Oswald is shot once and killed during a transfer from the city jail to the county jail by Jack Ruby, a local nightclub owner. Ruby is later convicted and sentenced to die. The verdict is overturned on appeal. In January 1967, while awaiting a second trial, Ruby dies of cancer at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Nov. 29, 1963:

President Johnson establishes a special national commission, headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, to investigate the assassination.

Sept. 24, 1964:

The Warren Commission issues its report and concludes that Oswald, acting alone, had killed Kennedy. Public questions about discrepancies in the Warren Report lead to numerous official investigations in the years that follow.

June 13, 1970:

A memorial to Kennedy is dedicated in downtown Dallas. The cenotaph, or empty tomb, designed by architect Philip Johnson, is a gift from the people of Dallas County. The county donates the city block on which the memorial is located.

Jan. 2, 1979:

The U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations supports the Warren panel's conclusion that Oswald fired the shots that killed Kennedy. However, the committee states, based on an audio recording of the shooting, that a second gunman had fired at the motorcade from the grassy knoll — a key factor in its final conclusion that the president "was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy."

1980s:

Government-authorized studies of the scientific audio tests that led to the House committee's conspiracy conclusion are undertaken in 1980 and 1982. These studies repudiate the validity of the committee's results. In 1988, the Justice Department formally closes the investigation into the assassination and concludes there was no "persuasive evidence" of conspiracy.

Feb. 20, 1989:

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza opens with the goal of chronicling Kennedy's assassination and legacy.

1992:

Congress passes the JFK Assassination Records Collections Act, providing for the public release of more than 6 million documents related to the assassination. It takes the Assassination Records Review Board five years to transfer all of its records to the National Archives.

Nov. 22, 1993:

The building housing The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza becomes part of the Dealey Plaza Historic Landmark District designated by the National Park Service.

Nov. 22, 2003:

40th anniversary of the assassination.

SOURCE: The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza