President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Despite the evidence that identified Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone gunman, many people still believe in conspiracy theories that lead them to believe others were involved.

Kennedy was in Dallas to raise funds for his presidential reelection campaign. Several people were concerned about security in the city, so both the local police and Secret Service had protection in place. Kennedy’s motorcade traveled through Dallas in an open-top limousine with Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline in the back seats. Texas Governor John Connally and his wife were also in the car.

As the motorcade turned past the Texas School Book Depository in Dealey Plaza, shots were fired. Both Connally and Kennedy suffered gunshot wounds. The car sped away to parkland Memorial Hospital, where Kennedy was pronounced dead.

There were many people in Dealey Plaza that day who took photos as Kennedy passed by. Abraham Zapruder was using a home movie camera to record Kennedy’s trip to Dallas and captured the assassination on tape.

Police searched the Book Depository building and found evidence near a sixth-floor window of a “snipers nest.” A gun found at the scene had the palm print of Lee Harvey Oswald, who worked in the building. Police searched for Oswald, who had left the building. He was later cornered in a movie theater after having killed a police officer. Oswald denied any part in the assassination, claiming that he was a “patsy.” Two days after his arrest, he was shot to death by Jack Ruby, an event which was on live television.

News of the assassination shocked people around the world. Some Americans were afraid that it was part of a larger attack on the United States, due to Cold War fears. Schools were let out early, television and radio suspended regular programming in order to report on the tragedy, and people cried openly for the popular fallen President. Even today, people can still remember where they were when they found out that Kennedy had been killed.

Many people thought that there had been a conspiracy to kill Kennedy. The Warren Commission spent ten months investigating the crime and concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin. Their records were sealed, however, and errors in their 1964 published report continued to fuel the idea of a government cover-up. In 1979, after three years of investigation, the House Select Committee on Assassinations revealed evidence that suggested there had been others involved. Oliver Stone’s controversial 1991 movie “JFK” supported the conspiracy theory point of view.

With the fortieth anniversary of Kennedy’s death, new investigations into the crime were conducted using modern technology. New evidence suggests that the sound evidence presented by the House committee was wrong and the “magic bullet” conspiracy was flawed. Computer modeling illustrated how Oswald could have committed the crime on his own. However, despite this evidence, some people continue believe in conspiracy theories.

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