In this Nov. 22, 1963 file photo, President John F. Kennedy rides in a motorcade with his wife Jacqueline moments before he was shot and killed in Dallas, Tx. Texas Governor and Mrs. John Connally are also in the car. Video footage of Kennedy’s motorcade as it drove slowly through Dallas marked an entire generation and has been the source of plenty of conspiracy theories since. (AP Photo, File)
President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline are shown riding in a motorcade moments before the president was fatally shot. Texas Gov. John Connally and Mrs. Connally are in the front seat of the limousine. This frame grab image was made from a restored version of a film showing the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas, Nov. 22, 1963. (AP Photo/FILE)
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy cradles her husband President John F. Kennedy seconds after he was fatally shot. This frame grab image was made from a restored version of a film showing the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas, Tex., Nov. 22, 1963. (AP Photo)
An unidentified plainclothes police officer carries the rifle used in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in the Nov. 22, 1963 file photo. (AP Photo/FILE)
In this Nov. 23, 1963 file photo, surrounded by detectives, Lee Harvey Oswald talks to the press as he is led down a corridor of the Dallas police station for another round of questioning in connection with the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Oswald, who denied any involvement in the shooting, was killed two days later, live on television, in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters, by local nightclub owner Jack Ruby. (AP Photo, File)
Lee Harvey Oswald is shown early Nov. 23, 1963, as he stood before newsmen in a Dallas police station where he repeatedly denied that he had assassinated President Kennedy yesterday. "I did not kill President Kennedy," he said. "I did not kill anyone. I don’t know what this is all about." He was brought before the newsmen just after formal charges of murder were filed against him. (AP Photo)
A vintage plate with U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address quote: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," is displayed as part of the exhibit at the John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2013. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated in Dallas 50 years ago today. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
FILE – In this Nov. 22, 1963 file photo, seen through the foreground convertible’s windshield, President John F. Kennedy’s hand reaches toward his head within seconds of being fatally shot as first lady Jacqueline Kennedy holds his forearm as the motorcade proceeds along Elm Street past the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas. The license plates on the vehicle, which were discarded when the vehicle was sent for upgrades, are going up for auction. (AP Photo/James W. "Ike" Altgens, File)
This photo of President Lyndon B. Johnson was taken just three days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. Johnson clearly feels the burdens of his new office. (AP Photo/Christian Science Monitor, Gordon N. Converse)
A big question in Dallas is why Jack Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald as the man accused of assassinating President Kennedy was being transferred from one jail to another, Nov. 25, 1963. Ruby, whose real name is Rubenstein, is pictured as he was taken before a justice of the peace to be arraigned on murder charges. (AP Photo)
This Mannlicher-Carcano bolt-action, clip-fed rifle, found in the Texas School Book Depository Building in Dallas, was Warren Commission Exhibit No. 1303, September 26, 1964, and was identified by the Warren Commission as the rifle used to shoot President Kennedy. It is inscribed with various markings, including "made Italy;" "Cal. 6.5" referring to the gun’s caliber; "1940," the year of manufacture; and the serial number C2766. (AP Photo/Warren Commission)
Nov. 22, 1963, probably has little meaning for anyone of a certain age who is not close to collecting Social Security.
But for a generation that survived the turbulent 1960s and then realized the American Dream in the 1970s and 1980s, the events of that Friday remain crystal clear.
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in downtown Dallas shook the nation.
Kennedy’s motorcade was traveling through Dallas around 12:30 p.m. local time. As the car carrying Kennedy passed the Texas School Book Depository, gunfire suddenly reverberated across Dealey Plaza.
Kennedy was struck in the neck and head. About 30 minutes later, the 35th president was dead.
As he was being transported from one jail to another, suspected shooter Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed two days by a Jack Ruby, a Dallas strip club owner.
Conspiracy theories about the assassination and who all might have been involved have been discussed for the ensuing 56 years.
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