History Logo
ShowsThis Day In HistoryScheduleTopicsStories
  • History Classics
  • Live TV
  • Your Profile
Your Profile
History
  • Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
Email Updates
  • Live TV
  • History Classics
  • Shows
  • This Day In History
  • Schedule
  • Topics
  • Stories
  • Videos
  • History Podcasts
  • History Vault
  • Shop
  • History Travel

Lincoln Assassination

Topics


Mary Elizabeth Jenkins Surratt was an American boarding house owner who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Sentenced to death, she was hanged, becoming the first woman executed by the United States federal government.

Featured

Mary Surratt

An alleged member of the Abraham Lincoln assassination conspiracy, Mary Surratt has the dubious distinction of being the first woman executed by the U.S. government. Born Mary Jenkins in 1820 in Waterloo, Maryland. She was hung for treason in July 1865, after being tried and convicted for her role in the plot, a plot prosecutors […]

Read moreRead more about Mary Surratt
John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln assassination

John Wilkes Booth

Family and Early Life The celebrated actor Junius Brutus Booth immigrated to the United States from England in the early 1820s and settled his family in Harford County, Maryland, where the ninth of his 10 children, John Wilkes, was born on May 10, 1838. In 1846, it was revealed that Junius Booth had neglected to […]

Read more
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C. Engraving by Currier & Ives.

Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination

Who Was John Wilkes Booth? John Wilkes Booth was a Maryland native born in 1838 into a family of noted actors. Booth would eventually take the stage himself, appearing in 1855 in Shakespeare’s Richard III in Baltimore. Despite his Confederate sympathies, Booth remained in the North during the Civil War, pursuing a successful career as […]

Read more

Stories

See All

Featured

The Final Days of John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth was aided by a network of conspirators who concealed his escape from pursuing Union soldiers.

Read moreRead more about The Final Days of John Wilkes Booth
A political illustration from 'Harper's Weekly' made during the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson referring to his defiance of the Constitution, 1868. (Credit: Kean Collection/Getty Images)

President Andrew Johnson Was Impeached for Firing a Cabinet Member

The Tenure of Office Act was designed to rein in Andrew Johnson—but it sparked a years-long debate on executive power.

Read more
A sea of flowers in front of Buckingham Palace bear witness to Lady Diana's great popularity. (Credit: Jon Jones/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

Which Famous Figure Had the Biggest Public Funeral?

The history of public weeping after the deaths of celebrities.

Read more

The John Wilkes Booth Mummy That Toured America

Decades after his reported death, John Wilkes Booth had a second box-office career when his purported mummy became a carnival attraction.

Read more

This Day in History

See All

1893

23 die in collapse of Ford’s Theatre, site of Lincoln assassination

19th Century
1865

President Lincoln dies

U.S. Presidents
1865

Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train leaves D.C.

U.S. Presidents
1865

President Lincoln is buried in Springfield, Illinois

U.S. Presidents
1865

President Lincoln dreams about his assassination

U.S. Presidents
1865

Conspirators court-martialed for plotting to kill Lincoln, Grant and Andrew Johnson

U.S. Presidents
A+E NetworksOur Family of Brands
  • History Education
  • History Vault
  • Mobile/Apps
  • News
  • Shop
  • Share Your Opinion
Follow History
  • d
  • e
  • p
  • m
  • +
  • Biography
  • Crime and Investigation
  • History en Espanol
  • LRW
  • Military History
  • Ad Choices
  • Advertise WIth Us
  • Accessibility Support
  • Copyright Policy
  • Corporate Information
  • Employment Opportunities
  • FAQ/Contact Us
  • Privacy Notice
  • Cookie Notice
  • Terms Of Use
  • TV Parental Guidelines
  • Contact Us
  • Copyright Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Ad Choices
  • Accessibility Support

© 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.