This Day in History: Assassinations!

First and Only Execution of an English King 1/30/1649



Off with his head! King Charles I is beheaded for treason by order of Parliament and England is put under the authority of Oliver Cromwell's protectorate.



186 years later...



First Assassination Attempt on a U. S. President 1/30/1835



Lady Luck misfires (twice) Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter, approached Andrew Jackson as he left a congressional funeral held in the House chamber of the Capitol building and shot at him, but his gun misfired. A furious 67-year-old Jackson confronted his attacker, clubbing Lawrence several times with his walking cane. During the scuffle, Lawrence managed to pull out a second loaded pistol and pulled the trigger, but it also misfired. Jackson’s aides then wrestled Lawrence away from the president, leaving Jackson unharmed but angry and, as it turned out, paranoid.



and another 113 years roll past...



Ghandi Assassinated 1/30/1948

Poor pacifist. Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi was murdered in New Delhi at 78.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=4721
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=1/30&categoryId=presidential
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=1/30&categoryId=crime