Page 51 - All About History - Issue 38-16

15 Mad Murder Plots

Gustav III History hit list

of Sweden Being targeted by one assassin

METHOD: SHOT WITH SCRAP METAL AND LEAD is bad enough, but there are
WHEN: 16 MARCH 1792, DIED 29 MARCH 1792 some historical figures who have
When Gustav III received a death suffered more than their fair
13 threat while attending a share of attempts on their lives
masquerade ball at Stockholm’s
Royal Opera House, he laughed it Queen Victoria
off as the latest of many hoaxes. Assassination attempts: 7
Less than an hour later, he was surrounded by Whether fame hungry, tired of life or just
three men and shot in the back. The gun was plain insane, six gunmen and one cane-
loaded with a deadly cocktail of balls, nails, scrap wielding assailant failed to kill the hardy
and popular queen.
lead and iron. Though Gustav appeared set to
survive, the wound turned septic and he Charles de Gaulle
contracted fatal pneumonia. The man who pulled Assassination attempts: 31
the trigger, Jacob Johan Anckarström, was later With an assortment of snipers, explosives

executed for the assassination while his and gun re, shadowy political groups
tried and failed to remove the French
The co-conspirators in accomplices were imprisoned. president permanently from oce.

Gustav III’s assassination
all wore black masks
Adolf Hitler
President Assassination attempts: 42
From political rivals to the resistance,
Hitler had enemies all over the place yet
William McKinley still managed to dodge bombs, gunmen
and even poison.
METHOD: SHOT Zog of Albania
WHEN: 6 SEPTEMBER 1901, DIED 14 SEPTEMBER 1901 Assassination attempts: 55+
Determined to be a man of the Despite hundreds of blood feuds
placing a price on his head, the Albanian
14 people, President McKinley agreed president proved absurdly hard to kill
and even returned re on one assassin.

to meet the public at the Pan-
American Exposition in Buffalo. To
Leon Czolgosz, this seemed the Fidel Castro
perfect opportunity to win some publicity for his Assassination attempts: 638
During the Cold War, the USA desperately
anarchist cause. With a gun concealed beneath a wanted communist Castro out. Despite
handkerchief, Czolgosz waited in line until he exploding cigars, poisoned ballpoints
reached the president, at which point he shot and hundreds of schemes, he held onto
McKinley twice. Although McKinley survived the power for 50 years.
initial shooting, days later he succumbed to
gangrene. Czolgosz went to the electric chair. Doctors were optimistic Mckinlet Louis-
would survive the attempt. Alas,
this was not to be the case
18 people were killed Philippe of
in Fieschi’s attempt on
France
Louis-Philippe’s life

METHOD: SHOT WITH A MACHINE INFERNALE
WHEN: 28 JULY 1835
Giuseppe Marco Fieschi’s
15 machine infernale was a bit of
DIY that was far from being an
engineering marvel. A
rudimentary volley gun, it was
constructed of 25 gun barrels on a wooden
frame that would fire simultaneously at the
king as he passed along the street beneath
Fieschi’s hiding place. In the event, only some
of the barrels fired, while others exploded and
seriously wounded Fieschi, who went to the
guillotine for his efforts. Although 18 people
died and 22 were injured, Louis-Philippe © Alamy, Getty, REX
suffered only a small graze.

51

044-051_AAH_038_15 Crazy Assasination Plots.indd 51 13/04/2016 22:35