The 20 Most Famous Assassination Attempts in History

In Rome, on March 15, 44 B.C., the dictator for life Julius Caesar was attacked during a Senate meeting and stabbed to death by a group of senators. The conspirators believed they were defending the Republic against a leader they feared would become a king. Caesar’s assassination sparked new civil wars that helped bring an end to the Republic and paved the way for the empire.

King Henry IV of France was fatally stabbed in Paris on May 14, 1610, as he was traveling through crowded streets in his carriage. The assailant, François Ravaillac, was a religious extremist who believed he was acting in the name of the faith. The death of “Good King Henry” destabilized the court and placed a 9-year-old child on the throne.

Outside the U.S. Capitol on January 30, 1835, a man approached the 7th President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, and attempted to shoot him at point-blank range. Both pistols misfired, and Jackson fought off his assailant during the struggle. This event is considered the first known attempt to assassinate a sitting U.S. president.

Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., on the night of April 14, 1865. John Wilkes Booth shot the president during a performance of “Our American Cousin.” Lincoln died the next morning across the street at the Petersen House. The assassination stunned a nation that had just survived a four-year Civil War. 

Tsar Alexander II of Russia was assassinated in Saint Petersburg on March 13, 1881, after being attacked with explosives by members of the revolutionary group The People’s Will. A first bomb damaged his carriage, and a second explosion inflicted fatal wounds on him moments later. This assassination led to harsher official repression and marked a turning point in Russian revolutionary politics.

In Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were shot and killed by Gavrilo Princip. After some confusion regarding the motorcade’s route, a wrong turn left the couple within the assassin’s reach. The assassination triggered a diplomatic crisis that escalated into World War I.

Theodore Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt in Milwaukee on October 14, 1912, while campaigning for the presidency. The bullet was slowed by items in his pocket, including a thick, folded speech, and he continued speaking before receiving medical treatment. This has become one of the most famous examples of a public figure who carried on with his duties despite being wounded.

In late December 1916, Grigori Rasputin was assassinated by Russian nobles who wanted to put an end to his influence over the royal family. The story has been mythologized, but credible accounts agree that the plot culminated in Rasputin’s death in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg). This occurred after he had survived another attempt in 1914, when a woman stabbed him in the stomach.

On July 20, 1944, at the Wolf’s Lair, German officers attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler with a bomb, in the hope of triggering a coup. The plan failed after changes to the meeting location and the placement of the briefcase reduced the impact of the explosion. Had the attempt succeeded, the hope was to make peace with the Western Allies.

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi on January 30, 1948, after a prayer meeting. Nathuram Godse shot him at point-blank range, angered by Gandhi’s efforts to promote unity between Hindus and Muslims. This assassination shook India during the fragile first months following partition.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated on October 6, 1981, during a military parade in Cairo. The assailants opened fire and threw grenades at the VIP stand, killing Sadat and others in attendance.

Ronald Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981, outside the Washington Hilton Hotel during an attack carried out by John Hinckley Jr. Reagan survived after undergoing emergency surgery. The only other person to survive the assassination attempt was Reagan’s aide, James Brady. 

Pope John Paul II was shot on May 13, 1981, in St. Peter’s Square. Mehmet Ali Ağca fired as the pope was greeting the crowd, and John Paul II later forgave him in person. He was even pardoned by the Italian government at the pope’s request. 

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi on October 31, 1984. Two of her own bodyguards shot her at her home amid violent tensions following Operation Blue Star. The incident led to a wave of widespread violence and had lasting political repercussions.

Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot and killed in Stockholm on February 28, 1986, as he was returning home after going to the movies with his wife, Lisbeth. To this day, there is still no official suspect as to the identity of the person who may have killed the couple. 

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in Tel Aviv on November 4, 1995, following a rally in support of the Oslo Accords. Yigal Amir, an extremist opposed to the accords, shot Rabin as he was leaving the event.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on December 27, 2007, following an election rally. Reports described gunfire immediately followed by a deadly explosion, and the attack also killed many other people. This occurred just two months after her return to Pakistan following an eight-year exile. 

In Pakistan’s Swat Valley on October 9, 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot and wounded on a school bus after speaking out publicly in favor of girls’ education. She survived after receiving intensive medical care, and the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Today, Malala remains the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate. 

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot on July 8, 2022, while delivering a campaign speech in Nara. The assailant, Tetsuya Yamagami, used a homemade firearm to shoot the prime minister, due to the country’s strict gun control laws. 

On August 22, 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle survived a major assassination attempt when armed men ambushed his motorcade in Petit-Clamart, near Paris. The assailants, linked to the OAS, fired several shots at his Citroën DS, but the driver managed to escape, and no one inside the president’s car was injured. Following this incident, the mastermind, Jean Bastien-Thiry, was arrested, tried, and executed a year later.