2026 marks America's 250th anniversary, and to celebrate, we’re putting a spotlight on our Americana exhibits!
Stay tuned as we dive deep into the Ripley's collection. Today, we're taking a hard look at Lincoln's assassination and even examining one of our most prized artifacts!
The Backstory
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln attended the play “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.
It would be the last time anyone saw the President alive.
That night, an actor and Confederate sympathizer named John Wilkes Booth slipped into Lincoln’s private box and fired his .44-caliber Derringer pistol into the back of the President’s head.
Booth then leaped from the box onto the stage, where he ended up breaking his leg. He shouted, “ Sic semper tyrannis! ” which happened to be the state motto of Virginia. Translated from Latin, it means, “Thus ever to tyrants!”
As Booth made his escape, Lincoln was taken to a house across the street, where he died at 7:22 a.m. the following day. He was 56.
Booth was eventually found and shot by Union soldiers, and four of his co-conspirators were put to death. In an ironic twist, Lincoln was shot just five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively ending the war.
But that was far from the strangest thing to happen surrounding the President’s assassination.
Here are 5 other strange facts:
1. Where Was Lincoln’s Bodyguard?
His name was John Parker. And he has become famous, or infamous, because he went to the saloon next door during intermission and never returned.
Lincoln’s long-time bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, had switched out from protecting Lincoln just before the trip.
2. Saved by the Assassin’s Brother
Months before the assassination, Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, saved Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, from a deadly train accident.
3. What Happened to the Others in the Presidential Box?
The answer is, they did not fare well. After the shooting, Booth then slashed diplomat Henry Reed Rathbone’s left arm, and while Rathbone eventually recovered from the stabbing, he undoubtedly suffered from post-traumatic stress.
Just before Christmas 1883, he killed his wife (the other member in the box that night) before trying to stab himself. Again, he survived and lived the rest of his life in an asylum. The fourth person in the box that night was Mary Todd Lincoln, who was also sent to an asylum in 1875.
4. A President’s Final Words
During the play, the President leaned over and held his wife’s hand, something that was considered rather scandalous for the day.
Mary Todd Lincoln asked her husband what Rathbone’s fiancée would think, and the President responded, "She won’t think anything about it.”
5. And What About the President’s Son, Robert?
Robert was in the White House when his father was shot at the theater.
On July 2, 1881, he was with President James A. Garfield at the local railroad station when Garfield was shot by assassin Charles J. Guiteau.
And on Sept. 6, 1901, when President William McKinley was shot by Leon F. Czolgosz in Buffalo, Robert was just arriving in the city on a train.
Maybe folks just needed to stay away from that kid.
Bonus: Booth’s Second Pistol
Believe It or Not!, the particulars of John Wilkes Booth’s actions in the ensuing manhunt largely remain a mystery.
Once owned by John Wilkes Booth, this derringer was found at Ford’s Theatre after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
For years, people believed it was the murder weapon, until testing over a century later revealed it was likely Booth’s backup gun.