Episode 45: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln


Lithograph of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. From left to right: Henry Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln, and John Wilkes Booth. Rathbone is depicted as spotting Booth before he shot Lincoln and trying to stop him as Booth fired his weapon. Rathbone actually was unaware of Booth’s approach, and reacted after the shot was fired. While Lincoln is depicted clutching the flag after being shot, it is also possible that he just simply pushed the flag aside to watch the performance.
Lithograph of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. From left to right: Henry Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln, and John Wilkes Booth. Rathbone is depicted as spotting Booth before he shot Lincoln and trying to stop him as Booth fired his weapon. Rathbone actually was unaware of Booth’s approach, and reacted after the shot was fired. While Lincoln is depicted clutching the flag after being shot, it is also possible that he just simply pushed the flag aside to watch the performance.

April 14th marks the 150th anniversary of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.

Here are some things you might not know about it:

First: Lincoln wasn’t the only target that night.

John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators planned to kill Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward.

The person assigned to kill Johnson chose to get drunk instead, while Seward was stabbed several times and badly injured.

Second: Booth originally planned to kidnap Lincoln.

He decided to kill the president after hearing a speech in which Lincoln supported the full citizenship of freed slaves.

Third: Samuel Seymour, who was five years old when Lincoln was shot, was the last surviving witness to the assassination.

He died in 1956 at age 95.

Our question: What was the name of the play Lincoln was watching at Ford’s Theater the night he was shot?

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