This Day In History

200 years ago - May 11th 1812: Spencer Perceval assassinated

On this day in 1812, 200 years ago today, Spencer Perceval became the first and only British Prime Minister to be assassinated when he was shot by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons. Perceval became Tory Prime Minister in 1809 (replacing the Duke of Portland) and his administration had to deal with economic depression, Luddism and the ‘madness’ of King George III. He had initially been considered a weak Prime Minister, but things had been looking up for his administration until he was shot by Bellingham who was a merchant with a grievance against the government for supposedly not freeing him when he was imprisoned in Russia. Bellingham was hanged on 18th May.

“I am murdered…I am murdered”
- Perceval’s last words

April 15th 1865: Abraham Lincoln dies

On this day in 1865, after being shot the previous day, US President Abraham Lincoln died. Lincoln had overseen the American Civil War since 1861, and had led the abolition of slavery by issuing his Emancipation Proclamation and encouraging the passage of the 13th Amendment. Almost a week after the Confederacy’s surrender to the Union forces at Appomattox, Confederate sympathiser John Wilkes Booth shot the President while he was watching ‘Our American Cousin’ at Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC. Booth shot Lincoln in the head at point blank range, and whilst Lincoln was taken across the street to Petersen House the wound was clearly fatal and after a nine hour coma he died at 7.22am. Booth was soon tracked down and killed, and Lincoln was widely mourned in the North as a great leader and the first presidential assassination. Lincoln’s Vice President, Andrew Johnson, was swiftly sworn in as 17th President of the United States.

“Now he belongs to the ages.”
- Secretary of War Edwin Stanton after Lincoln’s death

March 10th 1969: James Earl Ray convicted of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr

On this day in 1969 in Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Ray harboured a prejudice against African Americans and had volunteered for the presidential campaign of segregationist George Wallace in 1968. King, known for his leadership of the civil rights movement for African Americans and his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, was killed by a sniper on April 4th 1968 in Memphis. Some months after his death, Ray (an escaped convict) was found in the UK and extradited. On 10th March he confessed and pleaded guilty to avoid a jury trial which would have made him eligible for the death penalty; Ray was sentenced to 99 years in prison. However, Ray later denied his confession, and claimed he was merely an accomplice in a wider plot, which has fuelled conspiracy theories. Ray failed, and spent the rest of his life trying to withdraw this plea and secure a trial; he escaped from prison in 1977 but was recaptured within days. In 1997, Ray met King’s son Dexter who supported his attempts to get a new trial. Ray died in prison on April 23rd 1998, aged 70, from hepatitis C.

February 21st 1965: Malcolm X assassinated

On this day in 1965, the radical African American leader Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) was assassinated. He was killed at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City by members of the Nation of Islam, which he had previously been a leading member of. Malcolm X was a human rights activist and Muslim minister who campaigned for rights of African Americans. However, many have criticised him for his teachings as a member of Nation of Islam when he taught black supremacy and black nationalism, thus putting him at odds with the Civil Rights movement who preached integration and unity. His acrimonious split from the Nation of Islam led to three members shooting him as he was about to address a crowd. Talmadge Hayer, Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson were convicted of the murder.

“We declare our right on this earth to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.”

January 30th 1948: Gandhi assassinated

On this day in 1948, Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist. Gandhi was famous for his non-violent struggle for Indian independence, instead using mass civil disobedience to secure India’s independence, which was secured in 1947. Gandhi is referred to as ‘Mahatma’ (meaning ‘Great Soul’) and ‘Bapu’ (‘father’) in India, as he is remembered as the ‘Father of the Nation’. He was shot at point-blank range whilst walking to a platform to address a prayer meeting by Godse, a Hindu nationalist who felt Gandhi was sympathetic to Muslims and held him responsible for weakening India by insisting on payment to Pakistan. Gandhi was mourned nationally, and is still revered today and considered a martyr. Supposedly, his last words were “Oh God”

On this day in 1988, Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state. Bhutto was a democratic socialist and the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan. In 1982, aged 29, Bhutto became the chairwoman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - a democratic socialist, centre-left party, making her the first woman in Pakistan to head a major political party. In 1988, she became the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state.

She was noted for her charismatic authority and political astuteness. As Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto drove initiatives for Pakistan’s economy and national security, and she implemented social capitalist policies for industrial development and growth. Her hard line against the trade unions and tough rhetoric opposition to her domestic political rivals and to neighboring India earned her the nickname “Iron Lady”. Her government was dismissed twice on claims of corruption, first in 1990 and then again in 1996. 

After nine years of self-exile, she returned to Pakistan on 18th October 2007, after having reached an understanding with Military President General Pervez Musharraf, by which she was granted amnesty and all corruption charges were withdrawn. Bhutto became the leading opposition candidate in the 2008 general election, but, on 27th December 2007, she was assassinated.

On this day in 1978, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed in San Francisco City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White. White was angry that Moscone had refused to re-appoint him to his seat on the Board of Supervisors, which White had just resigned, and that Milk had lobbied heavily against his re-appointment. White went to San Francisco City Hall to meet with Moscone and make a final plea for appointment. When Moscone declined to reconsider his decision, White pulled a gun out of his suit jacket and shot and killed Moscone. White then went to Milk’s office and shot him, killing him as well. Because Milk was openly gay, some consider his murder a hate crime.

Milk was elected in 1977, making him the first openly gay candidate elected to political office in California and first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States. Milk served almost 11 months in office and was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city and despite his short career in politics, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and “a martyr for gay rights”. Moscone is also considered a “martyr” and is revered by the gay community.

White later turned himself in at the police station where he was formerly an officer. The term “Twinkie defense” has its origins in the murder trial that followed. It is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense, due to White’s defense was that he suffered diminished capacity as a result of his depression. His change in diet from health food to Twinkies and other sugary food was said to be a symptom of depression. Contrary to common belief, White’s attorneys did not argue that the Twinkies were the cause of White’s actions. Rather they argued that his consumption of Twinkies was symptomatic of his underlying depression. Dan White was thus convicted of the lesser crime of manslaughter. White would commit suicide in 1985, shortly after his release from prison.