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50 Facts About the JFK Assassination 31

50 Facts About the JFK Kennedy, two days and seven minutes after the
president.
Assassination

35. The New York Times reported that JFK's 98-
year-old grandmother, Mary Josephine
Details you may not know Fitzgerald, was not told of the assassination.
surrounding the death of our
36. In Washington, dignitaries from more than
35th president
100 countries arrived for Kennedy's funeral. At
the time, it was the largest gathering of its kind
by Betsy Towner on U.S. soil.

It has been 50 years since Nov. 22, 1963, the 37. An unexpected 250,000 people paid their
day John F. Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey respects to the former president as he lay in state
Oswald as the president was riding in an open- in the Capitol Rotunda.
topped car, with the first lady at his side, during
a presidential motorcade in Dallas. 38. Tens of thousands were turned away, some
Here, 50 interesting facts about that day, having waited throughout a near-freezing night
what preceded it and what came after. She told Lady Bird Johnson, "I want them to see in a line that stretched for more than 2 miles.
what they have done to Jack."
1. On Nov. 11, 1963, President Kennedy laid a 39. Jackie Kennedy modeled her husband's
Veterans Day wreath at the Tomb of the 18. Jackie did, however, remove her wedding funeral ceremonies after Abraham Lincoln's.
Unknown Soldier in Arlington National ring and put it on her husband's finger to be
Cemetery. buried with him. 40. With help from Bobby Kennedy and Robert
McNamara, Jackie chose the burial site at
2. He would be buried at the cemetery exactly 19. Later, she had an aide retrieve it. Arlington National Cemetery.
two weeks later.
20. Jackie's suit has never been cleaned and lies 41. Jackie requested an eternal flame be put by
3. Jacqueline Kennedy rarely traveled with her in the National Archives. the grave.
husband on political trips but decided to fly with
him to Texas on Nov. 21. 21. It will not be seen in public until at least 42. Although she would remarry, today she is
2103, according to Kennedy family wishes. buried next to the president.
4. On Nov. 22, the couple attended a breakfast
in Fort Worth. 22. Attorney General and presidential brother 43. Two of the Kennedys' children, an infant son
Robert F. Kennedy met Air Force One at and daughter, are also buried with their parents.
5. The presidential open-top limousine had been Andrews Air Force Base upon its return.
flown in from D.C. 44. The funeral day, Nov. 25, was also John Jr.'s
23. The Texas School Book Depository's sixth third birthday.
6. A 14-year-old boy reported watching JFK's floor, where assassin Lee Harvey Oswald had
face go blank around 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 22. positioned himself for the shooting, is today a 45. Caroline would turn 6 two days later.
museum dedicated to JFK's assassination.
7. The boy also said he heard Jacqueline 46. A taxi driver reported that the funeral
Kennedy shout, "God, oh God, no." 24. Oswald was a self-described Marxist. crowds were oddly quiet: "… you could hear a
pin drop."
8. Texas Governor John Connally Jr. received 25. He had tried to defect to Russia in 1959.
multiple gunshot wounds. 47. An Irish military guard paid its respects
26. At the time, assassination of a president was graveside, following commands shouted in
9. A priest administered last rites to the first not a federal offense; Oswald would have been Gaelic.
Roman Catholic U.S. president. tried in Texas.
48. After the funeral, Jackie Kennedy met
10. This was the fourth presidential 27. The murder weapon was a 6.5 mm Italian privately with three heads of state: Charles de
assassination in a nation that was less than 200 carbine rifle that Oswald had bought for $19.95. Gaulle of France, Eamon de Valera of Ireland
years old. and Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.
28. Dallas businessman Abraham Zapruder
11. It was the first since the Secret Service caught the assassination on his 8 mm home 49. Near midnight that night, she and Bobby
began protecting presidents. movie camera. Kennedy paid an unplanned visit to Kennedy's
grave.
12. The Service scuffled with Dallas police for 29. His secretary had urged him to go home and
control of the president's casket. get it for the presidential parade. 50. The first two letters that Lyndon Johnson
wrote as president were to Caroline and John Jr.
13. Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office 30. Zapruder's film was later bought by Life []
aboard Air Force One. magazine for $150,000.

14. He became president 99 minutes after 31. Oswald's murder by Jack Ruby on Nov. 24
Kennedy's death. was the first homicide caught on live television.

15. Kennedy's body was also aboard for the 32. A police detective at the shooting called out,
return flight to Washington. "Jack, you son of a bitch!"

16. Judge Sarah Hughes wept as she 33. When wrestled to the ground by police,
administered the oath of office. Ruby cried out, "I'm Jack Ruby, you all know
me!"
17. Jackie Kennedy refused to take off her pink
Chanel suit, stained with her husband's blood. 34. Oswald died at the same hospital as