List of assassinations and assassination attempts
Encyclopedia
The following is a list of some of the most famous assassinations and assassination attempts. It is not intended to be exhaustive.
| Assassin(s) | Year (AD format) | Target | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ehud Ehud Ehud ben‑Gera is described in the biblical Book of Judges as a judge who was sent by God to deliver the Israelites from Moabite domination.-Biblical narrative:... |
ca. 1200 BC | Moabite king Eglon Eglon (king) Eglon was the king of Moab who suppressed Israel in the time of the Judges.He was the head of the confederacy of Moab, Ammon and Amalek in their assault. One day, Ehud came presenting a customary tribute and tricked Eglon and stabbed him with his sword, but when Ehud attempted to draw the sword... |
Killed | Stabbed to death in his throne room (Judges Book of Judges The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as... 3:12-30). |
| Arda Mulissi | 681 BC | Assyrian king Sennacherib Sennacherib Sennacherib |Sîn]] has replaced brothers for me"; Aramaic: ) was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria .-Rise to power:... |
Killed | Stabbed to death while at prayer in a temple, or possibly crushed under a winged bull colossus. |
| Jing Ke Jing Ke Jing Ke was a guest residing in the estates of Dan, crown prince of Yan and renowned for his failed assassination attempt of Ying Zheng, King of Qin state, who later became China's first emperor... |
227 BC | Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC... |
Survived | One of the earliest documented attempts. |
| A strongman hired by Zhang Liang Zhang Liang Zhang Liang , style name Zifang , was a strategist and statesman of the early Han Dynasty. He is also known as one of the "Three Heroes of the early Han Dynasty" , along with Han Xin and Xiao He... |
218 BC | Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC... |
Survived | Long-distance heavy hammer (30-kg) throwing; the origin of a Chinese idiom 誤中副車 ("mistakenly hit the escort carriage"). |
| Marcus Junius Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name... , Gaius Cassius Longinus Gaius Cassius Longinus Gaius Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator, a leading instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar, and the brother in-law of Marcus Junius Brutus.-Early life:... , and others |
44 BC | Roman Dictator Julius Caesar Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.... |
Killed Assassination of Julius Caesar The assassination of Julius Caesar was the result of a conspiracy by approximately forty Roman senators who called themselves Liberators. Led by Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, they stabbed Julius Caesar to death in the Theatre of Pompey on the Ides of March 44 BC... |
Resulted in Civil War and indirectly in the end of the Roman Republic |
| Cassius Chaerea Cassius Chaerea Cassius Chaerea was a centurion in the army of Germanicus and served in the Praetorian Guard under the emperor Caligula, whom he eventually assassinated.... , members of the Praetorian Guard Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. The title was already used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC... , and others |
41 CE | Roman Emperor Caligula Caligula Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most... |
Killed | |
| Uncertain, reputed to be Agrippina the Younger Agrippina the Younger Julia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina Minor or Agrippina the Younger, and after 50 known as Julia Augusta Agrippina was a Roman Empress and one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty... on behalf of Nero Nero Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death.... |
54 | Roman Emperor Claudius Claudius Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy... |
Killed | |
| Various freedmen, possibly with the help of the Praetorian Guard | 96 | Roman Emperor Domitian Domitian Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War... |
Killed | |
| Members of the Praetorian Guard Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. The title was already used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC... |
192 | Roman Emperor Commodus Commodus Commodus , was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded... |
Killed | |
| Fan Qiang, Zhang Da | 221 | military general of Shu Han Zhang Fei | Killed | |
| Mucapor and members of the Praetorian Guard Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. The title was already used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC... |
275 | Roman Emperor Aurelian Aurelian Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following... |
Killed | |
| Abu Lulu | 600s | Umar Umar `Umar ibn al-Khattāb c. 2 November , was a leading companion and adviser to the Islamic prophet Muhammad who later became the second Muslim Caliph after Muhammad's death.... , 3rd Caliph of Islam |
Killed | |
| Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam al-Sarimi Arabic:عبدالرحمن بن ملجم السريمي was the Kharijite assassin of Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad.-The Plot of Ali's murder:... |
661 | Ali ibn Abi Talib | Killed | |
| Hashshashin Hashshashin The Assassins were an order of Nizari Ismailis, particularly those of Persia that existed from around 1092 to 1265... |
1192 | Conrad of Montferrat Conrad of Montferrat Conrad of Montferrat was a northern Italian nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the de facto King of Jerusalem, by marriage, from 24 November 1190, but officially elected only in 1192, days before his death... |
Killed | |
| Pazzi Conspiracy | 1478 | Lorenzo Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets... and Giuliano de' Medici |
See notes | Giuliano died, after being stabbed 19 times, but Lorenzo escaped. |
| Oda Nobunaga Oda Nobunaga was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi... |
1557 | Sengoku period Oda Nobuyuki Oda Nobuyuki was the son of Oda Nobuhide, and younger brother of Oda Nobunaga in the earlier years of the Sengoku period of the 16th century of Japan.Nobuyuki conspired against his brother Nobunaga with the Hayashi and Shibata families. Nobuyuki's Suemori Castle was reduced by Ikeda Nobuteru. Though Hayashi and... |
Killed | |
| James Hamilton James Hamilton (assassin) James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh was a Scottish supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots, who assassinated James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland, in January 1570... |
1570 | James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray , a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V, was Regent of Scotland for his nephew, the infant King James VI of Scotland, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570... |
Killed | The first assassination carried out with a firearm. |
| Balthasar Gérard Balthasar Gérard Balthasar Gérard was the assassin of the Dutch independence leader, William I of Orange... |
1584 | Dutch Stadtholder William the Silent William the Silent William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of... |
Killed | |
| Jacques Clément Jacques Clément Jacques Clément was the assassin of the French king Henry III.He was born at Serbonnes, in today's Yonne département, in Burgundy, and became a Dominican lay brother.... |
1589 | King Henry III of France Henry III of France Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,... |
Killed | Religious-political antagonism. |
| Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes , also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries, belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.Fawkes was born and educated in York... |
1605 | King James I of England James I of England James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603... , Parliament of England |
Survived | See the Gunpowder Plot Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of... . |
| François Ravaillac François Ravaillac François Ravaillac was a French factotum in the courts of Angoulême and a regicide. A sometime tutor and Catholic zealot, he murdered King Henry IV of France in 1610.-Early life and education:... |
1610 | King Henry IV of France Henry IV of France Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France.... |
Killed | Religious-political antagonism. |
| Army officers | 1747 | King Nader Shah Nader Shah Nāder Shāh Afshār ruled as Shah of Iran and was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander... |
Killed | He was able to kill two of the assassins before dying. |
| Jacob Johan Anckarström Jacob Johan Anckarström Jacob Johan Anckarström was a Swedish military officer who was convicted and executed for regicide. He was the son of Jacob Johan Anckarström the Elder. He served as a captain in King Gustav III's regiment between 1778 and 1783... |
1792 | King Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia.... |
Killed | The king was shot at a masquerade ball Masquerade ball A masquerade ball is an event which the participants attend in costume wearing a mask. - History :... and died two weeks later from his wounds. |
| Charlotte Corday Charlotte Corday Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont , known to history as Charlotte Corday, was a figure of the French Revolution. In 1793, she was executed under the guillotine for the assassination of Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, who was in part responsible, through his role as a politician and... |
1793 | French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat , born in the Principality of Neuchâtel, was a physician, political theorist, and scientist best known for his career in France as a radical journalist and politician during the French Revolution... |
