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"Friday marks 50 years since the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and the days leading up to this anniversary may feel a bit like diving headfirst into an icy ocean of Camelot myth. Truth, analysis and conjecture will each get their due, but it will all be filtered through a media that has been telling the same unhappy tale for 50 years.\nBut what if you could chart your own course through history?\nSee also: CBS Streams JFK Assassination Coverage in 'Real Time'\nThe National Archives' digital archive of Kennedy Assassination artifacts includes amazing finds like Lee Harvey Oswald\u2019s rifle and handwritten and typed transcripts from interviews conducted over the days, weeks, months and years following the assassination. \nBelow, find a handful of Mashable's selections from the archives.\nAbraham Zapruder\u2019s Camera\nfilmThis is the camera that Abraham Zapruder, a garment maker, used to capture JFK's assassination. The 26-second, color footage was the only film that captured the tragedy in real time. \nLee Harvey Oswald\u2019s Rifle\n\n\nLee Harvey Oswald used a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle to shoot JFK.\nLee Harvey Oswald\u2019s Sweater\n\nThis is the sweater Oswald was wearing when Jack Ruby shot him on Nov. 24, 1963. You can see where emergency medical technicians cut away the garment as they tried, in vain, to save Oswald\u2019s life. \n\nThe fatal bullet hole in this close-up photo is also visible.\nBullet Casings\n\nBullet casings found on the sixth floor of the book repository leads to the conclusion that these are from the bullets used to assassinate the 35thpresident. \n\nThis photo shows the unspent ammo pulled from the murder weapon. \nPiece of Curb\n\nAuthorities meticulously collected every piece of evidence available, including a piece of sidewalk or curbstone where a couple of bullets fired at President Kennedy may have ricocheted.\nJohn F. Kennedy\u2019s Autopsy Report\n\nA half century later, the stark nature of this 79-page report is still shocking in its description of the extent of Kennedy\u2019s injuries.\n\nSome photos taken during the autopsy were purposely not developed. Instead, they were handed over to the secret service.\nHow Ruby Got to Oswald\n\nHow did Jack Ruby get close enough to kill Lee Harvey Oswald? He staked out the Dallas Police Department and then walked right in. In testimony gathered just days after the shooting, Detective L. C. Graves described Ruby springing out of a \u201Csurging line of camera men and glaring camera lights.\u201D Graves grabbed Ruby\u2019s pistol as Ruby tried to fire a second round.\n\nAnother Detective, who was stationed behind Oswald and the detectives escorting him, said he never saw anyone enter or leave the basement without proper identification. \nPresident Lyndon Johnson\u2019s Statement\n\nWhen the newly sworn-in President Lyndon Johnson emerged from Air Force One and onto the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base, he made a brief statement intended to calm and reassure the country \u2014 and perhaps the world. However, that brief statement was edited considerably before Americans heard it.\nThe National Archive holds other discoveries, like an eyewitness account of Oswald\u2019s reaction after Jack Ruby shot him \u2014 he said nothing and only shook his head when asked if he had something to say \u2014 and Oswald's exhaustive autopsy report.\nA secret service agent who was very near the presidential limousine claimed he heard President Kennedy say, \"My God, I\u2019m hit\" after the first bullet hit the President and Texas Governor Connolly. You can even eavesdrop on the conversation between the Air Force One cockpit and grounds crew at Andrews Air Force base as it ferried the slain president\u2019s body back to Washington. \nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.\nImages: The National Archive"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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