# JFK Assassination Timeline: November 22, 1963 and the Investigations

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, from Lee Harvey Oswald's background and the Texas trip through the Warren Commission, the House Select Committee on Assassinations and the release of the JFK records. Zoom into November 22, 1963 to follow the day minute by minute. As of September 24, 2026.

- Interactive timeline: https://www.timelinetraveler.com/timeline/jfk-assassination-timeline
- Last updated: 2026-09-24
- 92 events in 5 lanes: Kennedy and the motorcade, Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, Lyndon Johnson and the government, Investigations and records
- Times are shown in America/Chicago.

## Events

Events are in date order. Indented events happen within the event above them.

- **Oct 16, 1959 – Jun 13, 1962** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald in the Soviet Union**: After leaving active duty in the Marine Corps in 1959, Oswald traveled through Helsinki and arrived in Moscow on October 16, 1959. He lived in the Soviet Union for about two and a half years.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 7: Lee Harvey Oswald, Background and Possible Motives](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-7.html)
  - **Oct 31, 1959** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald tries to renounce his U.S. citizenship**: Oswald went to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and told consular official Richard Snyder he wanted to renounce his citizenship. He had been released from a Moscow hospital three days earlier.
    Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 7](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-7.html); [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald)
  - **Jan 1960** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Soviet authorities send Oswald to Minsk**: Oswald had wanted to attend university in Moscow. Instead he was sent to Minsk to work as a metal worker at a radio and television factory.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 7](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-7.html)
  - **Apr 30, 1961** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald marries Marina Prusakova in Minsk**: They married about six weeks after meeting in March 1961. Their daughter June was born in February 1962.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Marina Oswald Porter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Oswald_Porter); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 7](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-7.html)
  - **Jun 13, 1962** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald returns to the United States**: Oswald, Marina and their daughter arrived at Hoboken, New Jersey, aboard the Maasdam. They settled in the Dallas and Fort Worth area.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald); [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy)
- **Mar 12, 1963** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **A rifle is ordered by mail under the name A. Hidell**: Klein's Sporting Goods in Chicago received an order for a $19.95 Italian carbine on March 13, paid with a money order bought in Dallas on March 12. The rifle, serial C2766, was shipped on March 20. The Warren Commission found the order was in Oswald's handwriting.
  Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4: The Assassin](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html)
- **Apr 10, 1963** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Shot fired at Gen. Edwin Walker's Dallas home**: At about 9 p.m. a bullet struck the window frame beside retired Maj. Gen. Edwin Walker as he sat at a desk. He was cut by fragments. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald fired the shot.
  Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4: The Assassin](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html); [Wikipedia: Edwin Walker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Walker)
- **Apr 24, 1963** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald moves to New Orleans**: Oswald returned to New Orleans, the city where he was born, and looked for work.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 7](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-7.html)
- **Jun 5, 1963** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **Kennedy, Johnson and Connally agree on a Texas trip**: The basic decision on a November trip to Texas was made at a meeting at the Cortez Hotel in El Paso. On September 26 both Dallas papers cited White House sources confirming visits on November 21 and 22.
  Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2: The Assassination](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html)
- **Aug 9, 1963** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald arrested after Fair Play for Cuba leafleting**: Oswald was handing out Fair Play for Cuba Committee literature in downtown New Orleans when a dispute broke out with three anti-Castro Cuban exiles. He was arrested for disturbing the peace.
  Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 7](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-7.html); [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald)
- **Sep 25, 1963 – Oct 3, 1963** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald's trip to Mexico City**: According to the Warren Commission, Oswald left for Mexico City on September 25 and arrived on September 27. He was back in Dallas on October 3.
  Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 7](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-7.html); [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald)
  - **Sep 27, 1963** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald visits the Cuban and Soviet consulates**: He applied at the Cuban consulate for a visa to Cuba in transit to the Soviet Union and was told he needed Soviet approval first. The House Select Committee later agreed he visited the consulates but could not rule out that someone else used his name there.
    Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 7](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-7.html); [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald)
  - **Oct 2, 1963** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald leaves Mexico City by bus**: Oswald took a bus north and arrived in Dallas the next day.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald)
- **Oct 16, 1963** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald is hired at the Texas School Book Depository**: Ruth Paine, with whom Marina was staying in Irving, heard of an opening from a neighbor. Oswald was hired as an order filler at $1.25 an hour. On weekdays he rented a Dallas room under the name O. H. Lee.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 1: Summary and Conclusions](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html)
- **Nov 21, 1963, 09:45 – Nov 25, 1963, 22:59** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **The Texas trip and the funeral**: Five days from Kennedy's departure for Texas to his burial at Arlington National Cemetery. Zoom in for the hours of November 22 in Dallas.
  Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2: The Assassination](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html); [Wikipedia: State funeral of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_funeral_of_John_F._Kennedy)
  - **Nov 21, 1963** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald rides to Irving on a Thursday**: Oswald asked co-worker Buell Wesley Frazier for a ride to Irving to pick up curtain rods. Marina and Ruth Paine were surprised to see him on a Thursday. The next morning he rode back with Frazier carrying a long paper-wrapped package.
    Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 1](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html); [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald)
  - **Nov 21, 1963, 09:45** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **The Kennedys leave the White House for Texas**: The President and Mrs. Kennedy left by helicopter for Andrews Air Force Base and flew to San Antonio, then Houston, on the first day of the trip.
    Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2: The Assassination](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html)
  - **Nov 21, 1963, 23:07** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **Air Force One lands in Fort Worth**: After a dinner in Houston, the Kennedys flew to Fort Worth and reached the Hotel Texas at 11:35 p.m.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html)
  - **Nov 22, 1963, 00:00 – 23:59** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **November 22, 1963**: The day in Fort Worth and Dallas, from the morning rally to Oswald's arraignment for the murder of Officer J. D. Tippit.
    Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2: The Assassination](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html); [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy)
    - **Nov 22, 1963** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **Kennedy speaks in Fort Worth**: Kennedy spoke at a breakfast in the Hotel Texas and addressed a crowd in an open parking lot outside before the short flight to Dallas.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 11:40** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **Air Force One lands at Love Field, Dallas**: The Warren Commission gives the landing time as 11:40 a.m. Vice President Johnson's plane had arrived about five minutes earlier, and the Johnsons were in the receiving line.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html); [NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth: Love Field, JFK arrives](https://www.nbcdfw.com/local/jfk-map-location-love-field-airport/1956154/)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 11:50 – 12:35** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **The motorcade through Dallas**: The motorcade left Love Field shortly after 11:50 a.m. on a 10-mile route through downtown to a luncheon at the Trade Mart. Kennedy rode in an open limousine with Mrs. Kennedy and Governor and Mrs. Connally.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html); [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy)
      - **Nov 22, 1963, 12:30** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **Shots in Dealey Plaza**: As the limousine moved down Elm Street at about 11 miles per hour, Kennedy was hit in the upper back and the head, and Governor Connally was seriously wounded. The Warren Commission concluded that three shots were fired from the sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.
        Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 1: Summary and Conclusions](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html)
      - **Nov 22, 1963, 12:30** · Lyndon Johnson and the government · **Secret Service agent shields Johnson**: Riding two cars behind Kennedy, agent Rufus Youngblood heard an explosion, vaulted into the back seat of the Vice President's car and sat on Johnson to protect him.
        Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html)
      - **Nov 22, 1963, 12:35** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **The limousine reaches Parkland Hospital**: The car sped along Stemmons Freeway to Parkland Memorial Hospital. Accounts differ by a few minutes: the Warren Commission says about 12:35 p.m., other accounts 12:38 p.m.
        Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html); [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 12:33 – 13:50** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald leaves the depository and is arrested**: The Warren Commission traced Oswald's movements from the depository by bus and taxi to his rooming house in Oak Cliff, then on foot to 10th Street and the Texas Theatre.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4: The Assassin](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html)
      - **Nov 22, 1963, 12:33** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald leaves the Texas School Book Depository**: Moments after the shots, a motorcycle officer and superintendent Roy Truly met Oswald in the second-floor lunchroom. Truly vouched for him as an employee. The Warren Commission found he could have left by the front door by 12:33 p.m.
        Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html)
      - **Nov 22, 1963, 13:00** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald stops at his rooming house**: Oswald arrived at his Oak Cliff rooming house at about 1 p.m. and left a few minutes later, after retrieving a pistol.
        Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html); [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy)
      - **Nov 22, 1963, 13:15** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Officer J. D. Tippit is shot dead in Oak Cliff**: Tippit stopped a man on East 10th Street near Patton Avenue. The man fired several shots, hitting Tippit four times. A witness radioed the shooting from his car shortly after 1:16 p.m. The Warren Commission concluded Oswald killed Tippit. Accounts of the exact time range from about 1:11 to 1:16 p.m.
        Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 1](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html); [Wikipedia: J. D. Tippit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Tippit)
      - **Nov 22, 1963, 13:50** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald is arrested at the Texas Theatre**: A shoe store manager saw a man duck into the theater without paying, and the cashier called police shortly after 1:40 p.m. Officers arrested Oswald after a struggle in which he drew a revolver, at about 1:50 p.m.
        Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 1](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 12:45** · Jack Ruby · **Ruby hears the news at the Dallas Morning News**: According to the Warren Commission, nightclub owner Jack Ruby was placing weekly ads in the newspaper's offices, five blocks from the depository, when he learned of the shooting at about 12:45 p.m.
      Sources: [Wikipedia: Jack Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 6: Investigation of Possible Conspiracy](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-6.html)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 13:00** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **Kennedy is pronounced dead**: After last rites were given by Father Oscar Huber, Dr. Clark pronounced the President dead at about 1 p.m. Governor Connally survived his wounds.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 1](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 13:22** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Rifle found on the depository's sixth floor**: About 10 minutes after three cartridge cases were found near the southeast corner window, a deputy sheriff found a bolt-action rifle with a telescopic sight between boxes near the northwest stairway.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 1](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 13:33** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **The death is announced at Parkland**: Assistant press secretary Malcolm Kilduff announced in a nurses' classroom that Kennedy had died at about 1 p.m. of a gunshot wound to the brain. Johnson had asked that the news wait until he left the hospital.
      Sources: [Wikipedia: Malcolm Kilduff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Kilduff); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 14:38** · Lyndon Johnson and the government · **Johnson is sworn in aboard Air Force One**: Federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes gave Lyndon B. Johnson the oath of office at Love Field, with Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. Johnson beside him. It was the first time a woman administered the presidential oath.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html); [Wikipedia: First inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_inauguration_of_Lyndon_B._Johnson)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 14:47** · Lyndon Johnson and the government · **Air Force One leaves Dallas with Kennedy's casket**: Nine minutes after the oath, the plane took off for Washington. Mrs. Kennedy had refused to leave without the President's body, and Johnson said he would not leave Dallas without her.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 16:58** · Lyndon Johnson and the government · **Johnson lands at Andrews and speaks to the nation**: Air Force One landed at Andrews Air Force Base at 5:58 p.m. Eastern time. Johnson made a brief statement written aboard the plane, then flew by helicopter to the White House and worked in the Executive Office Building until 9 p.m.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html); [Wikipedia: First inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_inauguration_of_Lyndon_B._Johnson)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 22:00** · Lyndon Johnson and the government · **FBI traces the rifle to a Chicago mail-order house**: By 10 p.m. the FBI had traced the rifle from the sixth floor to Klein's Sporting Goods in Chicago. Klein's records showed it had been shipped to A. Hidell at a Dallas post office box.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 1](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html)
  - **Nov 22, 1963** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **Autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital**: Given a choice between Bethesda and Walter Reed, Mrs. Kennedy chose the naval hospital because the President had served in the Navy. She and Robert Kennedy accompanied the body on the 45-minute drive from Andrews.
    Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 2](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html)
  - **Nov 22, 1963, 13:50 – Nov 24, 1963, 11:21** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald in Dallas police custody**: Oswald was questioned for about 12 hours over two days at police headquarters, without a lawyer. He denied shooting anyone.
    Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 5: Detention and Death of Oswald](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-5.html); [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald)
    - **Nov 22, 1963, 19:10** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald is charged with Tippit's murder**: Captain Will Fritz signed the complaint shortly after 7 p.m., and Oswald was arraigned before Justice of the Peace David Johnston at 7:10 p.m.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 5](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-5.html)
    - **Nov 23, 1963** · Jack Ruby · **Ruby attends the midnight press appearance**: Shortly after midnight, police brought Oswald before reporters in the basement assembly room. Ruby was present and later told the FBI he had his revolver in his pocket.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 5](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-5.html); [Wikipedia: Jack Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby)
    - **Nov 23, 1963, 01:30** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald is charged with killing the President**: Fritz signed the complaint at 11:26 p.m. on November 22. Oswald was arraigned for the murder of President Kennedy shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 5](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-5.html); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 1](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html)
    - **Nov 24, 1963, 11:21** · Jack Ruby · **Jack Ruby shoots Oswald in the police basement**: As detectives led Oswald toward a car for transfer to the county jail, Ruby stepped from the crowd of reporters and fired one shot into his abdomen. It was broadcast live on television. Ruby was arrested on the spot.
      Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 5: Detention and Death of Oswald](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-5.html); [Wikipedia: Jack Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby); [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald)
  - **Nov 23, 1963, 03:30** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **Kennedy's body returns to the White House**: The casket arrived at about 4:30 a.m. and was carried into the East Room, where it lay in repose for 24 hours.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: State funeral of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_funeral_of_John_F._Kennedy)
  - **Nov 24, 1963** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **Kennedy lies in state at the Capitol**: A horse-drawn caisson carried the casket along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol Rotunda. About 250,000 people filed past over 18 hours.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: State funeral of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_funeral_of_John_F._Kennedy)
  - **Nov 24, 1963** · Lyndon Johnson and the government · **Johnson lays a wreath in the Rotunda**: President Johnson placed a wreath before the flag-draped casket during the ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: State funeral of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_funeral_of_John_F._Kennedy)
  - **Nov 24, 1963, 11:17** · Jack Ruby · **Ruby wires money from a Western Union office**: Ruby sent a money order to one of his employees from an office on Main Street about 350 feet from the police building's ramp. The time stamp reads 11:17 a.m.
    Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 5](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-5.html); [Wikipedia: Jack Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby)
  - **Nov 24, 1963, 13:07** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald dies at Parkland Hospital**: Oswald reached Parkland within 7 minutes of the shooting and was pronounced dead at 1:07 p.m. without regaining consciousness. Police Chief Jesse Curry announced the death at 1:30 p.m.
    Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 1](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html); [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 5](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-5.html)
  - **Nov 25, 1963** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **Kennedy's funeral at St. Matthew's Cathedral**: Cardinal Richard Cushing led the Requiem Mass. About 1,200 guests attended, including representatives of more than 90 countries.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: State funeral of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_funeral_of_John_F._Kennedy); [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy)
  - **Nov 25, 1963** · Lee Harvey Oswald · **Oswald is buried in Fort Worth**: A brief graveside service was held under heavy guard at Rose Hill Cemetery. Reporters covering the burial were asked to serve as pallbearers.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Lee Harvey Oswald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald)
  - **Nov 25, 1963, 14:15** · Kennedy and the motorcade · **Burial at Arlington; the eternal flame is lit**: The graveside service ended at 3:15 p.m. Eastern time when Jacqueline Kennedy lit an eternal flame. The casket was lowered at 3:34 p.m.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: State funeral of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_funeral_of_John_F._Kennedy)
- **Nov 27, 1963** · Lyndon Johnson and the government · **Johnson tells Congress: "let us continue"**: In his first address to a joint session, Johnson said no memorial could better honor Kennedy than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill.
  Sources: [American Presidency Project: Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress, November 27, 1963](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-0)
- **Nov 29, 1963 – Sep 24, 1964** · Investigations and records · **The Warren Commission**: Johnson created the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy by Executive Order 11130 and named Chief Justice Earl Warren to chair it. Members included Gerald Ford, Allen Dulles and Senator Richard Russell.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: Warren Commission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Commission); [National Archives: Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report)
  - **Dec 5, 1963** · Investigations and records · **The Warren Commission meets for the first time**: The commission met on the second floor of the National Archives Building in Washington.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Warren Commission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Commission)
  - **Jun 7, 1964** · Jack Ruby · **Ruby testifies to the Warren Commission**: Chief Justice Warren and other commission members traveled to Dallas to take Ruby's testimony.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Warren Commission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Commission); [Wikipedia: Jack Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby)
  - **Sep 24, 1964** · Investigations and records · **Warren Report: Oswald acted alone**: The 888-page report, made public on September 27, concluded that three shots came from the depository's sixth floor and that Oswald fired them. It found no evidence that Oswald or Ruby was part of any conspiracy, domestic or foreign.
    Sources: [Warren Commission Report, Chapter 1: Summary and Conclusions](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html); [Wikipedia: Warren Commission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Commission)
- **Mar 4, 1964 – Mar 14, 1964** · Jack Ruby · **Ruby's murder trial in Dallas**: Ruby's lawyer Melvin Belli argued that Ruby was mentally ill.
