Today in History
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Today in History |
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November 24, 1963 |
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The president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated only days before. In custody for the crime was Lee Harvey Oswald, a disaffected individual with an apparent commitment to communism who had lived in the Soviet Union for a brief period of time. On the morning of November 24th, 1963, police were transferring Oswald to the Dallas County Jail. Oswald was handcuffed to Dallas Detective Jim Leavelle. As they passed through the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters, surrounded by reporters and in full view of rolling television cameras, Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner with ties to the Dallas mob, stepped forward and shot Oswald. Ruby contended that he did so spontaneously and without any motive other than his distress at the assassination of Kennedy. Ruby was convicted of murder in March, 1964 and died while in custody, awaiting a new trial in 1967 |
