On This Day in History: Lincoln’s Assassin John Wilkes Booth Finally Brought to Justice

April 26, 1865 — one of the most dramatic manhunts in American history came to a close when the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, was surrounded by federal troops near Port Royal, Virginia, and killed while resisting arrest. The event ended the largest fugitive chase in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War.

Just 12 days earlier, on April 14, Booth had crept up behind Lincoln during a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and shot the president in the head with a Derringer pistol. Lincoln died the following morning, becoming the first U.S. president ever assassinated. After firing the shot, Booth leaped onto the stage shouting “Sic semper tyrannis!” (Thus always to tyrants) and escaped in the confusion, first to Maryland and then into Virginia. The federal government launched a massive manhunt involving thousands of soldiers and detectives, eventually cornering Booth in a tobacco barn near Port Royal. When Booth refused to come out, the barn was set on fire, and a soldier shot him in the neck, killing him instantly.

Other notable events also took place on this day in history: In 1913, 13-year-old factory worker Mary Phagan was strangled at a pencil factory in Georgia. The factory superintendent, Leo Frank, was convicted and later sentenced to death in a case that became a landmark in debates over civil rights and justice reform in America. And on this day in 2026, legendary actress and comedian Carol Burnett turned 93, celebrating a lifetime of humor and talent that defined television comedy milestones.