  Sources: [Encyclopedia.com: Jack Ruby Trial, 1964](https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/jack-ruby-trial-1964); [Wikipedia: Jack Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby)
  - **Mar 14, 1964** · Jack Ruby · **Ruby is convicted and sentenced to death**: After deliberating for two hours and 19 minutes, the jury found Ruby guilty of murder with malice and assessed the death penalty.
    Sources: [Encyclopedia.com: Jack Ruby Trial, 1964](https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/jack-ruby-trial-1964); [Wikipedia: Jack Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby)
- **Nov 1964** · Investigations and records · **Warren Commission publishes 26 volumes of evidence**: The volumes held testimony or depositions from 552 witnesses and more than 3,100 exhibits, over 16,000 pages in all. They were published without an index.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: Warren Commission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Commission)
- **1966** · Investigations and records · **Jim Garrison opens a New Orleans investigation**: Late in 1966, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison began investigating the assassination after tips about a local man, David Ferrie.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: Jim Garrison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Garrison)
- **Oct 5, 1966** · Jack Ruby · **Ruby's conviction is overturned**: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Ruby should have been granted a change of venue and that some of his statements to police should not have been admitted. A new trial was planned for Wichita Falls.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: Jack Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby); [Encyclopedia.com: Jack Ruby Trial, 1964](https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/jack-ruby-trial-1964)
- **Jan 3, 1967** · Jack Ruby · **Ruby dies before his retrial**: Ruby died at Parkland Hospital, where Kennedy and Oswald had been taken. He had been admitted in December 1966 and was found to have cancer in his lungs, liver and brain. Wikipedia gives the immediate cause as a pulmonary embolism.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: Jack Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby); [Encyclopedia.com: Jack Ruby Trial, 1964](https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/jack-ruby-trial-1964)
- **Mar 1, 1967 – Mar 1, 1969** · Investigations and records · **Garrison's case against Clay Shaw**: The only criminal trial ever brought for Kennedy's murder. Garrison charged New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw with conspiring with Oswald, Ferrie and others.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: Trial of Clay Shaw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Clay_Shaw); [Wikipedia: Clay Shaw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Shaw)
  - **Mar 1, 1967** · Investigations and records · **Clay Shaw is arrested**: Garrison believed Shaw was the "Clay Bertrand" named in the Warren Report. Shaw denied any part in a conspiracy.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Clay Shaw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Shaw)
  - **Jan 29, 1969 – Mar 1, 1969** · Investigations and records · **Shaw stands trial in New Orleans**: The trial opened in Orleans Parish Criminal Court. Garrison's main witness, Perry Russo, testified that Shaw, Oswald and Ferrie discussed killing Kennedy at a party.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Trial of Clay Shaw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Clay_Shaw); [Wikipedia: Jim Garrison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Garrison)
    - **Mar 1, 1969** · Investigations and records · **Jury acquits Clay Shaw**: The jury found Shaw not guilty after deliberating less than an hour.
      Sources: [Wikipedia: Clay Shaw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Shaw); [Wikipedia: Trial of Clay Shaw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Clay_Shaw)
- **Jan 4, 1975 – May 26, 1976** · Investigations and records · **Inquiries into U.S. intelligence agencies**: Two investigations of CIA and FBI conduct, one by a presidential commission and one by a Senate committee, both examined aspects of the Kennedy case.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: Rockefeller Commission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_President%27s_Commission_on_CIA_Activities_within_the_United_States); [Wikipedia: Church Committee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Committee)
  - **Jan 27, 1975** · Investigations and records · **Senate creates the Church Committee**: The Senate voted 82 to 4 to create a select committee on intelligence activities, chaired by Senator Frank Church.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Church Committee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Committee)
  - **Jun 11, 1975** · Investigations and records · **Rockefeller Commission reports**: President Ford's commission, led by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and created on January 4, 1975, upheld the Warren Commission's finding of one assassin. It found no link between the CIA and Oswald or Ruby.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: Rockefeller Commission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_President%27s_Commission_on_CIA_Activities_within_the_United_States)
  - **May 26, 1976** · Investigations and records · **Church Committee releases its Kennedy report**: The committee voted to release Book V. It found the CIA and FBI had withheld information from the Warren Commission, including CIA plots against Fidel Castro, and called the investigation deficient. It said it found no evidence sufficient to conclude there was a conspiracy.
