#11: Ruby Shoots Oswald (1964)
Photographed by Robert H. Jackson, this explosive image captures the exact moment Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Surrounded by police officers in a Dallas basement, Oswald recoils in pain as chaos erupts around him.
The photograph won the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography for freezing a shocking, history-altering instant. Broadcast live on television, the shooting stunned the nation. Jackson’s image preserved the split second that deepened America’s grief and confusion, becoming one of the most dramatic news photos ever taken.