Abraham Lincoln Assassination

On the evening of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, assassinated Abraham Lincoln. The assassination took place at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. The murder occurred 5 days after General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia which ended the American Civil War.

At 10:15, John Booth fired his .44-caliber pistol into the back of Lincoln's head. At first, the crowd thought the drama was apart of the production however the scream that came from the first lady told them otherwise. Booth managed to leave the theater with a broken leg and escape from Washington.

Several soldiers carried Lincoln to a boardinghouse across the street and placed him in bed. When the surgeon arrived, he concluded that Lincoln could not be saved and would probably die during the night. Lincoln was pronounced dead at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865, at the age of 56.