Killed | Later often seen as a patriotic act Patriotism Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy... . |
| François-Joseph Carbon | 1800 | French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815... |
Survived | Detonated an explosion by the roadside in an attempt to kill Bonaparte, which he narrowly missed. The attempt is referred to as the Plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise Plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise The plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise, also known as the Machine infernale plot, was an assassination attempt on the life of the First Consul of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, in Paris on 24 December 1800... . |
| John Bellingham John Bellingham John Bellingham was the assassin of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval. This murder was the only successful attempt on the life of a British Prime Minister... |
1812 | UK Prime Minister Spencer Perceval Spencer Perceval Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated... |
Killed | First and only U.K. Prime Minister to be assassinated. |
| Richard Lawrence | 1835 | US President Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans... |
Survived | First attempt to kill a US President, Jan. 30. Both guns misfired. |
| Edward Oxford Edward Oxford Edward Oxford was tried for high treason for attempting to assassinate Queen Victoria in 1840.The Queen was out riding on Constitution Hill with her husband, Prince Albert, on 10 June, when Oxford shot twice at the couple, missing both times. He was seized by onlookers, arrested and tried at the... |
1840 | Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom | Survived | Oxford fired twice, but both bullets missed. |
| Unknown | 1842 | Former Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs Lilburn Boggs Lilburn Williams Boggs was the sixth Governor of Missouri from 1836 to 1840. He is now most widely remembered for his interactions with Joseph Smith and Porter Rockwell, and Missouri Executive Order 44, known by Mormons as the "Extermination Order", issued in response to the ongoing conflict... |
Survived | Orrin Porter Rockwell, a close associate of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., charged but acquitted of all charges. |
| János Libényi | 1853 | Austrian Emperor, King of Bohemia Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of... |
Survived | Attacked with a dagger to the back of the neck. Survived due to the thick collar of his uniform. |
| Unknown | 1864 | US President Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and... |
Survived | Shot at while riding alone. Though he was not hurt, a bullet hole was discovered in his hat. See the List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots |
| John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor... |
1865 | US President Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and... |
Killed | First assassination of a sitting United States President. See Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. |
| Patrick J. Whelan Patrick J. Whelan Patrick James Whelan was a tailor and alleged Fenian sympathizer executed following the 1868 assassination of Canadian journalist and politician Thomas D'Arcy McGee.... |
1868 | Canadian Member of Parliament Thomas D'Arcy McGee | Killed | Only Canadian victim of assassination at the federal level. |
| Charles J. Guiteau Charles J. Guiteau Charles Julius Guiteau was an American lawyer who assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield. He was executed by hanging.- Background :... |
1881 | US President James Garfield James Garfield James Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive... |
Killed | Died 80 days following the shooting. See James A. Garfield assassination James A. Garfield assassination James A. Garfield was shot in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau at 9:30 a.m., less than four months after taking office as the twentieth President of the United States. Garfield died eleven weeks later on September 19, 1881, the second of four Presidents to be assassinated,... . |
| Ignacy Hryniewiecki Ignacy Hryniewiecki Ignaty Gryniewietsky , 1856 – 13 March 1881) was a member of the People's Will and the assassin of Tsar Alexander II of Russia.-Early life:... |
1881 | Tsar Alexander II of Russia Alexander II of Russia Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881... |
Killed | Assassination plot concluded with bombs. |
| Tsuda Sanzo | 1891 | Tsar Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until... |
Survived | The Tsar was attacked with a sabre during a state visit to Japan. |
| Mirza Reza Kermani Mirza Reza Kermani Mirza Reza Kermani , born in Kerman, Iran and died on August 10, 1896 in Tehran, was an adherent of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and an Iranian revolutionary.... |
1896 | King Naser al-Din Shah Qajar | Killed | Ironically assassinated on the day of his fiftieth kingship ceremony. |
| Frederick Russell Burnham Frederick Russell Burnham Frederick Russell Burnham, DSO was an American scout and world traveling adventurer known for his service to the British Army in colonial Africa and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell, thus becoming one of the inspirations for the founding of the international Scouting Movement.Burnham... |
1896 | Mlimo, the Ndebele religious leader | Killed | Effectively ended the Second Matabele War Second Matabele War The Second Matabele War, also known as the Matabeleland Rebellion and in Zimbabwe as the First Chimurenga, was fought in 1896–97 between the British troops and the Ndebele people.... . |
| Luigi Lucheni Luigi Lucheni Luigi Lucheni was an Italian anarchist who assassinated the Austrian Empress, Elisabeth of Bavaria , in 1898... |
1898 | Empress Elisabeth Elisabeth of Bavaria Elisabeth of Austria was the spouse of Franz Joseph I, and therefore both Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. She also held the titles of Queen of Bohemia and Croatia, among others... of Austria |
Killed | Lucheni attacked the Empress randomly on the street of Geneva Geneva Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland... , in a senseless act of violence. Elisabeth was stabbed in the heart once with a sharp needle file. Due to her extremely tight corset Corset A corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes... , she had no idea she has been wounded and collapsed suddenly two hours later due to slow internal hemorrhaging Internal bleeding Internal bleeding is bleeding occurring inside the body. It can be a serious medical emergency depending on where it occurs , and can potentially cause death and cardiac arrest if proper medical treatment is not received quickly.... . |
| Unknown | 1900 | William Goebel William Goebel William Justus Goebel was an American politician who served as the 34th Governor of Kentucky for a few days in 1900 after having been mortally wounded by an assassin the day before he was sworn in... , Governor of Kentucky |
Killed | |
| Gaetano Bresci Gaetano Bresci Gaetano Bresci was an Italian American anarchist who assassinated King Umberto I of Italy. Bresci was the first European regicide not to be executed, as capital punishment in Italy had been abolished since 1889.-Militancy:... |
1900 | King Umberto I of Italy | Killed | |
| Leon Czolgosz Leon Czolgosz Leon Czolgosz was the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley.In the last few years of his life, he claimed to have been heavily influenced by anarchists such as Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman.- Early life :... |
1901 | US President William McKinley William McKinley William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s... |
Killed | See William McKinley assassination William McKinley assassination The assassination of William McKinley occurred on September 6, 1901, inside the Temple of Music located on the grounds of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York... . |
| Eugen Schauman Eugen Schauman Eugen Schauman was a Finnish nationalist and nobleman who assassinated the Governor-General Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov.- Schauman's life :... |
1904 | Governor-General of Finland Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov Nikolay Ivanovich Bobrikov ; born on in St. Petersburg – June 16, 1904 in Helsingfors, Grand Duchy of Finland) was a Russian soldier and politician.... |
Killed | Happens on day described in James Joyce James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century... 's novel Ulysses Ulysses (novel) Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,... , is briefly mentioned in the book |
| An Jung-geun An Jung-geun An Jung-geun or Ahn Jung-geun was a Korean independence activist, nationalist, and pan-Asianist.... |
1909 | Prime Minister of Japan Itoh Hirobumi | Killed | |
| John Schrank | 1912 | former US President Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity... |
Survived | Shot at campaign event; Roosevelt continued with his speech. |
| Alexandros Schinas Alexandros Schinas Alexandros Schinas , was a Greek anarchist who assassinated King George I of Greece in Thessaloniki in 1913.... |
1913 | King George I of Greece George I of Greece George I was King of Greece from 1863 to 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the former king Otto. His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers... |
Killed | Possible conspiracy. |
| Gavrilo Princip Gavrilo Princip Gavrilo Princip was the Bosnian Serb who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914... |
1914 | Austro-Hungarian Archduke Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia... |
Killed | Considered the start of World War I World War I World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918... . |
