Kennedy Assassination 50th anniversary
  • 9 years ago
November 22 marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, in Dallas, Texas.

Around lunchtime on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally and his wife Nellie were travelling in a motorcade through Dallas on the way to the city's Trade Mart when Kennedy was shot and killed by lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald as the vehicle passed through Dealey Plaza.

Oswald, positioned on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository where he worked, had a clear view of Kennedy as the motorcade passed down Houston Street, but opted not to shoot, instead waiting until the vehicle turned onto Elm Street, where the view was partially obscured by trees.

According to the Warren Commission, Oswald fired three shots using a 6.5mm Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, the first of which ricocheted off a tree before ending up near the railway bridge where it struck a bystander. The subsequent second and third shots hit the president, the third shot being the fatal one.

According to analysis of footage available of the assassination Oswald would have had to fire the three shots within 8.4 seconds.

The second shot, often referred to as the "magic bullet" entered Kennedy's back, exiting through his throat. It then passed through Governor Connally's right shoulder and chest before hitting his right wrist and lodging in his left leg.

The third and fatal shot hit Kennedy in the head causing the right front of his head to explode.

Footage of the assassination was captured by Dallas dressmaker Abraham Zapruder who was filming the motorcade from the Grassy Knoll.

Several witnesses present reported seeing a puff of smoke from near a white picket fence next to where Zapruder was filming, leading to theories of a second gunman and a fourth shot.

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