Timeline: Oswald, Kennedy, and the Assassination 1917-1962 1963-1968
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
1963 |
Hands off Cuba! flier for a meeting to be held at Oswald's New Orleans address. NARA / President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection February-March: For weeks, Oswald plans an attack on Edwin Walker, a retired general whom Kennedy had fired for espousing extreme right-wing propaganda to his troops. Oswald meticulously documents his plan with photographs of Walker's residence, hand-drawn maps and political statements; he creates an archive for future historians. Oswald has his photograph taken holding a weapon that will later be identified as the gun that killed Kennedy. April 10: Oswald takes one shot at Edwin Walker and narrowly misses the retired general's head. Oswald escapes on foot and public transit. The crime will remain unsolved until after Oswald's widow is questioned following Kennedy's death. April 24: Oswald moves to New Orleans. After finding a job as a maintenance man for the Reily Coffee Company, he sends for his wife and daughter.
Lee Harvey and Marina Oswald with their daughter in a photo booth in October 1963. NARA / President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Summer: Cuba and Fidel Castro become Oswald's obsession. He becomes the founder and sole member of a New Orleans chapter of the pro-Castro Fair Play for Cuba, against the organization's wishes. He also contacts Carlos Bringuier, the leader of an anti-Castro group, to offer his help. September: Oswald travels from Houston to Mexico City hoping to get to Cuba. He petitions the Cuban Consulate, but without a Soviet visa, he is denied entry. October 2: Oswald returns to Dallas. His pregnant wife and his daughter are living with Ruth Paine, a family friend, in Irving, Texas, in Dallas County. October 15: Oswald takes a job at the Texas School Book Depository as a clerk after a neighbor of Mrs. Paine mentions the open position to the family. October 20: Marina gives birth to Lee Harvey Oswald's second daughter. November 19: The Dallas Times Herald publishes the schedule and route of President Kennedy's upcoming visit to Dallas. November 21: President Kennedy flies to Texas to deliver some political speeches. The day includes appearances in San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth. Oswald spends the night in Irving with his family. November 22: President Kennedy will be assassinated on this day. Oswald wakes early, leaves his wedding ring and goes to work at the School Book Depository. The president makes remarks in Fort Worth before taking a 13-minute flight to Dallas. From the airport, the presidential motorcade drives toward the Trade Mart, where Kennedy is scheduled to speak.
Lee Harvey Oswald's arrest at the Texas Theater in Dallas on November 22, 1963. NARA / President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection 12:30pm CST (approximately) 12:34pm CST 12:38pm CST 1:00pm CST
Jack Ruby under arrest in Dallas, Texas on November 24, 1963. NARA / President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection 1:16pm CST 1:40pm CST 2:38pm CST Midnight CST
The funeral procession for John F. Kennedy leaves the White House, November 25, 1963. Photograph by Abbie Rowe, National Park Service, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston November 23: Jack Ruby closes his strip club and spends time at police headquarters, asking about Oswald's pending transfer to the county jail. Police announce that Oswald will be transferred at 10am the next day. November 24: Jack Ruby sends a moneygram at Western Union. The receipt is stamped 11:17am. 11:21am CST 1:07pm CST A funeral procession brings the body of President Kennedy from the White House to the U.S. Capitol building. November 25: On his third birthday, John F. Kennedy Jr. salutes as the body of his father is laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. Lee Harvey Oswald is interred at Rose Hill Burial Park in Fort Worth. Seven reporters transport the coffin and police and Secret Service agents surround the grave. November 29: President Johnson establishes the Warren Commission, formally known as the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy. |
1964 |
September 24: The Warren Commission report concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President Kennedy. |
1967 |
January 3: Jack Ruby, afflicted with cancer, dies from a pulmonary embolism in Parkland Hospital. |
1968 |
The family of Martin Luther King Jr. at his funeral in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 9, 1968. ©JP Laffont/Sygma/Corbis April 4: Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee. Two months later, James Earl Ray will be apprehended in London and confesses to the crime, though he will recant his confession afterward.
Robert Kennedy addressing the Democratic platform committee in August 1964. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, NYWT&S Collection June 5: In the early morning hours, after winning the California Democratic Primary for the presidential nomination, John Kennedy's younger brother, Robert Kennedy, is shot and killed in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Sirhan Sirhan is apprehended for the crime. |