| Raoul Villain Raoul Villain Raoul Villain was a French nationalist primarily remembered for his assassination of the French socialist leader Jean Jaurès on July 31, 1914 in Paris.-Early life and background:Villain was born in Reims, Marne, France... |
1914 | French socialist leader Jean Jaurès Jean Jaurès Jean Léon Jaurès was a French Socialist leader. Initially an Opportunist Republican, he evolved into one of the first social democrats, becoming the leader, in 1902, of the French Socialist Party, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist Party of France. Both parties merged in 1905 in... |
Killed | The assassin was tried and acquitted in 1919. |
| Fritz Joubert Duquesne | 1916 | Lord Kitchener Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway... , British Field Marshal and Secretary of State for War |
Killed | Killed on the HMS Hampshire HMS Hampshire (1903) HMS Hampshire was a Devonshire-class armoured cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick, Tyne and Wear and commissioned in 1905 at a cost of £833,817.... after the cruiser struck a mine; Duquesne falsely claimed to have sabotaged Hampshire. |
| Fanny Kaplan Fanny Kaplan Fanny Yefimovna Kaplan , also known as Fanya Kaplan and as Dora Kaplan), was a Russian political revolutionary and an attempted assassin of Vladimir Lenin.-Biography:... |
1918 | Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a... |
Survived | Shot on factory meeting, Fanny Kaplan was captured and executed by Bolsheviks. Lenin died 6 years later due to unrelated causes, but within Russian pop culture, Kaplan is still widely considered to have killed him. |
| Sonny O'Neill | 1922 | Michael Collins Michael Collins (Irish leader) Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the... |
Killed | Killed in an ambush firefight near the end of Irish Civil War Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire.... . |
| Eligiusz Niewiadomski Eligiusz Niewiadomski Eligiusz Niewiadomski was a Polish modernist painter and art critic who belonged to the right-wing National Democratic Party till 1904 and later continued supporting it. In 1922 he assassinated Poland's first President, Gabriel Narutowicz.-Life:Niewiadomski was born into a family of gentry descent... |
1922 | First Polish President Gabriel Narutowicz Gabriel Narutowicz Gabriel Narutowicz was a Lithuanian-born professor of hydroelectric engineering at Switzerland's Zurich Polytechnic, and Poland's Minister of Public Works , Minister of Foreign Affairs , and the first president of the Second Polish Republic.... |
Killed | Killed five days after his inauguration, while attending the opening of an art exhibit at the Zachęta Zacheta The Zachęta National Gallery of Art, short Zachęta, , is one of Poland's most notable institutions for contemporary art. Situated in the centre of Warsaw, the main aim of the gallery is to present and support primarily Polish contemporary art and artists... Gallery in Warsaw Warsaw Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most... . |
| Violet Gibson Violet Gibson Hon. Violet Albina Gibson , the daughter of the 1st Lord Ashbourne, is best known for shooting Benito Mussolini in Rome in 1926.... |
1926 | Benito Mussolini Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism.... |
Survived | |
| Giuseppe Zangara Giuseppe Zangara Giuseppe Zangara was the assassin of Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, though United States President–elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt may have been his intended target. Roosevelt escaped injury, but five people were shot including Cermak.- Early life :Zangara was born in Ferruzzano, Calabria, Italy... |
1933 | Anton Cermak Anton Cermak Anton Joseph Cermak was the mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1931 until his assassination by Giuseppe Zangara in 1933.-Early life and career:... |
Killed | Killed in Miami, Florida Miami, Florida Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625... during a visit of president-elect of Franklin Roosevelt. |
| Vlado Chernozemski Vlado Chernozemski Vlado Chernozemski , born Velichko Dimitrov Kerin , was a Bulgarian revolutionary.Chernozemski also entered the region of Vardar Macedonia with IMRO bands and participated in more than 15 battles with the Serbian police.... |
1934 | Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I , also known as Alexander the Unifier was the first king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as well as the last king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes .-Childhood:... |
Killed | Killed in Marseille Marseille Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of... during a state visit. |
| Carl Weiss Carl Weiss Carl Austin Weiss was a young Baton Rouge, Louisiana physician who assassinated U.S. Senator Huey Pierce Long, Jr. on September 8, 1935.-Baton Rouge doctor:... |
1935 | US Senator Huey Long Huey Long Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D... |
Killed | Shot in a Louisiana State Capitol Louisiana State Capitol The Louisiana State Capitol building is the capitol building of the state of Louisiana, located in Baton Rouge. The capitol houses the Louisiana State Legislature, the governor's office, and parts of the executive branch... hallway. |
| Ramón Mercader Ramón Mercader Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río Hernández was a Spanish communist who became famous as the murderer of Russian Communist ideologist Leon Trotsky in 1940, in Mexico... |
1940 | Lev Bronstein Trotsky | Killed | Killed by a pick-hit on head. |
| Vasil Laçi Vasil Laçi Vasil Laçi , was an Albanian patriot and monarchist who attempted to kill Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy and Shefqet Bej Vërlaci, Prime Minister of Albania after the occupation of Albania by fascist Italy.-Youth:... |
1941 | Victor Emmanuel III | Survived | |
| Jan Kubiš Jan Kubiš Jan Kubiš was a Czech soldier, one of a team of Czechoslovak British-trained soldiers sent to assassinate acting Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, in 1942 as part of Operation Anthropoid.- Biography :Jan Kubiš was born in 1913 in Dolní Vilémovice,... , Jozef Gabčík Jozef Gabcík Jozef Gabčík was a Slovak soldier of Czechoslovak army involved in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of acting Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.... |
1942 | SS Schutzstaffel The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II... -Obergruppenführer Obergruppenführer Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS... Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia... |
Killed | |
| Armia Krajowa Armia Krajowa The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces... |
1944 | SS and Police Leader of the Warsaw District Franz Kutschera Franz Kutschera Franz Kutschera was an SS General and Gauleiter of Carinthia... |
Killed | See the Operation Kutschera Operation Kutschera Operation Kutschera was the code name for the successful assassination of Franz Kutschera, SS and Reich's Police Chief in Warsaw, executed on 1 February 1944 by the Polish Resistance fighters of Home Army's Anti-Gestapo unit Agat... . |
| Claus von Stauffenberg | 1944 | Chancellor and Führer of Germany Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945... |
Survived | See the July 20 plot July 20 Plot On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of several groups in the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi-led German government... . |
| Nathuram Godse Nathuram Godse Nathuram Vinayak Godse , from the city of Pune, India was a Hindutva activist and journalist, who was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. Along with his brother Gopal Godse and six other co-conspirators, he executed a plot to assassinate Gandhi.-Early life:Nathuram Godse was born in Baramati, Pune... |
1948 | Political and Spiritual Leader Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement... |
Killed | |
| Oscar Collazo Oscar Collazo Oscar Collazo , was one of two Puerto Ricans who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman.-Early life:... and Griselio Torresola Griselio Torresola Griselio Torresola born in Jayuya, Puerto Rico, was one of two Puerto Rican Nationalists who attempted to assassinate United States President Harry Truman. During the attack on the president, Torresola mortally wounded White House policeman Private Leslie Coffelt and wounded two other law... |
1950 | US President Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his... |
Survived | Attempt to draw attention to the Puerto Rico independence movement, in which both attempted killers were active. See Truman assassination attempt Truman assassination attempt The assassination attempt on U.S. President Harry S. Truman occurred on November 1, 1950. It was perpetrated by two Puerto Rican pro-independence activists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, while the President resided at the Blair House. The attempt resulted in the deaths of White House Police... . |
| Talduwe Somarama Talduwe Somarama Talduwe Ratugama Rallage Weris Singho better known as Talduwe Somarama was a Sri Lankan Sinhalese Buddhist monk who shot and killed Solomon Bandaranaike, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1959... |
1959 | Prime Minister Prime minister A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime... of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the... Solomon Bandaranaike Solomon Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (Sinhala:සොලමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බන්ඩාරනායක)(Tamil:சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிச்சர்ட் டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கா)Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (Sinhala:සොලමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බන්ඩාරනායක)(Tamil:சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிச்சர்ட் டயஸ்... |
