On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln Was Shot

Just five days after the formal end of the Civil War, President Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth on this date, while attending the comedy “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. He died the next day.

Lincoln our 16th president (1861-1865), was the first president born outside the original thirteen colonies, and the first to be assassinated. He is typically ranked #1 by historians in polls for our country’s best president.