On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife, Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife, Nellie, when he was fatally shot from the nearby Texas School Book Depository by former U.S. Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. The motorcade rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Kennedy was pronounced dead about 30 minutes after the shooting; Connally was also wounded in the attack but recovered. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was hastily sworn in as president two hours and eight minutes later aboard Air Force One at Dallas Love Field.
Lee Harvey Oswald (center) and others distributing pro-Castro leaflets in New Orleans, August 16, 1963.
A photograph of Oswald posing with his rifle, holstered pistol, and communist literature
President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy arriving at Dallas Love Field on November 22, 1963.
Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a person—especially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by grievances, notoriety, financial, military, political or other motives. Many times governments and criminal groups order assassinations to be committed by their accomplices. Acts of assassination have been performed since ancient times. A person who carries out an assassination is called an assassin or hitman.
Scenario depicting the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Nikolay Bobrikov, the Russian Governor-General of Finland, assassinated by Eugen Schauman on June 16, 1904, in Helsinki. A drawing of the assassination by an unknown author.
Mugshot of Lee Harvey Oswald, the individual responsible for the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Oswald himself was murdered two days later by Jack Ruby, the first such event to receive wide television coverage.
Shown in the presidential booth of Ford's Theatre, from left to right, are assassin John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln, Clara Harris and Henry Rathbone.