assassination: Quick Facts

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Photos and Videos

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

John F. Kennedy's presidential motorcade in Dallas

Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan

Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria-Este, and his wife Sophie ride in an open carriage in Sarajevo, both dressed formally, with a man standing beside the carriage.

Rafic al-Hariri memorial shrine

Memorial for Boris Nemtsov on Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge in Moscow, with flowers, candles, and a large black-and-white portrait of Nemtsov placed against a stone wall.

Protesters at Pushkin Square in Moscow hold signs, including one with a photo of Alexei Navalny and another with Russian text reading one for all and all for one.

Illustration of President William McKinley being shot by Leon Czolgosz in 1901, with McKinley recoiling as men in formal attire react around them. An American flag hangs in the background.

James Garfield assassination attempt

View historical footage and photographs surrounding Gavrilo Princip's assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Learn about the U.S. government's prior knowledge of the military coup against and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem

Listen as Dan Rather reports on the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby on November 24, 1963

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Topics

9 Infamous Assassins and the World Leaders They Dispatched Assassinations and assassination attempts involving U.S. presidents and presidential candidates Political Violence in the U.S. in the 21st Century How did Patrice Lumumba die?The Plot to Assassinate George Washington Today in History—September 6: A Deadly World’s Fair Today in History—July 17: The End of House Romanov Today in History—June 5: Robert F. Kennedy’s Assassination tyrannicide Today in History—April 4: A Nation Mourns Martin Luther King, Jr.cybercrime terrorism War crime human trafficking Genocide Online predator white-collar crime lynching in the United States serial murder body snatching

Key People

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U Saw

Myanmar political leader

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Aristogeiton

Greek tyrannicide

Statue of Shaheed Udham Singh adorned with a garland, surrounded by numerous Indian flags held by people paying tribute in Amritsar.

Udham Singh

Indian revolutionary

Charles J. Guiteau

Charles J. Guiteau

American lawyer and assassin

John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth

American actor and assassin

Lee Harvey Oswald

Lee Harvey Oswald

American accused assassin

Black and white engraving of a man in military clothing with a beard.

LaFayette Curry Baker

United States general

Marble bust of Marcus Junius Brutus with short hair and a solemn expression, shown from the shoulders up against a plain background.

Marcus Junius Brutus

Roman politician

Sirhan Sirhan

Sirhan Sirhan

Palestinian-born Jordanian citizen

Leon Czolgosz

Leon Czolgosz

American laborer and anarchist

Surratt, Mary

Mary Surratt

American businesswoman

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Lorenzino de’ Medici

Italian writer and assassin

Roman denarius

Gaius Cassius Longinus

Roman quaestor

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Tenji

emperor of Japan

Princip, Gavrilo

Gavrilo Princip

Slavic nationalist

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Boris Viktorovich Savinkov

Russian revolutionary

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Kim Jae Kyu

South Korean military officer

James Earl Ray

James Earl Ray

American assassin

Damiens, engraving by Gabriel, 18th century

Robert-François Damiens

French regicide

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Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus

Roman general