History Bytes: 37 People, Places, and Events That Shaped American History

American history is full of strange paradoxes, and that's one of the things that make it so interesting. Here's one of the 37 stories you're going to read. Imagine what it would be like to wake up, flip on the morning news, and discover Bradley Cooper or Ashton Kutcher assassinated President Obama. That's what happened in 1865. People were shocked to learn John Wilkes Booth had killed President Lincoln. Booth was one of the most popular actors of his day. At just twenty-six years old, he was considered one of the most attractive men in America. Booth stood five feet, 8 inches tall, had a lean, athletic build, ivory skin, and curly, jet black hair. Women mobbed him on and off stage. At the time he killed Lincoln, Booth was pulling down $20,000 a year as an actor (roughly $300,000 in 2015 money). What was going on in the mind of John Wilkes Booth? What was it that turned this mild mannered actor into one of the most hated men of his generation?