Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky. In 1861 he became the 16th President of the United states serving as President during the Civil War and is credited with saving the Union. Shortly after the war ended, he became the first U.S. President to be assassinated. He was shot and mortally wounded on Good Friday, April 14, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s Theatre.

Aside from being a legal holiday in Illinois, it is a holiday in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Indiana.

Picture of Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois