4. The Zapruder Film Wasn't Released Until 14 Years After His Assassination
One of the main reasons why Kennedy's assassination is so widely discussed a whole 50 years after his death is because nearly everyone has seen the fatal moment Lee Harvey Oswald's bullet ended his life. Kennedy's death was virtually a public execution - seen by the countless-hundreds who lined the Dallas streets to catch a glimpse as his presidential motorcade passed through, millions more witnessed his final few seconds thanks to Abraham Zapruder's graphic film. Zapruder was in attendance that day and famously filmed the moment Kennedy was shot, though what many may not know is that it
did not see release until 12 years later, in 1975. Until then, all the American public saw of the assassination was black and white images in TIME magazine, which left out Frame 313 - which depicts the brutal headshot - out of respect for the grieving Kennedy family. Footage of Kennedy's death, which shows Frame 313, was first broadcast by ABC, causing huge controversy over the graphic nature of the grainy video. It also sparked suspicions over the Warren Commission which investigated the assassination and led to conspiracy theories that Oswald was not the lone shooter, or that it wasn't him at all.