On this day: The murder of Abraham Lincoln
April 14, 2016 marks 151 years since the murder of the 16th president -- and some facts about the assassination may surprise you.
A copy of a hand-colored 1870 lithographic print by Gibson & Co. provided by the U.S. Library of Congress shows John Wilkes Booth shooting U.S. President Abraham Lincoln as he sits in the presidential box at Ford's Theatre in Washington April 14, 1865. Major Henry Rathbone rushes to try to stop Booth as Rathbone's fiancee Clara Harris (L) and first lady Mary Todd Lincoln (2nd L) look on.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
John Wilkes Booth, holding a cane, shown sometime between 1860 and 1865, location unknown. Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, Washington D.C., on April 14, 1865.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
Lithograph depicting Abraham Lincoln's assassin, actor John Wilkes Booth, being goaded by a Mephistophelian figure to shoot the unsuspecting president, who is visible in a theater box beyond.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
The presidential box, decorated identically to the way it was the night of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865, is seen at Ford's Theatre in Washington, March 31, 2015.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
John Wilkes Booth, right, enters the box at Ford's Theater while the President and Mrs. Lincoln enjoy the play "Our American Cousin" in a scene that depicts that fateful night of April 14, 1865, in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Ill., Thursday, March 24, 2005.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
The headline of The National News reports on the shooting of President Abraham Lincoln in Washington April 14, 1865, in this archive image from the Library of Congress.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
When Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, he was attending a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington. Pictured is Lincoln's original theatre program, blemished by his fatal blood stains.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
An educational prop showing the reward offered for John Wilkes Booth is seen after Abraham Lincoln presenter and historian John Voehl gave a history lecture to students at Vandenberg Middle School at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on March 27, 2015.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
A scene in front of the Capitol during Lincoln's second inauguration, 1865, just six weeks before his assassination.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
In this March 17, 2015 photo, John Wilkes Booth's pistol used to kill President Abraham Lincoln is displayed at an exhibit entitled "Silent Witnesses: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination" at the Ford's Center for Education and Leadership across the street from the historic Ford's Theatre, in Washington. The exhibit coincided with the 150th anniversary of the Lincoln assassination on April 14.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
Nancy Buenger, a textile conservator at the Chicago Historical Society in Chicago, holds a portion of a blouse Monday, June 28, 1999, that belonged to actress, Laura Keene, who allegedly held the head of Abraham Lincoln the night he was shot at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C., as the blood-covered cape worn by Mary Todd Lincoln the night he was assassinated is seen at left.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
A large photograph depicting President Abraham Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth is displayed at an exhibit entitled "Silent Witnesses: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination," March 17, 2015 at the Ford's Center for Education and Leadership across the street from the historic Ford's Theatre, in Washington.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
President Abraham Lincoln is seen in a seated portrait taken by Anthony Berger in Washington February 9, 1864. The image from this sitting was the basis for the engraved portrait on the U.S. five dollar bill, according to the Library of Congress.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
Crowds are seen gathered along Pennsylvania Avenue to view the funeral procession of President Abraham Lincoln in this archive image from the Library of Congress taken in Washington, April 19, 1865. President Lincoln's funeral was held at the White House and his body was moved to the U.S. Capitol where he lay in state before traveling by rail to Springfield, Illinois, where he was buried.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
President Abraham Lincoln's blood-stained gloves that were tucked into his coat pocket at the time of his assassination are displayed at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois on March 21, 2015.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
President Abraham Lincoln is seen in a stereo photo card taken by U.S. government photographer Lewis Emory Walker in Washington in February 1865.
Lincoln was killed two months later.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
Lincoln's beaver skin top hat and the opera glasses he was using the night of the assassination.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
This is an undated photo of a sketch of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. The general and his wife were supposed to accompany Lincoln and the First Lady to Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865 but backed out. The reason? Mrs. Grant couldn't stand Mrs. Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
Other U.S. presidents have been the targets of assassins. A deranged house painter tried to kill President Andrew Jackson in 1835. President Abraham Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Booth. President James Garfield was mortally wounded by a disgruntled job seeker. President William McKinley was killed by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist factory worker.
Abraham Lincoln's assassination
A copy of a 1865 lithographic print by Currier & Ives provided by the U.S. Library of Congress shows John Wilkes Booth shooting U.S. President Abraham Lincoln as he sits in the presidential box at Ford's Theatre in Washington April 14, 1865. Major Henry Rathbone rises to try to stop Booth as Rathbone's fiancee Clara Harris (2nd L) and first lady Mary Todd Lincoln (C) look on.
For more archival images of Abraham Lincoln, click here.