Critical Moments From The Day Of Kennedy's Assassination [TIMELINE]
6:30am: Lee Harvey Oswald gets out of bed after a restless night and gets ready for work. Before he leaves the house, he takes off his wedding ring and leaves it in a cup on top of Marina's dresser. He takes $170 out of his wallet and leaves it with his wedding ring. He gets a ride into work at the Texas School Book Depository with Buell Wesley Fraizer. He is carrying something long and tells Fraizer they're curtain rods for his room in the boarding house.
7:00am: President John F. Kennedy is at the Hotel Texas getting ready for his day. He will give a speech outside the hotel, give a speech to the Chamber of Commerce, and then leave Fort Worth for Dallas. After a motorcade through Dallas and a speech at the Trade Mart, the Kennedy's will travel with the Johnson's to Austin and then the Johnson Ranch for a weekend of rest. He has just picked up The Dallas Morning News. He sees the infamous "black border" ad which accuses Kennedy of treason. He also sees a prediction from Richard Nixon that Kennedy will be dropping Johnson from the ticket.
10:00am: As the weather starts clearing up, advance secret service agent Win Lawson has decided to take the bubbletop off the presidential limo. President Kennedy has made it clear that he wants to be accessible to the people. He wants to bubbletop off as much as possible and does not want secret service agents on the back on his limo.
10:30am: Kennedy returns to his suite in the Hotel Texas and prepares to leave for Dallas. He remarks to Jackie "you know, last night would have been a hell of a night to assassinate a president…" in reference to their late night motorcade through For Worth.
11:50am: Multiple co-workers see Oswald on the first floor of the book depository eating lunch. Simultaneously, the motorcade leaves Love Field to begin the motorcade through Dallas.
12:05pm: President Kennedy makes his first of many stops at groups of people waiting to meet him and shake his hand, delaying the motorcade by five minutes.
12:29pm: The presidents limo turns onto Elm St. The first shot is fired missing the president. A fragment from the bullet or debris from the street hit James Tauge who is watching the motorcade in Dealey Plaza. A man is standing near the Stemmons Freeway sign with an opened umbrella giving rise to the "umbrella man" conspiracy theory.
12:30pm: The second shot is fired, causing Kennedy to go into Thornburn's position. This is a common neurological response to spinal damage. The third shot is fired, hitting the president on the back, right side of his head, causing a portion of his head behind his right ear to blow out. Right after the third shot is fired, Sheriff Bill Decker orders Dallas police officers to the railroad tracks behind the fence on the Grassy Knoll. Oswald gets a Coke from the soda machine in the book depository and starts walking out of the buildings after being stopped briefly by Dallas police officer Marrion Baker. Oswald walks passed NBC's Robert MacNeil who is looking for a phone to call in the shooting.
12:35pm: The presidential limo arrives at Parkland Memorial Hospital where "24740, white male" suffering from a gunshot wound is admitted and brought to trauma room 1. Secret service agent Roy Kellerman who is in charge in Dallas calls the head of secret service Jerry Behn to report that JFK has been hit. Dr. Charles Crenshaw enters and notes there is a large wound on the back of the president's head as well as a small hole in his throat. They use this hole to perform a tracheotomy.
12:45pm: Lee Harvey Oswald gets onto a bus 7 blocks away from the Texas School Book Depository. The bus isn't moving much because of traffic in Dealey Plaza. Shortly after boarding, he gets off and gets into Whaley's cab which he takes back to his boarding house where he changes and gets his pistol.
12:57pm: Father Huber arrives at the hospital. Ken O'Donnell tells secret service agent Clint Hill to order a casket from somewhere near by. The president is already technically dead, but Jackie is worried about him receiving his last rites before he has died. Just after, Dr. Kemp Clark pronounces John F. Kennedy dead. Admiral Dr. George Burkley officially pronounces Kennedy dead.
1:15pm: After being told to patrol the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, Office J.D. Tippit speaks to someone who fits Oswald's description. Shortly after police hear a civilian on the police radio line saying, "It's a police officer. Someone shot him."
1:26pm: Lyndon B. Johnson leaves Parkland for Air Force One. As he and Mrs. Johnson are leaving, she sees the flags drop to half mast. Mac Kilduff confirms Kennedy's death.
1:40pm: Oswald runs into a movie theater that is playing "War is Hell." He was seen sneaking in and police start to search the theater. The lights are raised and officer Nick McDonald spots Oswald in the seats. He walks up to Oswald who says, "This is it!" and pulls a revolver. As they fight, officer McDonald gets his finger in front of the pistol's hammer so the gun will not fire. Oswald punches an officer in the face and the officer punches back giving Oswald a black eye.
2:00pm: Secret service agent Roy Kellerman gets into an argument with Dallas Country medical examiner Dr. Earl Rose. The Kennedy party wants his body put in a casket and want to leave the hospital. At this point, killing a president is not a federal offense. Because of this, the medical examiner argues that the autopsy has to be performed before the body is taken from Dallas. The new president orders the body to be released, but the ME refuses. Finally, he is overridden by Dallas district attorney Henry Wade.
This timeline comes from Business Insider's Beth Frutkin, who is researching a book on Kennedy. See also her post on the significance of JFK's assassination.