1967 Newark riots

In 1967, a Newark, NJ cab driver named John Smith had been brutally beaten by police for illegally passing a double-parked police car and then resisting arrest.

This set off the Newark Riots which plunged the city into five days of violence, looting and destruction -- ultimately leaving 26 dead and causing more than $10 million in property damage.

The riot is often attributed to the decline of Newark and its neighboring communities, as many of the city's residents fled to outerlying communities immediately following the riots.