John Wilkes Booth assassinating Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theatre
Location
Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Date
April 14, 1865; 159 years ago (1865-04-14) 10:15 PM
Target
Abraham Lincoln (succeeded)
Andrew Johnson (failed)
William H. Seward (failed)
Attack type
Political assassination
shooting
stabbing
Weapons
Philadelphia Deringer pistol
dagger
Deaths
Abraham Lincoln (died April 15, 1865, at 7:22 AM)
John Wilkes Booth (perpetrator, killed on April 26, 1865)
Injured
Henry Rathbone
Joseph "Peanuts" Burroughs[a]
William H. Seward
Frederick Seward
Augustus Seward
Fanny Seward
George F. Robinson
Emerick Hansell
Perpetrators
John Wilkes Booth and co-conspirators
Motive
Revenge for the Confederate States
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the head as he watched the play,[2] Lincoln died of his wounds the following day at 7:22 am in the Petersen House opposite the theater.[3] He was the first U.S. president to be assassinated.[4] His funeral and burial were marked by an extended period of national mourning.
Near the end of the American Civil War, Lincoln's assassination was part of a larger conspiracy intended by Booth to revive the Confederate cause by eliminating the three most important officials of the federal government.
Conspirators Lewis Powell and David Herold were assigned to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward, and George Atzerodt was tasked with killing Vice President Andrew Johnson.
Beyond Lincoln's death, the plot failed: Seward was only wounded, and Johnson's would-be attacker became drunk instead of killing the vice president. After a dramatic initial escape, Booth was killed at the end of a 12-day chase. Powell, Herold, Atzerodt, and Mary Surratt were later hanged for their roles in the conspiracy.
^Cite error: The named reference Evidence was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Abel, E. Lawrence (2015). A Finger in Lincoln's Brain: What Modern Science Reveals about Lincoln, His Assassination, and Its Aftermath. ABC-CLIO. p. 63. ISBN 9781440831195. Forensic evidence clearly indicates Booth could not have fired at point-blank range... At a distance of three or more feet, the gunshot did not leave any stippling or any other residues on the surface of Lincoln's head... Dr. Robert Stone, the Lincoln's' family physician, was explicit: "The hair or scalp (on Lincoln's head) was not in the least burn[t]."
^Fraser, Richard A. R. (February–March 1995). "How Did Lincoln Die?". American Heritage. 46 (1).
^"Today in History - April 14". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
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