🇺🇸 United StatesThe JFK Assassination
The Story
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot while his motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and killed two days later. The Warren Commission concluded Oswald acted alone. Subsequent investigations, the Zapruder film, acoustic evidence debates, and classified file releases keep the case among history's most contested events.
Images
Timeline
Kennedy is shot in Dealey Plaza; Oswald is arrested hours later.
Jack Ruby kills Oswald in the Dallas police basement on live television.
The Warren Commission Report is published, concluding Oswald acted alone.
Known Evidence
How well-documented and physically verified the case evidence is.
- The Zapruder film documenting the motorcade and fatal head shot.
- Warren Commission findings attributing all shots to Oswald from the Texas School Book Depository.
- House Select Committee on Assassinations (1979) suggesting a probable conspiracy based on acoustic analysis later disputed.
- Millions of pages of FBI, CIA, and Dallas PD records released through the JFK Records Act.
Unresolved
What We Still Don't Know
- Whether Oswald acted alone or had accomplices.
- The full scope of intelligence agency files on Oswald before the assassination.
- The identity and role of the Babushka Lady and other unresolved witnesses.
Hypotheses
Theories
Ranked by plausibility — highest first.
Lone Gunman (Oswald)
Oswald fired three shots from the sixth floor of the Book Depository without assistance.
Organized Conspiracy
Multiple shooters or coordinated actors including intelligence, Mafia, or Cuban exile elements participated.
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