John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth ( 1838-1865) was an actor and fanatic to the South best known for assassination of the 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).

History
John Wilkes Booth worked as an actor for the Ford's Theather in Washington,D.C. He originally planned on kidnapping the President and holding him for ransom. However, he was so fed up with anger of the South's defeat, and his hatred for Lincoln, that it eventually led him to murder. He shot the former President on April 14, 1865 on Good Friday while attending a play entitled "Our American Cousin" and jumped down from the stage, yelled "Sic semper tyrannis!" (This is the fate of every tyrant.) and escaped. Some witnesses state that he also yelled "The South's is avenged!" He eventually was captured and shot at a farm.

His dying words were "Useless,useless." when he asked for his hands to be raised to his face. He was born on May 10, 1838, and died on April 26, 1865.