Killed | Assassinated by a Buddhist monk as part of a conspiracy. |
| Otoya Yamaguchi Otoya Yamaguchi was a Japanese ultranationalist, a member of a right-wing Uyoku dantai group, who assassinated Inejiro Asanuma by wakizashi on October 12, 1960 at Tokyo's Hibiya Hall during a political debate in advance of parliamentary elections... |
1960 | Inejiro Asanuma Inejiro Asanuma Inejiro Asanuma was a Japanese politician, and head of the Japanese Socialist Party. Asanuma was noted for speaking publicly about Socialism and economic and cultural opportunities... |
Killed | Asanuma was pierced to assassin's bayonet while making a speech. |
| Juan Orta and Dr. Anthony Verona | 1960 | Fidel Castro Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011... |
Survived | Attempts to introduce poison supplied by the CIA Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers... into Castro's food; Castro supposedly survived 638 assassination attempts 638 Ways to Kill Castro 638 Ways to Kill Castro is a Channel 4 documentary film, broadcast in the United Kingdom on November 28, 2006, which tells the story of some of the numerous attempts of the Central Intelligence Agency to kill Cuba's leader Fidel Castro.-Production:... in all. |
| Richard Paul Pavlick | 1960 | US President-elect John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.... |
Survived | Dec. 11 See: John F. Kennedy |
| Jean Bastien-Thiry and the OAS | 1962 | French President Charles de Gaulle Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969.... |
Survived | |
| Nguyen Van Cu Nguyen Van Cu Nguyễn Văn Cử was a lieutenant in the Vietnam Air Force, best known for being one of two mutinous pilots involved in the 1962 South Vietnamese Presidential Palace bombing on 27 February 1962, which aimed to assassinate South Vietnam's President Ngô Đình Diệm and his immediate family, who were his... and Pham Phu Quoc Pham Phu Quoc Phạm Phú Quốc was a French-trained South Vietnamese flying ace and lieutenant in the Republic of Vietnam Air Force, best known for being one of two mutinous pilots involved in the 1962 South Vietnamese Presidential Palace bombing on February 27, 1962, which aimed to assassinate President Ngo Dinh... |
1962 | President of the Republic of Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem Ngo Dinh Diem Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a... |
Survived | See 1962 South Vietnamese Presidential Palace bombing |
| Byron De La Beckwith Byron De La Beckwith Byron De La Beckwith, Jr. was an American white supremacist and Klansman from Greenwood, Mississippi who was convicted in the 1994 state trial of assassinating the civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963.... |
1963 | Medgar Evers Medgar Evers Medgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi... |
Killed | Evers, an African American activist and NAACP leader, was shot by De La Beckwith, a Ku Klux Klan member, who was convicted in 1994. |
| Generally believed to be Nguyen Van Nhung Nguyen Van Nhung Major Nguyễn Văn Nhung was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . After joining the French Army in 1944 during the colonial era of Vietnam, he soon met and became the aide-de-camp and bodyguard of Dương Văn Minh, and spent the rest of his career in this role as Minh rose up the ranks... and Duong Hieu Nghia Duong Hieu Nghia Colonel Dương Hiếu Nghĩa, born in Sa Đéc in 1925, was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Nghia graduated from the Da Lat National Military Academy. During the Vietnam War, he served in various infantry and armored units. His highest administrative position was Province Chief of Vinh... , on orders from Duong Van Minh Duong Van Minh Minh was born on 16 February 1916 in Mỹ Tho Province in the Mekong Delta, the son of a wealthy landowner who served in a prominent position in the Finance Ministry of the French colonial administration... |
1963 | President of the Republic of Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem Ngo Dinh Diem Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a... |
Killed | Part of the 1963 South Vietnamese coup 1963 South Vietnamese coup In November 1963, President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam was deposed by a group of Army of the Republic of Vietnam officers who disagreed with his handling of the Buddhist crisis and, in general, his increasing oppression of national groups in the name of fighting the communist Vietcong.The... . See Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem The arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm, then president of South Vietnam, marked the culmination of a successful CIA-backed coup d’état led by General Dương Văn Minh in November 1963... . |
| Believed to be Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F... |
1963 | US President John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.... |
Killed | For general information on the incident, see John F. Kennedy assassination John F. Kennedy assassination John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas... . The US Government's official report concluded that Oswald acted alone, however a subsequent investigation contradicted the Warren Commission Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963... 's findings. See: House Select Committee on Assassinations (1979) |
| Jack Ruby Jack Ruby Jacob Leon Rubenstein , who legally changed his name to Jack Leon Ruby in 1947, was convicted of the November 24, 1963 murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Ruby, who was originally from Chicago, Illinois, was then a nightclub operator in Dallas, Texas... |
1963 | Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F... |
Killed | First live murder ever seen on US television |
| Norman 3X Butler, Thomas 15X Johnson, Talmadge Hayer | 1965 | Activist Malcolm X Malcolm X Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its... |
Killed | Tensions and departure from the Nation of Islam |
| Unknown | 1967 | American Nazi Party American Nazi Party The American Nazi Party was an American political party founded by discharged U.S. Navy Commander George Lincoln Rockwell. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Rockwell initially called it the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists , but later renamed it the American Nazi Party in... founder George Lincoln Rockwell George Lincoln Rockwell George Lincoln Rockwell was the founder of the American Nazi Party. Rockwell was a major figure in the neo-Nazi movement in the United States, and his beliefs and writings have continued to be influential among white nationalists and neo-Nazis.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Bloomington,... |
Survived | Fired at twice by a person hiding behind his driveway pillars, narrowly missing his head. |
| John Patler John Patler John Patler is an American neo-Nazi who assassinated American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell on August 25, 1967.... |
1967 | American Nazi Party American Nazi Party The American Nazi Party was an American political party founded by discharged U.S. Navy Commander George Lincoln Rockwell. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Rockwell initially called it the World Union of Free Enterprise National Socialists , but later renamed it the American Nazi Party in... founder George Lincoln Rockwell George Lincoln Rockwell George Lincoln Rockwell was the founder of the American Nazi Party. Rockwell was a major figure in the neo-Nazi movement in the United States, and his beliefs and writings have continued to be influential among white nationalists and neo-Nazis.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Bloomington,... |
Killed | Shot in the chest as he was leaving a laundromat. |
| Uncertain, believed to be James Earl Ray James Earl Ray James Earl Ray was an American criminal convicted of the assassination of civil rights and anti-war activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.... or Loyd Jowers Loyd Jowers Loyd Jowers was the owner of a restaurant near the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. In December 1993, Jowers appeared on ABC's Prime Time Live and related the details of an alleged conspiracy involving the Mafia and the U.S. government to kill... |
1968 | Political activist Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the... |
Killed | Ray was convicted on a guilty plea but later recanted, while a 1999 civil trial convicted Jowers and 'unknown others', while also noting that 'governmental agencies were parties' to the plot. See Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. |
| Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is a Jordanian citizen who was convicted for the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He is serving a life sentence at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.Sirhan was a Christian Arab born in Jerusalem who strongly opposed Israel... |
1968 | US Senator Robert F. Kennedy Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F... |
Killed | See Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. |
| Viktor Ilyin | 1969 | Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in... |
Survived | See Brezhnev assassination attempt |
| Huang Wen-hsiung | 1970 | Vice Prime Minister of Republic of China Chiang Ching-kuo Chiang Ching-kuo Chiang Ching-kuo , Kuomintang politician and leader, was the son of President Chiang Kai-shek and held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China... |
Survived | |
