Today In History 1865: Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth inside Ford’s theater in Washington DC during the play “Our American Cousin”. Read below and I’ll run through some facts . . .

The Lincolns originally were to attend the play at Grover’s theater to see “The Wonderful Lamp” (Aladdin) but Mrs. Lincoln desperately wanted to see the legendary actress Laura Keene perform “Our American Cousin” so a last minute change was made to go to Ford’s theater

The Lincolns were supposed to be accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, but Mrs. Grant couldn’t stand Mrs. Lincoln and they left town. Booth had intentions on killing Grant, as well. Their fill-in guests were Henry Rathbone and his fiancee, Clara Harris

Henry Rathbone was also stabbed by Booth as he escaped

Booth basically lived at Ford’s theater, it was his mailing address and he was a famous actor, so nobody suspected him walking around. Lincoln’s guard had left his station (as was normal back then) and Booth walked right in and shot Lincoln in the back of the head

Abraham Lincoln was not the only target that night, nor the only one attacked. The Vice President, Andrew Johnson was supposed to be assassinated, as well as Secretary of state, William Seward. Seward was attacked at his home by Lewis Powell.

Seward was stabbed repeatedly in the face and arms, but was saved because of a brace he had around his neck from a wagon accident he had days earlier. He was disfigured for the rest of his life

George Atzerodt was supposed to kill VP Johnson but backed out and instead got drunk in a bar. They were supposed to rendezvous in Maryland afterwards

There was a curfew in DC and you weren’t allowed to cross the bridges without a pass, but the guard to the old Navy bridge allowed Booth and Herold (another conspirator) to cross. The guards name was Silas Cobb

A manhunt ensued, and nearly 2 weeks later booth and Herold were caught inside a barn. Herold surrendered but Booth was killed by a man named “Boston Corbett”

Did you know that the Lincolns companions for the night, Henry Rathbone and clara Harris, eventually got married and had 3 kids, but Rathbone went crazy and murdered Mrs. Harris

Lewis Powell, David Herold and George Atzerodt, along with a woman named Mary Surratt were hanged to death on July 7. Surratt was a conspirator who aided in Booth and Herolds escape by leaving behind a rifle and field glasses.

Abraham Lincoln died the next morning across the street from Ford’s theater at the “Peterson House”. He was 56 years old

The actress, Laura Keene, was near the end of her acting days. She even had a theater (Laura Keene theater) on Broadway. By this time though she had become a drunk. When Lincoln was shot, she ran over to him and cradled his head on her lap.

for the remainder of her life, she would show off her blood stained dress at parties

You know, just like today, someone yelled out "is there a doctor in the house", and sure enough there was. A young doctor by the name of Charles Leale approached Lincoln. He noticed that when he stuck his finger in the hole in Lincolns head, Lincoln was gasp

You can still visit the Peterson house today. I've been there. The bed that Lincoln was placed on was too small (he was 6'5") so that lied him diagonally. You can still see his blood stains on a pillow, which is now enclosed in glass

Mary Todd was a neurotic to begin with. She was inconsolable after this that they made her leave the room. She was not present for her husbands final breath. Mary had already lost 2 sons, and would soon lose a 3rd. She would be institutionalized, but eventually recovered somewhat