10 assassinations that shook the world by suganya lingan Email Facebook 23 ONLINE EXCLUSIVE On the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedys murder, we look at some of the most shocking assassinations in history. 1) John F. Kennedy - The 35th President of United States was on a political campaign in Dallas, Texas when he was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald. JFK was travelling with his wife Jacqueline, the then Texas Governor John Connally, and Connallys wife Nellie, in a presidential motorcade when the sniper shot him on the head and neck in full view of the crowd that gathered to greet the president. Oswald was caught about an hour later but was killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby two days later. In both the incidents, the perpetrators were said to have acted alone. Fifty years and two big-scale investigations later, conspiracy theories are still abound regarding the assassination. Footages and photographs of the shooting were made available to the public on later dates, keeping the memory of the assassination alive. 2) John Lennon - The former Beatles member was assassinated by Mark David Chapman on Dec 8, 1980 at about 10.50pm in front of his apartment. Lennon had signed his autograph for Chapman earlier that day at the same place. Chapman later waited for Lennon to return and released five shots, out of which four hit Lennon’s back. Lennon was pronounced dead upon reaching the hospital and doctors reportedly said that there were no chances of him surviving the gunshots. Chapman was caught without a scene and was seen reading a copy of The Catcher in the Rye when police arrived at the scene. It was also reported that when Chapman was caught, he claimed that he was sure a large part of him was the main character in the book, Holden Caulfield. “The small part of me must be the devil,” he added. 3) Mahatma Gandhi - Known as the man responsible of gaining independence for India and preacher of peace, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was shot at point-blank range by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse on Jan 30, 1948. Although Godse was the one who pulled the trigger, he was believed to have worked with Narayan Apte and several other Hindu extremists who were unhappy with Gandhi’s stand on the India-Pakistan dispute. Both Godse and Apte were hanged to death for their crimes despite opposition from many, including Gandhi’s two sons who believed that the sentence would dishonour Gandhi’s memory and legacy. Despite the killer and his conspirators being sentenced, many were still unhappy, with some believing that bigger powers were behind the killing of the 78-year-old national hero. 4) Franz Ferdinand - The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire is believed to have triggered a chain of events that led to World War One. Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenbergh, were shot by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia on June 28, 1914. Ferdinand was there to inspect the armed forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a region, which was annexed by Austro-Hungary much to the anger of Serbian nationalists. A group of Serbian nationalists took the opportunity to assassinate him, failing the first time, but a dejected Princip ran into the Archduke’s entourage and managed to complete the mission. 5) Martin Luther King Jr - The Black civil-rights movement leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner famous for his speech ‘I have a dream’, was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Martin Luther King was standing at the balcony of his hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Ex-convict James Earl Ray was charged for the crime and sentenced to 99 years in jail, where he died in 1998. Many, including some of King’s family members, believed in that the US government was somehow involved in the assassination and that Ray was only a scapegoat but the conspiracy theory was never proven. 6) Abraham Lincoln - The 16th US President was shot by Confederate sympathiser John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, only five days after the end of the American Civil War. The president was at Ford’s theatre in Washington D.C with his wife Mary, a young army officer named Henry Rathbone and Rathbone’s fiancé, Clara Harris, the daughter of New York Senator Ira Harris. Booth, who was also a famous actor, snuck up on the group and shot Lincoln on the back of his head and stabbed Rathbone who came to Lincoln’s rescue. Booth escaped on horseback and was on the run for about 12 days. He was shot by the Union troops who tracked him and his co-conspirators. Four of his co-conspirators were later hanged to death. 7) Julius Ceasar - The assassination of the Roman dictator on March 15, 44 BC was the beginning of the end of what is said to be the greatest civilisation of the world. Ceasar was stabbed by his senators who called themselves Liberators. The senators were afraid that Ceasar will overthrow the senate in favour of tyranny and decided to assassinate him. His death, however, brought about the fall of the once great empire. 8) Benazir Bhutto - The two-time Pakistan Prime Minister was assassinated in a shooting and bombing in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, which also killed at least 24 others. Shots were first fired at Bhutto, who was campaigning for the 2008 elections, before a suicide bomber detonated the bomb that killed her and the civilians on Dec 27, 2007. On Aug 20 this year, former military dictator Pervez Musharraf was indicted in the murder of Bhutto. 9) Rajiv Gandhi - The ex-Prime Minister of India was assassinated by a suicide bomber on May 21, 1991 in Tamil Nadu, India, where he was campaigning for the next elections. At least 14 others also died in the attack carried out by Thenmozhi Rajarathnam, believed to be a member of the Sri Lankan separatist organisation Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). A long-standing enmity between LTTE leader Prabakaran and Rajiv Gandhi, as well as the latter’s antagonism with other Sri Lankan Tamil organisations were believed to be the reason behind his assassination. 10) Malcolm X - On Feb 21, 1965, the African American nationalist and religious leader was assassinated by Rival Black Muslims. He was addressing the Organization of Afro-American Unity in Washington Heights when someone from the crowd created a commotion and another shot Malcolm X on the chest. It was reported that more gunmen fired shots at Malcolm during the chaos that ensued. It was reported that 21 gunshot wounds were found on the victim, who was pronounced dead at about 3.30pm. Thomas Hagan, who was caught at the scene, later admitted to the shooting and was in jail for 45 years before being released in 2010. Two other gunmen were also arrested and released in 1980s, neither of whom admitted to the charges against them.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 04:55:43 +0000
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