| Members of the Front de libération du Québec Front de libération du Québec The Front de libération du Québec was a left-wing Quebecois nationalist and Marxist-Leninist paramilitary group in Quebec, Canada. It was active between 1963 and 1970, and was regarded as a terrorist organization for its violent methods of action... |
1970 | Vice Premier of Quebec Pierre Laporte Pierre Laporte Pierre Laporte was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician who was the Deputy Premier and Minister of Labour of the province of Quebec before being kidnapped and killed by members of the group Front de libération du Québec during the October Crisis. Mr... |
Killed | Kidnapped and later killed. One of only two political assassinations in Canadian history. |
| Arthur Bremer Arthur Bremer Arthur Herman Bremer is an American convicted for an assassination attempt on U.S. Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace on May 15, 1972 in Laurel, Maryland, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life... |
1972 | US Presidential candidate George Wallace George Wallace George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S... |
Survived | Wallace was paralyzed for life |
| ETA ETA ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country... |
1973 | President of the Government of Spain Luis Carrero Blanco | Killed | The murder of Luis Carrero Blanco was, according to ETA, then to intensify existing divisions within the Franco regime between the "openness" and "purists". |
| Samuel Byck Samuel Byck Samuel Joseph Byck was an unemployed former tire salesman who attempted to hijack a plane flying out of Baltimore-Washington International Airport on February 22, 1974. He intended to crash into the White House in the hope of killing U.S... |
1974 | US President Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under... |
Survived | Attempted to hijack a commercial jet with the intention of crashing it into the White House. |
| Prince Faisal bin Musa'id | 1975 | Saudi King Faisal Faisal of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud was King of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1975. As king, he is credited with rescuing the country's finances and implementing a policy of modernization and reform, while his main foreign policy themes were pan-Islamic Nationalism, anti-Communism, and pro-Palestinian... |
Killed | |
| Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad Khondaker Moshtaq Ahmad was a Bangladeshi politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 15 August to 6 November 1975 after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh... and coup |
1975 | First Bangladeshi President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali nationalist politician and the founder of Bangladesh. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its Prime Minister. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its... |
Killed | The coup was planned by disgruntled Awami League colleagues and military officers who were led by Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad Khondaker Moshtaq Ahmad was a Bangladeshi politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 15 August to 6 November 1975 after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh... , and they targeted to exterminate his entire family. |
| Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme | 1975 | US President Gerald Ford Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974... |
Survived | |
| Sara Jane Moore Sara Jane Moore Sara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford on September 22, 1975, outside the St... |
1975 | US President Gerald Ford Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974... |
Survived | |
| Chilean DINA agents | 1976 | Orlando Letelier Orlando Letelier Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar was a Chilean economist, Socialist politician and diplomat during the presidency of Socialist President Salvador Allende... |
Killed | Killed by a car bomb, September 21, 1976, along with his American assistant, Ronni Moffitt Ronni Moffitt Ronni Moffitt , was a American political activist.-Early Life:She was born in Passaic, New Jersey as Ronni Susan Karpen on January 10, 1951 to Murray and Hilda Karpen. She was the oldest of three children including Harry Karpen and Michael Karpen. Her family owned a restaurant called "Karpen's" and... . |
| Red Army Faction Red Army Faction The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S... |
1977 | German Prosecutor-General Siegfried Buback Siegfried Buback Siegfried Buback was the Attorney General of Germany from 1974-1977.Buback studied at the University of Leipzig. From 1940 to 1945 he was a member of the Nazi Party. From 1945 to 1947 he was a POW... |
Killed | |
| Dan White Dan White Daniel James "Dan" White was a San Francisco supervisor who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall... |
1978 | San Francisco Mayor George Moscone George Moscone George Richard Moscone was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California, US from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. Moscone served in the California State Senate from 1967 until becoming Mayor. In the Senate, he served as... and Supervisor Harvey Milk Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors... |
Killed | Killed over not reappointing Dan White supervisor. See Moscone–Milk assassinations. |
| Larry Layton and other members of the Peoples Temple Peoples Temple Peoples Temple was a religious organization founded in 1955 by Jim Jones that, by the mid-1970s, included over a dozen locations in California including its headquarters in San Francisco... |
1978 | Leo Ryan Leo Ryan Leo Joseph Ryan, Jr. was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served as a U.S. Representative from California's 11th congressional district from 1973 until he was murdered in Guyana by members of the Peoples Temple shortly before the Jonestown Massacre in 1978.After the Watts Riots... , Congressman from California |
Killed | Killed in Guyana during an official visit to investigate allegations of abuse of American citizens at the Jonestown Jonestown Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby... compound of the Peoples Temple Peoples Temple Peoples Temple was a religious organization founded in 1955 by Jim Jones that, by the mid-1970s, included over a dozen locations in California including its headquarters in San Francisco... religious organization. See Leo Ryan#Jungle ambush. |
| Kim Jae-kyu | 1979 | South Korean President Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee was a Republic of Korea Army general and the leader of South Korea from 1961 to 1979. He seized power in a military coup and ruled until his assassination in 1979. He has been credited with the industrialization of the Republic of Korea through export-led growth... |
Killed | See Park Chung-hee assassination Park Chung-hee assassination Park Chung-hee, president of South Korea, was assassinated by Kim Jae-kyu, his security chief as the director of Korean Central Intelligence Agency , on Friday, October 26, 1979 at 7:41pm during a dinner at a KCIA safehouse inside Blue House presidential compound in Gungjeong-dong, Seoul. It is... . |
| Rolf Clemens-Wagner Rolf Clemens Wagner Rolf Clemens Wagner is a former member of the Red Army Faction .-Terrorism:Wagner carried out most of his terrorists actions in the 70s, and became an active member of the second generation RAF... , member of the Red Army Faction Red Army Faction The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S... |
1979 | Supreme Commander of NATO Alexander Haig Alexander Haig Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr. was a United States Army general who served as the United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford... |
Survived | A land mine Land mine A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact.... blew up under the bridge on which Haig's car was traveling, narrowly missing Haig's car and wounding three of his bodyguards in a following car. |
| Thomas McMahon | 1979 | Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh... |
Killed | Killed along with three others while on a fishing trip with his family by a bomb planted onto his boat by McMahon. McMahon was a member of the Irish Republican Army Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916... , who claimed responsibility for the attack. |
| Mark David Chapman Mark David Chapman Mark David Chapman is an American prison inmate who murdered former Beatles member John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He committed the crime as Lennon and Yoko Ono were outside of The Dakota apartment building in New York City. Chapman aimed five shots at Lennon, hitting him four times in his back... |
1980 | John Lennon John Lennon John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music... |
Killed | Obsession with The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, language, and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major... . See Assassination of John Lennon. |
| John Hinckley, Jr. John Hinckley, Jr. John Warnock Hinckley, Jr., attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1981, as the culmination of an effort to impress teen actress Jodie Foster. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has remained under institutional psychiatric care since... |
1981 | US President Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor.... |
Survived | To impress actress Jodie Foster Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress.... . See Reagan assassination attempt Reagan assassination attempt The Reagan assassination attempt occurred on Monday, March 30, 1981, just 69 days into the presidency of Ronald Reagan. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr... . |
