March 30th 1981: Reagan assassination attempt

On this day in 1981 John Hinckley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan in the chest outside a hotel in Washington DC. Hinckley’s motivation was to impress the young actress Jodie Foster having seen her in the film ‘Taxi Driver’. He also injured White House Press Secretary James Brady (who would later become an advocate of gun control and lend his name to the Brady Bill), police officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy who had spread himself over Reagan to take the bullet. Hinckley was apprehended and eventually found not guilty by reason of insanity and remains in a psychiatric facility. Reagan suffered a punctured lung and, despite coming very close to death, made a speedy recovery at the George Washington University Hospital. In the operating room, Reagan joked “I hope you are all Republicans”, to which the lead surgeon replied “Today, Mr President, we are all Republicans”.

“Honey, I forgot to duck”
- Reagan to his wife

December 3rd 1976: Bob Marley shot

On this day in 1976 there was a failed assassination attempt on the Jamaican musician Bob Marley in his home. Despite being shot twice he played a free concert organised by the Jamaican Prime Minister just two days later. Marley is famous for his reggae music, and performed well known songs like ‘I Shot the Sheriff’, ‘No Woman, No Cry’, ‘Get Up Stand Up’ and ‘Buffalo Soldier’.

“The people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking a day off. How can I?”
- Marley on why he played a concert after being shot

June 21st 1982: John Hinckley Jr. acquitted

On this day in 1982 the man who shot President Ronald Reagan, John Hinckley Jr., was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He tried to kill the President on March 30th 1981 to impress the young actress Jodie Foster. He became obsessed with her after seeing her in ‘Taxi Driver’ and felt by killing the President and going down in history he would be her equal; he saw JFK’s assassin Lee Harvey Oswald as a role model. He was caught at the scene but, to great public outcry, was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Hinckley remains under institutional psychiatric care. The public was so dismayed by the verdict that several states changed their rules regarding the defence and Congress passed the Insanity Defense Reform Act in 1984 to limit the use of the defence.

January 8th 2011: Attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords

On this day last year, US Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona’s 8th district and 18 other people were shot at a public meeting near Tucson, Arizona. 6 people died, including Arizona District Court Chief Judge John Roll, and a 9 year old girl who had been born on 9/11. The gunman was Jared Lee Loughner, whose motives remain unclear and who was ruled medically unfit to stand trial in May 2011.

Giffords had been holding a meet and greet for constituents called ‘Congress on Your Corner’ in a supermarket parking lot. Loughner shot Giffords through the head at point blank range before opening fire on others. Giffords was taken to hospital and operated on to extract skull fragments and removed a section of her skull to reduce pressure from swelling.

A year on, Giffords has returned home and is undertaking speech, physical and occupational therapy. She is able to speak some sentences, can walk without a cane and can write with her left hand. She still does not have full use of her right side and has lost 50% of her vision in both eyes. However, on August 1st she was able to return to the House of Representatives to vote on raising the debt limit ceiling. She recieved a standing ovation and praise from her fellow members of Congress. Giffords vows to return full time to Congress.

Tonight she and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, will return to Tucson for a candlelight vigil to remember the victims of that day.

January 30th 1835: Jackson assassination attempt

On this day in 1835, there was the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States when Richard Lawrence tried to shoot President Andrew Jackson. Lawrence’s attempt failed, as he was subdued by a crowd outside the Capitol Building. Lawrence was an unemployed housepainter and blamed the President for the loss of his job. Jackson famously attacked his would-be assassin with his cane, contributing to his nickname ‘Old Hickory’. He later claimed he was actually English King Richard III (who died in 1485), and was deemed insane.

July 20th 1944: Assassination attempt on Hitler

On this day in 1944, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler narrowly survived an assassination attempt in what became known as the July 1944 bomb plot. The plot was led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and several military figures who also planned a military coup d’etat after the assassination. The plan was to place a bomb under the table in a briefcase in a conference room in Hitler’s Prussian Wolf’s Lair headquarters. However, one of the attendees at the meeting moved the case behind the table leg with his foot, thus deflecting the blast from Hitler. The Gestapo arrested at least 7000 people in response to the attack and almost 5000 were executed.

March 30th 1981: Reagan assassination attempt

On this day in 1981 at 2.27pm John Hinckley Jr. shot the President of the United States Ronald Reagan in the chest outside a hotel in Washington DC. The President was leaving the Washington Hilton after giving a speech when he and three others were shot by the gunman. Hinckley’s motivation was to impress the young actress Jodie Foster having seen her in the film ‘Taxi Driver’. When he opened fire on the day, he injured White House Press Secretary James Brady (who would later become an advocate of gun control and lend his name to the Brady Bill), police officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy who had spread himself over Reagan to take the bullet. Hinckley was apprehended and eventually found not guilty by reason of insanity and remains in a psychiatric facility. Reagan suffered a punctured lung and, despite coming very close to death, made a speedy recovery at the George Washington University Hospital. In the operating room, Reagan joked “I hope you are all Republicans”, to which the lead surgeon replied “Today, Mr President, we are all Republicans”. When the First Lady, Nancy Reagan, arrived Reagan remarked to her:

“Honey, I forgot to duck”