Timeline of the John F. Kennedy assassination

[6] March 13: Klein's Sporting Goods of Chicago receives a mail order in the amount of $21.45 ($19.95 plus $1.50 for postage and handing) for item C20-750, a World War II-surplus Italian 1891 Carcano Model 1938 rifle equipped with a 4× scope that was advertised in the February 1963 issue of American Rifleman.

Johnson hopes that Kennedy's schedule would allow him to have a breakfast in Fort Worth, a luncheon in Dallas, an afternoon tea in San Antonio and dinner in Houston.

[18] September 17: Jack Valenti sends an invitation to the White House asking whether President Kennedy would attend a dinner in Houston on November 21 honoring congressman Albert Thomas for his decision not to retire from Congress.

[24] The White House accepts the invitation to the Albert Thomas dinner in Houston and turns it into a two-day political trip encompassing the major cities of Texas.

[25] September 26: The Dallas Morning News is the first newspaper to announce the Texas visit in an article covering the president's conservation tour in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

[35] October 11: Kenneth O'Donnell sends a reply to Jack Valenti formally accepting his invitation for the president to speak at the dinner honoring Rep.

[36] October 15: Ruth Paine calls the Texas School Book Depository and arranges for a job interview for Oswald with building superintendent Roy Truly.

[40] October 21: Bruno meets with O'Donnell and is told to contact Walter Jenkins, one of Vice President Lyndon Johnson's top administrative assistants, to solicit his input for the trip.

[46][47] October 29: Bruno meets with Henry Brown, president of the Texas AFL–CIO and a friend of Senator Ralph Yarborough, to obtain his input from labor leaders.

He then has lunch with Governor Connally to review his itinerary, which includes an honorary degree from Texas Christian University; because Kennedy is Catholic, Bruno considers this event among the highlights of the trip.

[54] Jonsson and Cullum suggest the Dallas Trade Mart, but after visiting the site, Bruno dislikes the many catwalks that would be above the president, which, in light of the Stevenson incident that had just occurred a few days earlier, could present a security problem.

[55] October 31: Bruno visits two other potential luncheon sites, the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, which he deems too large, and the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest, which he believes would be too far out of town and thus impractical.

[64] Later that day, Sorrels reports back to Behn that the Women's Building appears to be preferable from a security standpoint, but that it is not a suitable place to take the president.

He reports that the Trade Mart has about 60 entrances as well as six catwalks over the area where the luncheon would be held, which could pose a problem in adequately staffing the site with security personnel.

[67] November 6: White House press secretary Pierre Salinger announces that First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy will accompany the president on his Texas trip.

Organizers of the dinner had already moved the venue from the Rice Hotel, where the event had sold out, to the larger Sam Houston Coliseum because of increased demand for tickets once it became known that Kennedy would attend.

She had previously announced the cancellation of all her events for the rest of the year following the premature birth and death of her third child, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, the past August.

[72] November 9: Oswald is driven by Ruth Paine to take his driver's license permit test, but because there is a special election that day, the office is closed.

[82] November 15: President Kennedy delivers a speech in New York City at the AFL–CIO convention and then flies to West Palm Beach, Florida to spend his last weekend.

[88] November 19: The White House formally announces the timetable of events for the president's visit, including a planned arrival time of 12:30 p.m. CST at the Trade Mart.

Air Force Two also lands at Carswell with the vice president Lyndon Johnson, Texas governor John Connally and Senator Ralph Yarborough.

11:55 a.m.: The motorcade departs Love Field about 15 minutes after the party had arrived, after the president and his wife take time to shake hands with many of the enthusiastic supporters.

The Warren Commission report states that seconds after the shooting Roy Kellerman consulted his watch and said "12:30" to William Greer, before he radioed to Police Chief Jesse Curry that the President had been shot.

[108] 12:40 p.m.: Viewers of the live soap opera As the World Turns receive the first national television report of the shooting from CBS News anchorman, Walter Cronkite.

[94] 1:30 p.m.: Johnson, protected by Rufus Youngblood in a car driven by Jesse Curry, along with passengers Congressmen Albert Thomas and Homer Thornberry, arrives at Air Force One.

[94][110] 1:40 p.m.: Johnson phones Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to express his condolences and ask where he should take the oath of office of the president of the United States.

[140][141] The new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, issued Presidential Proclamation 3561, declaring Monday to be a national day of mourning,[142][143] and only essential emergency workers to be at their posts.

[145][142] November 24: 11:21 a.m. before live television cameras, Oswald was shot and mortally wounded in the basement of Dallas Police headquarters by a local nightclub owner with alleged Mafia ties, Jack Ruby.

Throughout the day and night, hundreds of thousands lined up to view the guarded casket,[147][148] with a quarter million passing through the rotunda during the 18 hours of lying in state.

[159][160] September 9, 2023: Paul Landis, an 88-year-old former Secret Service agent who witnessed the assassination at close range, says he took a bullet from the car after Kennedy was shot, and left it on the president's stretcher at the hospital.