| Khalid Islambouli Khalid Islambouli Khalid Ahmed Showky Al-Islambouli was an Egyptian army officer who planned and participated in the assassination of Egypt's third president, Anwar Sadat, during the annual 6th October victory parade on 6 October 1981... |
1981 | Egyptian President Anwar Al Sadat | Killed | Rare attack carried out by a group. |
| Mehmet Ali Ağca Mehmet Ali Agca Mehmet Ali Ağca is a Turkish assassin who murdered left-wing journalist Abdi İpekçi on February 1, 1979 and later shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981, after escaping from a Turkish prison. After serving 19 years of imprisonment in Italy, he was deported to Turkey, where he served a... |
1981 | Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ... |
Survived | See Pope John Paul II assassination attempt. |
| Group of army officers | 1981 | Bangladeshi President Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman President Ziaur Rahman, Bir Uttam, was a Bangladeshi politician and general, who read the declaration of Independence of Bangladesh on March 26, 1971 on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He later became the seventh President of Bangladesh from 1977 until 1981... |
Killed | Plotted by a faction of officers of Bangladesh Army Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army is the land forces branch and the largest of the three uniformed service of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to provide necessary forces and capabilities in support of Bangladesh's security and defense strategies including defense of the nation's... led by General Abul Monjur Abul Monjur Major General Muhammad Abul Manzur was a career Bangladeshi army officer who was a war hero being a freedom fighter and Sector Commander of BDF Sector 8 during the Bangladesh Liberation War from Pakistan. He was awarded valor under fire Bir Uttam by the Bangladeshi Government for his bravery in... . |
| Juan María Fernández y Krohn Juan María Fernández y Krohn Juan María Fernández y Krohn is a former Roman Catholic priest and former Belgian lawyer who tried to physically attack Pope John Paul II in 1982.... |
1982 | Pope John Paul II | Survived | Attempted to stab the Pope with a bayonet. |
| Habib Tanious Shartouni Habib Tanious Shartouni Habib Tanious Shartouni is known to be the assassin of the Lebanese president-elect Bachir Gemayel.-Early life:Habib Tanious Shartouni, a Maronite, was born in a small village called Shartoun in Aley Mount Lebanon... |
1982 | Lebanese President Bachir Gemayel Bachir Gemayel Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect... |
Killed | Bomb explosion in the Phalange's Beirut Beirut Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan... headquarters. |
| Uncertain believed to be Rogelio Moreno instead of Rolando Galman | 1983 | Philippine Senator Ninoy Aquino | Killed | Believed to have been ordered by then President Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate... . |
| Satwant Singh Satwant Singh Satwant Singh was a Sikh bodyguard to the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, who on October 31, 1984 assassinated Indira Gandhi at her residence along with another bodyguard, Beant Singh.... and Beant Singh Beant Singh There are at least two people called Beant Singh:*Beant Singh, who assassinated Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi*Beant Singh, the assassinated Chief Minister of the Punjab... |
1984 | Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists... |
Killed | Assassinated by personal bodyguards. |
| Provisional Irish Republican Army Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion... |
1984 | British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990... |
Survived | Detonated a bomb at the Grand Hotel Brighton hotel bombing The Brighton hotel bombing happened on 12 October 1984 at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England. The bomb was planted by Provisional Irish Republican Army member Patrick Magee, with the intention of assassinating Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet who were staying at the hotel for the... during the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton. |
| Unknown | 1986 | Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet... |
Killed | Shot on his way home from a cinema on a street in central Stockholm. See Assassination of Olof Palme. |
| Uncertain reputed to be various members of SA government and the CCB | 1989 | Namibian Human Rights Lawyer Anton Lubowski Anton Lubowski Anton Theodor Eberhard August Lubowski was a Namibian advocate and SWAPO member assassinated by operatives of South Africa’s Civil Cooperation Bureau.-Education and early life:... |
Killed | Shot in front of his home in central Windhoek, Namibia. |
| Dieter Kaufmann | 1990 | German Federal Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union , currently serving as the Federal Minister of Finance in the Second Cabinet Merkel.... |
Survived | Shot in back and face after an election campaign event in Oppenau Oppenau Oppenau is a town located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It has a population of 5,200 inhabitants.-Geography:Oppenau is situated in the Rench valley in the Black Forest. The nearest major cities are Offenburg and Freudenstadt.-History:... . Has been paralysed and using a wheelchair ever since. |
| Provisional Irish Republican Army Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion... |
1991 | British Prime Minister John Major John Major Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997... |
Survived | Mortar attack Downing Street mortar attack The Downing Street mortar attack was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on 10 Downing Street, London, the British Prime Minister John Major's official residence. The 7 February 1991 attack, an assassination attempt on Major and his War Cabinet who were meeting to discuss the... during a meeting at 10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister.... |
| Thenmuli Rajaratnam Thenmuli Rajaratnam Thenmozhi "Gayatri" Rajaratnam was the assassin who killed Rajiv Gandhi, herself, and 14 others in a suicide bombing on May 21, 1991, in the Indian town of Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, near Chennai. A member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , Rajaratnam was also known as Gayatri and Dhanu... |
1991 | Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira... |
Killed | Killed in an explosion triggered by a LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil... suicide bomber. First head of state to be killed by a suicide bomber. See Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. |
| Janusz Walus Janusz Walus Janusz Waluś is a Polish immigrant to South Africa who assassinated South African Communist Party chairman Chris Hani on April 10, 1993.... |
1993 | South African Communist Party South African Communist Party South African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H... leader Chris Hani Chris Hani Chris Hani, born Martin Thembisile Hani was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress . He was a fierce opponent of the apartheid government... |
Killed | Anti-Communist killing |
| Unknown | 1993 | Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa Ranasinghe Premadasa Ranasinghe Premadasa was the 3rd President of Sri Lanka from January 2, 1989 to May 1, 1993. Before that, he served as the Prime Minister in the government headed by J. R. Jayewardene from February 6, 1978 to January 1, 1989... |
Killed | Attack carried out by an LTTE suicide bomber on May Day May Day May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures.... parade. |
| Mario Aburto | 1994 | Mexican Candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio Luis Donaldo Colosio Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta was a Mexican politician, and PRI presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the Mexican Presidential campaign of 1994.-Political history:... |
Killed | |
| Uncertain; see main article for theories | 1994 | Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana Juvénal Habyarimana Juvénal Habyarimana was the third President of the Republic of Rwanda, the post he held longer than any other president to date, from 1973 until 1994. During his 20-year rule he favored his own ethnic group, the Hutus, and supported the Hutu majority in neighboring Burundi against the Tutsi... and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira Cyprien Ntaryamira Cyprien Ntaryamira , was President of Burundi from 5 February 1994 until his death when his plane was shot down on 6 April 1994.-Biography:... |
Killed | Plane carrying the two leaders shot down by unknown attackers with a surface-to-air missile Surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles... . The attack was the catalyst for the Rwandan Genocide Rwandan Genocide The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate... . See Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira. |
| Ramzi Yousef Ramzi Yousef Ramzi Yousef was one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a co-conspirator in the Bojinka plot. In 1995, he was arrested at a guest house in Islamabad, by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence and United States Diplomatic Security Service, then extradited to the... |
1995 | Pope John Paul II | Survived | Part of Operation Bojinka. |
| Yigal Amir Yigal Amir Yigal Amir is the Israeli assassin of Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin. The assassination took place on November 4, 1995 at the conclusion of a rally in Tel Aviv. Amir is currently serving a life sentence for murder plus six years for injuring Rabin's bodyguard, Yoram Rubin, under... |
1995 | Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin ' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995.... |