    Sources: [Senate Report 94-755, Book V: The Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy](https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sites-default-files-94755-v.pdf); [History Matters: Church Committee Book V](https://www.history-matters.com/archive/church/reports/book5/contents.htm)
- **Sep 15, 1976 – Mar 29, 1979** · Investigations and records · **House Select Committee on Assassinations**: The House created the committee to investigate the killings of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Louis Stokes chaired it from 1977, with G. Robert Blakey as chief counsel.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: House Select Committee on Assassinations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_Assassinations); [National Archives: Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report)
  - **Dec 1978** · Investigations and records · **Acoustic evidence changes the committee's conclusion**: A draft report had concluded Oswald acted alone. Acoustic analysis of a Dallas police Dictabelt recording by Bolt, Beranek and Newman then indicated four shots, one from the grassy knoll, and the committee reversed its position.
    Sources: [Wikipedia: John F. Kennedy assassination Dictabelt recording](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination_Dictabelt_recording); [Wikipedia: House Select Committee on Assassinations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_Assassinations)
  - **Mar 29, 1979** · Investigations and records · **HSCA: Kennedy "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy"**: The committee found that Oswald fired three shots and killed Kennedy, and that acoustic evidence showed a high probability of a second gunman who missed. It said it could not identify that gunman. It found the Soviet and Cuban governments, the FBI, CIA and Secret Service were not involved.
    Sources: [Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations, Part I: Findings](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-1c.html); [Wikipedia: House Select Committee on Assassinations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_Assassinations)
- **Dec 1, 1980** · Investigations and records · **FBI disputes the acoustic findings**: The FBI's Technical Services Division reported that the committee had not proved there were gunshots on the recording or that it was made in Dealey Plaza.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: John F. Kennedy assassination Dictabelt recording](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination_Dictabelt_recording)
- **May 14, 1982** · Investigations and records · **National Academy of Sciences panel rejects the acoustic evidence**: A panel chaired by Harvard physicist Norman Ramsey found the sounds on the recording were made about one minute after the shooting. It concluded that reliable acoustic data do not support a conclusion that there was a second gunman.
  Sources: [National Academies Press: Report of the Committee on Ballistic Acoustics (1982)](https://www.nap.edu/catalog/10264/report-of-the-committee-on-ballistic-acoustics); [Wikipedia: John F. Kennedy assassination Dictabelt recording](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination_Dictabelt_recording)
- **Mar 28, 1988** · Investigations and records · **Justice Department ends its review**: Reviewing the committee's recommendations, the Justice Department concluded that no persuasive evidence could be identified to support the theory of a conspiracy in the Kennedy assassination.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: John F. Kennedy assassination Dictabelt recording](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination_Dictabelt_recording); [Wikipedia: House Select Committee on Assassinations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Select_Committee_on_Assassinations)
- **Oct 26, 1992** · Investigations and records · **President Bush signs the JFK Records Act**: Passed after renewed public interest following Oliver Stone's 1991 film JFK, the act created a records collection at the National Archives and required release of all records within 25 years, by October 26, 2017, unless the president certified continued postponement.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: JFK Records Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_John_F._Kennedy_Assassination_Records_Collection_Act_of_1992); [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy)
- **Oct 1, 1994 – Sep 30, 1998** · Investigations and records · **Assassination Records Review Board**: An independent board reviewed agency requests to keep records secret. When it disbanded, all Warren Commission documents except income tax returns had been released, with minor redactions.
  Sources: [Wikipedia: JFK Records Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_John_F._Kennedy_Assassination_Records_Collection_Act_of_1992); [Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board, Chapter 1](https://sgp.fas.org/advisory/arrb98/part03.htm)
- **Jul 24, 2017 – Jan 30, 2026** · Investigations and records · **The last withheld JFK records are released**: By the 1990s 88 percent of the collection was public. The remaining withheld and redacted records came out in stages under Presidents Trump and Biden.
  Sources: [National Archives: The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk); [National Archives: JFK Assassination Records, 2017-2018 Release](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/release)
  - **Jul 24, 2017** · Investigations and records · **National Archives releases 3,810 documents**: The first of the 2017 releases, ahead of the October deadline set by the 1992 act.
    Sources: [National Archives: JFK Assassination Records, 2017-2018 Release](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/release)
  - **Oct 26, 2017** · Investigations and records · **Deadline day: 2,891 records released**: On the 25-year deadline the National Archives released 2,891 documents. President Trump had said he would not block the release, but some records stayed withheld. More batches followed on November 3, 9 and 17 and December 15.
