The US is marking the 50<sup>th anniversary of the assassination of former president John F Kennedy, remembering one of the darkest points in American history.
A series of official events have been scheduled in the city of Dallas, Texas, where the president was shot dead by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mayor Mike Rawlings will address a gathering and military jets will fly over the city to commemorate the event. The ceremonies will begin at 11:30 am (17:30 GMT) in Dealey Plaza where Kennedy's open-topped car passed through the streets exactly 50 years back this day.
Kennedy, one of America's most charismatic presidents, is largely remembered for his leadership during the Cuban Missile Crisis, his cold war speech in Berlin and for ordering the failed Bay of Pigs invasion into communist Cuba.
"Today and in the decades to come, let us carry his [Kennedy's] legacy forward. Let us face today's tests by beckoning the spirit he embodied -- that fearless, resilient, uniquely American character that has always driven our Nation to defy the odds, write our own destiny, and make the world anew," said President Barack Obama.
Kennedy's voice filled with youthful vigour continues to strike a chord with scores of Americans.
Here are 50 historic images of Kennedy while the US marks the anniversary of his assassination.
President John F. Kennedy delivers a speech at a rally in Fort Worth, Texas several hours before his assassination in this November 22, 1963 photoReutersMourners look on during the burial and folding of the flag ceremony for former U.S. President John F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery, in this handout image taken on November 25, 1963ReutersFamily members of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, including his brother Robert F. Kennedy (2ndL), sister Patricia Kennedy Lawford (3rdL), daughter Caroline Kennedy, former first Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (2ndR) and son John F. Kennedy, Jr., depart the funeral ceremony for President Kennedy at the U.S. Capital in Washington, in this handout image taken on November 24, 1963.ReutersThe casket of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy is placed in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, in this handout image taken on November 24, 1963.ReutersA flame burns over the grave of assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington,ReutersThe casket of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy is pictured during his funeral procession from the White House to the U. S. Capitol in Washington, in this handout image taken on November 24, 1963ReutersFormer U.S. President John F. Kennedy (C), first lady Jacqueline Kennedy (R) and Texas Governor John Connally (L) and his wife are pictured riding in the presidential motorcade moments before Kennedy was shot in Dallas,Texas, in this handout image taken on November 22, 1963.ReutersFormer U.S. President John F. Kennedy (R) and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy (C) attend the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth,Texas, in this handout image taken on November 22, 1963.ReutersFormer U.S. President John F. Kennedy (C) and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy exit the Hotel Texas after the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast in Fort Worth,Texas, in this handout image taken on November 22, 1963.ReutersFormer U.S. President John F. Kennedy reaches out to the crowd gathered at the Hotel Texas Parking Lot Rally in Fort Worth,Texas, in this handout image taken on November 22, 1963.ReutersA photograph acquired from the Dallas Police Department/Dallas Municipal Archives John F. Kennedy Collection, shows a 6.5 mm Carcano Model 91/38 carbine rifle recovered from the Texas School Book Depository after the November 22, 1963 assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.ReutersLee Harvey Oswald, accused of assassinating former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, is pictured with Dallas police Sgt. Warren (R) and a fellow officer in Dallas, in this handout image taken on November 22, 1963.ReutersPresident and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, and Texas Governor John Connally ride through Dallas moments before Kennedy was assassinated, November 22, 1963ReutersPRESIDENTIAL LIMO SITS OUTSIDE PARKLAND HOSPITAL IN DALLAS AFTER 1963 ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F KENNEDY.ReutersPresident John F. Kennedy's body lies in state in the East Room of the White House early November 23, 1963 after being returned to Washington from Dallas, Texas in this photoReutersPresident John F. Kennedy's brother, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, his sister Patricia Lawford, his son, John F. Kennedy Jr, his wife, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and his daughter Caroline Kennedy watch as his casket departs the White House bound for the U.S. Capitol in this November 24, 1963ReutersPresident John F. Kennedy's body is loaded aboard Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas, Texas for the return flight to Washington as First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (Far R) looks on in this November 22, 1963ReutersA military honor guard escorts the cortege bearing President John F. Kennedy's casket from the White House to the U.S. Capitol for viewing in this November 24, 1963ReutersPresident John F. Kennedy's brother, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (L-R), his widow first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and his brother U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy lead mourners away from the White House bound for his funeral in this November 25, 1963ReutersA bullet hole next to a clothier's label inside the suit coat worn by Governor John Connally, November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas is shown in this handout photoReutersU.S. Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson (C) takes the presidential oath of office from Judge Sarah T. Hughes (2nd from L) as President John F. Kennedy's widow first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (2nd from R) stands at his side aboard Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas, Texas just two hours after Kennedy was shot in this November 22, 1963ReutersThe grave sites of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy (top), and his wife, former U.S. First lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (bottom) are seen at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia October 29, 2013ReutersCopies of Russian files gathered by the KGB on Lee Harvey Oswald and the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy were released by the U.S. government August 5 in Washington, D.C. at the National ArchivesReutersThis 1961 Lincoln limousine, codenamed X-100, in which U.S. President John F. Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinatedReutersPresident John F. Kennedy is seen working in the Oval Office in the White House in this 1963 photoReutersJacqueline Kennedy Onassis shown in this June 27, 1953 photograph with then Senator John F. Kennedy in Hyannisport, MassachuesttsReutersPresident John F. Kennedy hugs his young son, John F. Kennedy Jr., as they sit in a rowboat on the beach in Newport, Rhode Island in this September 12, 1963ReutersJohn Kennedy Jr. plays with his mother Jacqueline Kennedy's string of false pearls in this August 1962 file photo.ReutersThe 18-year-old Ban Ki-moon (2nd L), South Korea's Foreign Minister, listens to the speech of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy during a meeting with international students at the White HouseReutersThen U.S. President John F. Kennedy (in rocking chair, gesturing with right arm) visits with his daughter, Caroline Kennedy, during Easter holiday celebrations at the residenceReutersThen U.S. President Kennedy (R) meets with then Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor (L) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington in this October 2, 1963 handout photoReutersThen U.S. President John F. Kennedy meets with representatives from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington in this July 12, 1961 handout photoReutersThen U.S. President John F. Kennedy, seated in fabric-covered rocking chair, meets with Andrei Gromyko, then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, in the Yellow Oval Room at the White House in Washington in this October 6, 1961 handout photoReutersThen U.S. President John F. Kennedy meets Nguyen Dinh Thuan, then Vietnamese Secretary of State in Charge of Security Coordination, in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington in this June 14, 1961 handout photoReutersThe audience watches the Boston premiere of the film "Letters to Jackie" at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts September 17, 2013.ReutersPresident Bill Clinton (R) meets with the family of former President John F. Kennedy (L-R) John Kennedy Jr., Caroline KennedyReuters