Killed | Attack carried out by Israeli opposed to Oslo Accords. See Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin took place on November 4, 1995 at 21:30, at the end of a rally in support of the Oslo Accords at the Kings of Israel Square in Tel Aviv... . |
| Byron Looper Byron Looper Byron Looper , is a former Republican politician in Tennessee. In order to advance his political career, he legally changed his middle name from "Anthony" to ""... |
1998 | Tennessee State Senator Tommy Burks Tommy Burks Tommy Burks was a farmer and Democratic Party politician in Tennessee, United States. He served in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1970 until 1978, and in the Tennessee State Senate from 1978 until his murder in 1998.-Biography:Born in Cookeville, Tennessee, Burks was one of the most... |
Killed | Shot while campaigning for election by his political opponent. His wife Charlotte Charlotte Burks Charlotte Gentry Burks is a farmer and Democratic party politician in Tennessee who has represented the 15th District as State Senator since 1998.... won the election in his place as a write-in candidate. |
| Michael Abram | 1999 | George Harrison George Harrison George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other... |
Survived | Abram broke into Harrison's house and repeatedly stabbed him. |
| ETA ETA ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country... |
2000 | Member of the Basque Parliament Fernando Buesa Fernando Buesa Fernando Buesa Blanco was a Spanish Basque politician in the Basque Christian Democracy and in the Socialist Party of Euskadi - Euskadiko Ezkerra branch of the social democratic Spanish Socialist Workers' Party... |
Killed | Car bombing |
| Dipendra | 2001 | King Birendra of Nepal Nepal Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India... and other royal family members of same country |
Killed | See Nepalese royal massacre Nepalese royal massacre The Nepalese royal massacre occurred on Friday, June 1, 2001, at a house in the grounds of the Narayanhity Royal Palace, then the residence of the Nepalese monarchy, when the heir to the throne, Prince Dipendra killed nine members of his family and himself. However, it hasn't been proven that... . |
| Volkert van der Graaf Volkert van der Graaf Volkert van der Graaf is known for assassinating the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn on 6 May 2002 during the political campaign. Van der Graaf was an animal rights and environmental activist, founder of a group that worked through litigation... |
2002 | Dutch Election Candidate Pim Fortuyn Pim Fortuyn Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn was a Dutch politician, civil servant, sociologist, author and professor who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List .... |
Killed | The attack took place in a parking lot outside a radio studio in Hilversum, where Fortuyn had just given an interview. |
| Maxime Brunerie Maxime Brunerie Maxime Brunerie is a man who attempted to assassinate French President Jacques Chirac on July 14, 2002 in Paris, during the Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Élysées.... |
2002 | French President Jacques Chirac Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the... |
Survived | Brunerie attempted to shoot the President during the Bastille Day Military Parade Bastille Day Military Parade The Bastille Day Military Parade is a French military parade that has been held on the morning of 14 July each year in Paris since 1880, almost without exception.... . |
| Mijailo Mijailović Mijailo Mijailovic Mijailo Mijailović is the self-confessed and convicted assassin of the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Anna Lindh, whom he stabbed on 10 September 2003 at the NK department store in Stockholm... |
2003 | Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh Anna Lindh Ylva Anna Maria Lindh was a Swedish Social Democratic politician, Chairman of the Social Democratic Youth League 1984-1990, Member of Parliament 1982-1985 and 1998-2003... |
Killed | Lindh was stabbed while visiting a shopping centre in Stockholm. She died the following morning. |
| Zvezdan Jovanović Zvezdan Jovanovic Zvezdan Jovanović , also known as Zveki and Zmija assassinated former Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić on 12 March 2003.... |
2003 | Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić | Killed | Jovanović killed his victim with a sniper rifle (a relatively rare type of assassination Assassination To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be... ); he is suspected to have acted for organized crime backers. See Assassination of Zoran Đinđić Assassination of Zoran Đinđić The assassination of Zoran Đinđić, the Prime Minister of Serbia, took place on Wednesday, March 12, 2003, in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.- Background :The assassination of Đinđić was preceded by several unsuccessful attempts on his life... . |
| Chen Yi-hsiung Chen Yi-hsiung Chen Yi-hsiung is the prime suspect in the 3-19 shooting incident, a failed attempt to assassinate the president of Taiwan Chen Shui-bian, and perhaps vice president Annette Lu, on 19 March 2004, one day prior to the 2004 presidential election... |
2004 | President of Republic of China Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian is a former Taiwanese politician who was the 10th and 11th-term President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan... |
Survived | See 3-19 shooting incident 3-19 shooting incident The 3-19 shooting incident was an assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu while they were campaigning in Tainan on March 19, 2004, the day before Taiwan's presidential election... . |
| Presumed to be Chechen Islamists | 2004 | President of Chechnya Akhmad Kadyrov Akhmad Kadyrov Hajji Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov , also spelled Akhmat, was the Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War... |
Killed | Killed along with about 30 others in a football stadium during a Soviet Victory Day parade, by a bomb that had been built into the concrete of one of the stadium's supporting columns. |
| Mohammed Bouyeri Mohammed Bouyeri Mohammed Bouyeri is an Islamist Dutch–Moroccan and convicted murderer. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole for the assassination of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh. He holds both Dutch and Moroccan citizenship... |
2004 | Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh Theo van Gogh (film director) Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims... |
Killed | Van Gogh was cycling to work in Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population... . He was shot on his bicycle eight times with an HS2000 handgun. Bouyeri also tried to decapitate van Gogh with one knife, and stabbed him in the chest with another. |
| Unknown, presumed to be Hezbulla in concert with Syrian intelligence services | 2005 | Former Lebanese Prime Minister and billionaire Rafik Hariri Rafik Hariri Rafic Baha El Deen Al-Hariri , was a business tycoon and the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation, 20 October 2004.He headed five cabinets during his tenure... |
Killed | Assassination via car bomb in Beirut Beirut Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan... . |
| Vladimir Arutyunian | 2005 | U.S. President George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000.... and Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003... |
Survived | Threw a hand grenade at Bush, which failed to detonate. |
| Unknown; many theories | 2006 | Journalist Anna Politkovskaya Anna Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist, author, and human rights activist known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and then-President of Russia Vladimir Putin... |
Killed | Shot in the elevator block of her apartment in Moscow. See Assassination of Anna Politkovskaya. |
| Unknown, though believed to be figures within the government of Russia Government of Russia The Government of the Russian Federation exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister , the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers... |
2006 | Former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service .... |
Killed | Acute radiation syndrome via ingestion of polonium-210. See Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko. |
| Unknown, widely believed to be Islamic militants | 2007 | Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Prime Minister of Pakistan The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government... and Pakistan Peoples Party Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest political party of Pakistan... Chair and Opposition Leader Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996.... |
Killed | Killed while entering a vehicle upon leaving a political rally for the Pakistan People's Party in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. See Assassination of Benazir Bhutto Assassination of Benazir Bhutto The assassination of Benazir Bhutto occurred on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Bhutto, twice Prime Minister of Pakistan and then-leader of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January 2008... . |
| Soldiers | 2009 | President of Guinea-Bissau João Bernardo Vieira João Bernardo Vieira João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira was the President of Guinea-Bissau from 1980 to 1999 and again from 2005 to 2009. After seizing power in 1980, Vieira ruled for 19 years, and he won a multiparty presidential election in 1994. He was ousted at the end of the 1998–1999 civil war and went into exile... |
