On the evening of April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and his wife went to see a performance of “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.
At 10:15 p.m., John Wilkes Booth slipped into the Lincolns private box and fired a .44-caliber derringer into the back of Lincoln’s head. As Booth was escaping, he broke his leg but managed to leave the theater and escape on a horse.
In this March 4, 1861 file photo, President Abraham Lincoln stands under cover at center of the Capitol steps during his inauguration in Washington. The scaffolding at upper right is used in construction of the Capitol dome. (AP Photo/File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
A 23-year-old doctor was in the audience. He raced to Lincoln and found him slumped in his chair, paralyzed and struggling to breathe.
Soldiers carried Lincoln to a house across the street. When the surgeon general arrived at the house, he concluded that Lincoln could not be saved and would die during the night.
President Abraham Lincoln visits with Union Gen. George McClellan at his headquarters in this Oct. 4, 1862 photo. Lincoln removed McClellen from command after the Battle of Antietam for failing to pursue and destroy the Confederate Army under the command of Gen. Robert E. Lee. (AP Photo)AP
Lincoln was pronounced dead at 7:22 a.m. April 15, 1865.
The president's body was taken to the White House, and on April 18 it was carried to the Capitol rotunda to lay in state.
On April 21, Lincoln’s body was boarded onto a train headed to his hometown of Springfield, Ill. Thousands of people lined the railroad route through 180 cities in seven states to see the funeral train, which was in Harrisburg April 21-22.
The death bed scene after President Abraham Lincoln was mortally wounded in Ford's Theater April 14, 1865, is shown in this rare picture. The picture shows Mrs. Lincoln kneeling beside the bed and members of the cabinet behind it. This picture was supposed to have been given to a friend by Mrs. Lincoln shortly after the funeral and then passed down through the family from generation to generation. (AP Photo)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He saw the country through the Civil War and abolished slavery. His Gettysburg Address was delivered on Nov. 19, 1863.
Lincoln was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Kentucky. According to history.com, Lincoln had little formal education because he had to work to support his family.
This picture of Abraham Lincoln appeared on the poster used in his presidential campaign in 1860. The original photo is in the Chicago Historical Society. (AP Photo)ASSOCIATED PRESS
After his family moved to Illinois he became involved in local politics and won election to the state legislature in 1834.
Lincoln taught himself the law and passed the bar exam in 1836. A year later, he moved to Springfield. He worked there as a lawyer for several years. In 1842, he married Mary Todd.
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, wearing top hat, is shown with Union Army Gen. George B. McClellan, facing Lincoln, and McClellan's staff at Antietam, Maryland, 1862 during the American Civil War. (AP Photo/Alexander Gardner)ASSOCIATED PRESS
In 1846, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was not popular because of his objection to the U.S. war with Mexico. He returned to Springfield in 1849. He joined the Republican party mostly because of its opposition to slavery.
Lincoln ran for the senate in 1858 and lost but gained a reputation that resulted in the Republicans choosing him as their candidate for president. He won and was inaugurated in March 1861. His election, however, caused seven southern states to secede from the Union and form the Confederate States of America.
A scene in front of the Capitol during Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration, 1865, just six weeks before his assassination. (AP Photo)ASSOCIATED PRESS
On Jan. 1, 1863, Lincoln issued an emancipation proclamation that freed all of the slaves of the rebellious states but those in border states in bondage, according to history.com.
Lincoln's funeral train in Harrisburg, April 1865. Pennsylvania State Archives, MG-218, The General Photograph Collection.
In November 1863 he delivered the Gettysburg Address.
He ran for re-election in 1864 and won. In April 1865, just a month after his second inauguration, he urged everyone to welcome the southern states back. He did not live to see the Reconstruction.