April 4th

On this day - April 4th 1968 - Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated

Martin Luther King is best known for his role in the civil rights movement for African-Americans. He got involved in this movement in the early 1950s and in 1963 he held his famous "I have a dream" speech. He received the Nobels Peace Prize in 1964 for his non-violent approach to the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in Tennessee in 1968 and died on the same day at the young age of 39. He was in Tennessee to support a strike among African-american city sanitation workers. He was assassinated by a single bullet while standing on the balcony of his motell room. James Earl Ray was caught in London two months later and pleaded guilty to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

January 30th

On this day - January 30th 1948 - Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated 

Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of the Indian Independence movement in India during the British rule. He is known for his employment of non-violent civil obedience and he has inspired freedom-movements around the whole world. He is often described as the father of India by Indians.
Gandhi was assassinated by the militant hindu nationalist, Mathuram Godse, in New Dehli. Ghandi was shot three times in close range and died shortly after. This was the fifth attempt at assassination of Ghandi, the first one occurred already in 1934. Godse was arrested shortly after and sentenced to death in February 1949.

If I am to die by the bullet of a mad man, I must do so smiling. There must be no anger within me. God must be in my heart and on my lips - Ghandi January 28th 1948

 

January 23d

On this day - 23 January 1570 - First assassination with a firearm

James Sturt, 1st earl of Morray, was an illegitimate son of James V and the regent of Scotland was the first person to be assassinated by a firearm. The assassin was a follower of Mary, Queen of Scots and James Stuart was assassinated after trying to organize a response to the Marys followers. James Stuart was assassinated in Linlithgow, Scotland, by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh and Woodhouselee. James Hamilton fired at James Stuart from behind a window with a carbine, in a well planed assassination, and mortally wounded him. James Stuart of Morray was buried in February 1570.

October 31st

On this day – 31st October 1984 – The assassination of India’s first female prime minister

Indira Gandhi, the daughter of India’s first prime minister, was elected as the Prime minister in 1966. She was a ruthless politician who worked towards centralizing the powers in India. She was re-elected in 1980 and it was during this term she was assassinated. Two of her Sikh bodyguard assassinated her on the 31st of October 1984 as a response to the assault on the Golden Temple. The assassination led to anti-Sikh riots where around 2800 Sikhs in India were murdered. The two assassins who killed Gandhi were hanged in 1989, while the murders of the Sikhs have yet to be properly prosecuted.