Killed | Hacked to death during armed attack on his residence in Bissau. |
| Karst Tates | 2009 | Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University... and royal family |
Survived | Attempted to ram the Queen's bus with his car. See 2009 attack on the Dutch Royal Family 2009 attack on the Dutch royal family The 2009 attack on the Dutch Royal Family occurred in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, where a man drove his car at high speed into a parade which included Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander and other members of the Dutch Royal Family; the attack happened on 30 April, the Dutch national holiday of... . |
| Men under his aide de camp | 2009 | President of Guinea Moussa Dadis Camara Moussa Dadis Camara Captain Moussa Dadis Camara now called Moïse Dadis Camara is an ex-officer of the Guinean army who served as the President of the Republic of Guinea's National Council for Democracy and Development , which seized power in a military coup d'état on 23 December 2008 after the... |
Survived | Currently in Burkina Faso Burkina Faso Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated... |
| Unknown, widely believed to be Mossad Mossad The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel.... agents |
2010 | Mahmoud al-Mabhouh Mahmoud al-Mabhouh Mahmoud Abdel Rauf al-Mabhouh was a senior Hamas military commander and one of the founders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military affiliate of Hamas... , senior Hamas Hamas Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades... military commander |
Killed | Exact cause unknown; possibilities include suffocation, strangulation, and electrocution. See Assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh Assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, took place on January 19, 2010, in a Dubai hotel room. Al-Mabhouh—a co-founder of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamist Palestinian militant group Hamas—was wanted by the Israeli government for the kidnapping and murder of two... . |
| Casey Brezik | 2010 | Missouri Governor Jay Nixon Jay Nixon Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon, Sr. is the 55th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Missouri. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Missouri's Attorney General before his election in 2008.-Political career:... |
Survived | Mistakenly stabbed a college dean in a hallway by a lectern where Nixon was to speak. Brezik told police that he thought he had stabbed Nixon. |
| Unknown, believed to be two ranch workers | 2010 | Eugène Terre'Blanche Eugène Terre'Blanche Eugène Ney Terre'Blanche was a former member of South Africa's Herstigte Nasionale Party who founded the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging during the apartheid era... , founder of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging is a South African far right separatist political and former paramilitary organization, since its creation dedicated to secessionist Afrikaner nationalism and the creation of an independent Boer-Afrikaner republic or "" in part of South Africa... in South Africa |
Killed | He was found hacked and beaten to death at his farm, allegedly killed by two of his workers. |
| Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri | 2011 | Salmaan Taseer Salmaan Taseer Salmaan Taseer was a Pakistani businessman and politician who served as the 26th governor of the province of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in early 2011.... , 26th Governor of Punjab Governor of Punjab Governor of Punjab may refer to:* List of Governors of Punjab , of the pre-independence Punjab province of British India* List of Governors of Punjab , of Punjab state in India... |
Killed | Killed by one of his security guards due to Taseer's opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws |
| Jared Lee Loughner Jared Lee Loughner Jared Lee Loughner is an American man who is charged with the January 8, 2011 Tucson, Arizona shooting that killed six people, including Chief U.S. District Court Judge John Roll. The shooting also left 14 others injured, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords... |
2011 | Gabrielle Giffords Gabrielle Giffords Gabrielle Dee "Gabby" Giffords is an American politician. A Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, she has represented since 2007. She is the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to the U.S. Congress... , U.S. Representative from Arizona |
Survived | Shot, along with several staffers and U.S. District Judge John Roll (killed), at a constituent event in her district 2011 Tucson shooting On January 8, 2011, a mass shooting occurred near Tucson, Arizona. Nineteen people were shot, six of them fatally, with one other person injured at the scene during an open meeting that U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was holding with members of her constituency in a Casas Adobes Safeway... . There were a total of at least 6 deaths and 12 injured. |
| Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan , alternatively referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, is an umbrella organization of various Islamist militant groups based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Pakistan. Most, but not all, Pakistani Taliban groups coalesce under the TTP... |
2011 | Shahbaz Bhatti Shahbaz Bhatti Clement Shahbaz Bhatti , popularly known as Shahbaz Bhatti, was a Pakistani politician and elected member of the National Assembly from 2008. He was the first Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs from November 2008 until his assassination on 2 March 2011 in Islamabad... , Federal Minister for Minorities Ministry of Minorities (Pakistan) The Ministry of Minorities is a Cabinet-leveled ministry of the Government of Pakistan. The ministry's political figure is known as the Minister for Minorities. Shahbaz Bhatti served in this position from 2008 until March 2, 2011, when he was assassinated in Islamabad.The Ministry of Minorities... of Pakistan |
Killed | Killed due to his opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws |
| U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 | 2011 | Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets... |
Killed | See Death of Osama bin Laden Death of Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit.... |
| Sardar Mohammad | 2011 | Ahmed Wali Karzai Ahmed Wali Karzai Ahmed Wali Karzai was a prominent politician in Afghanistan and the younger paternal half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and son of Abdul Ahad Karzai. As an elder of the Popalzai Pashtun tribe, he was elected to the Kandahar Provincial Council in 2005 and served as its chairman. Karzai... , half-brother of Afghan president Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001... |
Killed | Shot twice in the head and chest by his security guard as he was coming out of his bathroom |
| Unknown, possibly security guards or members of the Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade | 2011 | Abdul Fatah Younis Abdul Fatah Younis Abdul Fatah Younis , sometimes transliterated Fattah Younis or Fattah Younes or Fatah Younes, was a senior military officer in Libya. He held the rank of Major General and the post of Minister of Interior, but resigned on 22 February 2011 to defect to the rebel side in what was to become the 2011... , commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Libyan Republic National Transitional Council The National Transitional Council of Libya , sometimes known as the Transitional National Council, the Interim National Council, or the Libyan National Council,... |
Killed | Shot due to his prior history before defecting to the NTC |
| Unknown, possibly members of the Taliban or the Haqqani network Haqqani network The Haqqani Network is an insurgent group fighting against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan. Originating from Afghanistan during the mid-1970s, it was nurtured by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence during the 1980s Soviet war in... . |
2011 | Former Afghan Afghanistan Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world... President Burhanuddin Rabbani Burhanuddin Rabbani Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani was President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996. After the Taliban government was toppled during Operation Enduring Freedom, Rabbani returned to Kabul and served as a temporary President from November to December 20, 2001, when Hamid Karzai was... |
Killed | |
| Two Predator drones controlled by the Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA. | 2011 | Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar al-Awlaki was an American and Yemeni imam who was an engineer and educator by training. According to U.S. government officials, he was a senior talent recruiter and motivator who was involved with planning operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda... |
Killed | Killed by a drone attack on his car. |
| National Transitional Council National Transitional Council The National Transitional Council of Libya , sometimes known as the Transitional National Council, the Interim National Council, or the Libyan National Council,... fighters |
2011 | Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a... |
Killed | Shot in the head and abdomen while trying to escape from rebel soldiers; died one hour later of his injuries. See Death of Muammar Gaddafi Death of Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed leader of Libya, died on 20 October 2011 during the 2011 Libyan civil war. Gaddafi was captured alive after his convoy was attacked by NATO warplanes as Sirte fell on 20 October 2011. He was then beaten and killed by NTC forces... . |