This episode is brought to you by Network Rail.

It's easy to disappear into your own bubble when you're out and about,

whether you're lost in your thoughts or lost in nature.

The last thing on your mind is the danger of trains at level crossings.

Beware the bubble, stay aware, take care and help us keep you safe at level crossings.

The story is just a bunch of names and dates and facts.

It's the collection of all the stories throughout human history that explained how and why we got here.

Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast, where we look at the forgotten, neglected, strange, and even counterfactual stories that made our world what it is.

I'm your host, Scott Rank.

One of the best known and most infamous events in American history is the Lincoln assassination.

The details are pretty well known. Lincoln goes to Ford's Theatre, John Wilkes Booth, the actor, assassinates him, he shouts six separate tyranists, he's arrested, and that's it.

There are other details that have entered into the lore, such as Lincoln having a vision that he was going to be assassinated, or that John Wilkes Booth was connected to officials and officers in the Confederacy, so it was likely a Confederate assassination conspiracy.

But a lot of those assumptions that have glombed on to the historical event aren't exactly true.

Today I'm speaking with Robert Hutchinson, whose author of the book, the Lincoln assassination, what really happened.

And he takes a look at the case and explores all the events that led up to April 14th, 1865.

Among the things we discussed in this episode are, did the Confederacy have a hand in the assassination plot?

Who were the accomplices of John Wilkes Booth, and why did he change the plan for kidnapping to assassination?

And why was it so easy for Booth to enter the president's box at Ford's Theatre?

John Wilkes Booth was a very famous actor in his day, and he was able to get access to Ford's Theatre, and he knew all the layout of it because he had performed there many times.

So we come around to the thought that John Wilkes Booth is sort of the Derrick Zoolander of American history.

He is also a person who's ridiculously good looking, able to access places because he's a celebrity.

And someone to wonder, was he brainwashed into assassinating Lincoln?

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