire family, four daughters and wife Betty, asleep. One cocktail did not ignite and the other, which started a fire in the living room, woke the family as the sounds of the flame raged. Malcolm X blamed the Nation of Islam. "I didn't see anyone but I sensed there was someone out there," he said to the New York Daily News at the time. "It could have been done by any one of many. I'm not surprised that it was done. It doesn't frighten me. It doesn’t quiet me down in any way or shut me up."