Navigate Select ESC Close

The Escape of John Wilkes Booth (S1, E4) | History's Greatest Mysteries | Full Episode

2025-04-22 Entertainment
366.9k
2.6k
342
HISTORY
HISTORY
15.3m subscribers

Unlock all features

FREE: Get instant access to 10 AI summaries, chats, or transcripts per day.

Description

He was the actor whose most famous role was assassinating a president. But was John Wilkes Booth also an escape artist? Did Booth evade justice and live for decades after killing Abraham Lincoln? See more in Season 1, Episode 4, "The Escape of John Wilkes Booth." Watch all new episodes of History's Greatest Mysteries on Mondays at 9/8c, and stay up to date on all of your favorite The HISTORY Channel shows at history.com/schedule. #HistorysGreatestMysteries Subscribe for more from History's Greatest Mysteries and other great The HISTORY Channel shows: http://histv.co/SubscribeHistoryYT Find out more about the series and watch full episodes on our site: http://histv.co/HistorysGreatestMysteries Check out exclusive The HISTORY Channel content: History Newsletter - www.history.com/newsletter Website - http://www.history.com Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/History Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/history TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@history The HISTORY® Channel is the leading destination for award-winning original series and specials that connect viewers with history in an informative, immersive, and entertaining manner across all platforms. The network’s all-original programming slate features a roster of hit series, premium documentaries, and scripted event programming. History’s Greatest Mysteries is a one-hour documentary series that examines the top theories surrounding the world’s most enigmatic unsolved mysteries. Hosted and narrated by Academy Award® nominee and Emmy Award® winner Laurence Fishburne, each episode unpacks these puzzles with contributions from top historians, authors, scientists, and researchers. From unsolved crimes to lost and buried treasures, and the deaths and disappearances of famous figures, History’s Greatest Mysteries will explore possible explanations to some of the world’s most confounding events. The HISTORY® Channel, a division of A+E Networks, is the premier destination for historical storytelling. From best-in-class documentary events, to a signature slate of industry leading nonfiction series and premium fact-based scripted programming, The HISTORY® Channel serves as the most trustworthy source of informational entertainment in media. The HISTORY® channel has been named the #1 U.S. TV network in buzz for seven consecutive years by YouGov BrandIndex, and a top favorite TV network by Beta Research Corporation. For a deeper dive, visit history.com or follow @history on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. For additional press materials visit the A+E Networks Press Center at http://press.aenetworks.com.

Top Comments (10)

@kristfur 2025-04-22

My 6th grade teacher was a descendant of John Wilkes Booth. In the 1980s, he swore of John Wilkes Booth lived to be an old man. He knew that as a fact, the whole Booth family knew. As a lesson he told us not everything in our history books was accurate.

194 54 replies
@rileyfairchild6873 2025-05-21

Booths ego would not allow him to have faded away in obscurity.

56 3 replies
@HISTORY 2025-04-21

Watch all new episodes of History's Greatest Mysteries on Mondays at 9/8c, and stay up to date on all of your favorite The HISTORY Channel shows at history.com/schedule.

39 2 replies
@stargazer4625 2025-04-24

Wheres Maury Povich when you need him.

38 6 replies
@wenthulk8439 2025-04-24

Things that sound easy in theory, aren’t always easy in practice.

24
@DarkLord01273 2025-12-29

Booth’s escape route roughly parallels parts of modern Route 301, though it doesn’t match it directly.

6
@JosephMiller-gh6mv 2025-10-10

The guy saying he does not think he could handle the pressure if signing a court document , really this is a man who walked up and shot the president in the head jumped into the stage and spoke a line he wanted his last act on stage to be remembered , so I think he can handle preasure

5
@Logie_Mills 2025-09-29

The crazy thing is... the country isn't that different as it is nowadays.

5
@rpfeliu 2026-04-11

James Swanson’s book “Manhunt” is an extraordinary work regarding Booth’s escape and death after the Lincoln assassination. Highly recommended!

2
@MrEccentricities 2026-04-09

It's really sad Joanne's mom told her that at such a young age. I don't understand the point in telling a little girl "We're related to this really bad guy that killed this really good guy who was just trying to save all of these people". Even though she's old and has probably forgot about the feeling she felt that day, I'm pretty sure it really messed her up when she started to hear about who John Wilkes Booth was. That was an awful decision for that mother to make in telling her daughter that :(.

1

Unlock the Data Inside
Turn Videos into Knowledge

  • Get FREE 10/day: transcripts, summaries, chats
  • Chat with videos, export text & PDF
  • $1 free API credit for RAG, chatbots & research

Free forever plan • All features unlocked

App screenshot