President Abraham Lincoln was watching the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on the night of April 14, 1865, when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth
. This play is a farcical comedy by Tom Taylor, centered on an awkward American visiting England, and was known for its humorous and lively scenes
. Booth, an actor familiar with the play, timed his fatal shot to coincide with a particularly funny line to mask the sound of the gunshot with the audience's laughter