    Sources: [National Archives: JFK Assassination Records, 2017-2018 Release](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/release); [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy)
  - **Apr 26, 2018** · Investigations and records · **18,731 more documents; some withheld to 2021**: The National Archives released 18,731 documents. President Trump allowed some records to stay withheld until October 2021.
    Sources: [National Archives: JFK Assassination Records, 2017-2018 Release](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/release); [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy)
  - **Dec 15, 2021** · Investigations and records · **1,491 documents released after a pandemic delay**: President Biden, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, delayed the release in an October 22, 2021 memorandum. The National Archives then posted 1,491 documents.
    Sources: [National Archives, Transforming Classification: JFK Records Release, December 15, 2021](https://transforming-classification.blogs.archives.gov/2021/12/16/jfk-assassination-records-release-december-15-2021/); [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy)
  - **Dec 15, 2022** · Investigations and records · **13,173 documents released**: The National Archives posted 13,173 documents with newly released information after an interagency review of each remaining redaction.
    Sources: [CBS News: National Archives releases 13,173 JFK assassination records](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jfk-assassination-files-released-lee-harvey-oswald/); [National Archives: JFK Assassination Records, 2022 Release](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/release-2022)
  - **Jun 30, 2023** · Investigations and records · **Biden-era review ends with 2,672 more documents**: Between April and June 2023 the National Archives released 2,672 documents in full or with fewer redactions. At that point about 99 percent of the collection had been made public.
    Sources: [National Archives press release, June 30, 2023](https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2023/nr23-43); [Wikipedia: Assassination of John F. Kennedy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy)
  - **Jan 23, 2025 – Jan 30, 2026** · Investigations and records · **Declassification under Executive Order 14176**: Trump's 2025 order led to the release of the remaining classified records without redactions, followed by digitization and further batches.
    Sources: [National Archives: JFK Assassination Records, 2025 Documents Release](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/release-2025)
    - **Jan 23, 2025** · Investigations and records · **Trump orders the JFK, RFK and King files declassified**: Three days after his second inauguration, Trump signed Executive Order 14176, requiring a plan within 15 days for full release of the Kennedy records, and within 45 days for the Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. records.
      Sources: [The White House: Executive Order 14176](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declassification-of-records-concerning-the-assassinations-of-president-john-f-kennedy/); [National Archives: The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk)
    - **Mar 18, 2025** · Investigations and records · **About 80,000 pages released without redactions**: Under a presidential directive of March 17, all records withheld for classification were released unredacted. The National Archives posted 31,419 pages at 7 p.m. and 37,127 more at 10:30 p.m. Eastern, then 14,318 on March 20.
      Sources: [National Archives: JFK Assassination Records, 2025 Documents Release](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/release-2025); [National Archives News: National Archives Releases Thousands of JFK Assassination Records](https://www.archives.gov/news/articles/jfk-records-release)
    - **Apr 1, 2025** · Investigations and records · **House task force holds its first JFK files hearing**: The Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, chaired by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, heard from filmmaker Oliver Stone, who called for a new investigation, and from researchers Jefferson Morley and James DiEugenio.
      Sources: [CBS News: Oliver Stone tells Congress to reinvestigate the assassination](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oliver-stone-congress-jfk-assassination-reinvestigation-scene-of-the-crime/); [House Oversight Committee: Task Force hearing, The JFK Files](https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/task-force-on-the-declassification-of-federal-secrets-the-jfk-files/)
    - **Jul 3, 2025** · Investigations and records · **CIA releases files on officer George Joannides**: After requests from the House task force, the CIA released records showing Joannides used the alias Howard in 1963 while running the DRE, a Cuban student group that had contact with Oswald that year. He later served as CIA liaison to the House Select Committee. Rep. Luna said the files showed a cover-up.
      Sources: [The Washington Post, via The Spokesman-Review: The CIA reveals more of its connections to Lee Harvey Oswald](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/14/the-cia-reveals-more-of-its-connections-to-lee-har/); [Rep. Anna Paulina Luna: Task force secures George Joannides CIA file](https://luna.house.gov/posts/declassification-task-force-secures-george-joannides-cia-file-revealing-62-year-cia-cover-up-in-jfk-assassination)
    - **Jan 30, 2026** · Investigations and records · **11,022 more pages posted**: The National Archives released another 140 files totaling 11,022 pages as it continued digitizing the collection of more than six million pages.
      Sources: [National Archives: JFK Assassination Records, 2025 Documents Release](https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/release-2025)

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