President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington.

On the night of April 14, 1865, a tragic moment in American history unfolded — the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. It was just five days after the Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the American Civil War. The nation was hopeful for healing and unity, but that hope was shattered in a single act of violence. President Lincoln, accompanied by his wife Mary Todd Lincoln, attended a performance of the comedy Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. The theatre was a popular venue, but Lincoln’s attendance was well-publicized, and it presented an opportunity for his assassin — John Wilkes Booth. John Wilkes Booth was a well-known actor and a Confederate sympathizer who viewed Lincoln as a tyrant responsible for the South's downfall. Fueled by hatred and a desire for revenge, Booth devised a plan to kill the President and incite chaos in the Union government. At around 10:15 p.m., Booth quietly entered the presidential box at the theatre. He waited for a specific moment in the play — a line that would guarantee laughter from the audience and mask the sound of gunfire. Then, with a single shot from a .44 caliber derringer pistol, Booth shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head. Lincoln immediately lost consciousness and never regained it. Booth leapt from the box onto the stage, reportedly shouting “Sic semper tyrannis!” — Latin for “Thus always to tyrants,” the motto of Virginia — though accounts vary slightly. In his escape, Booth broke his leg but managed to flee the theatre. President Lincoln was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he remained in a coma for several hours. At 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln died. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton famously said, “Now he belongs to the ages.” The nation was plunged into mourning. Booth was hunted down and killed on April 26, 1865, after refusing to surrender to Union soldiers. Lincoln’s assassination was not only a devastating personal loss for the country but also a critical moment that altered the course of post-war Reconstruction. His vision for a compassionate reunification of the nation died with him, leaving the future of the United States uncertain and fragile. #MomentsOfLife #MoofLife_Moment #MoofLife #AbrahamLincoln #JohnWilkesBooth #AmericanHistory #FordTheatre #LincolnAssassination