... Or Else! Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth was an actor and Confederate spy from Maryland, USA. At first, he planned to kidnap Lincoln in order to bring about the release of Confederate prisoners, but after hearing a speech of Lincoln's that promoted African-American voting rights, he changed his mind, and decided instead to assassinate Lincoln.

While Lincoln was watching the play, "Our American Cousin", at Ford's Theatre, Booth snuck up to the state box and waited for a funny line of the play (so that the laughter would muffle the gunshot).

Then, he jumped into the box and fired at Lincoln's head. Lincoln lay in a coma for nine hours before being pronounced dead.

Answer: Charles J. Guiteau

Charles J. Guiteau shot James A. Garfield in 1881 because he believed, after being refused a federal position, that God wanted him to shoot Garfield. Guiteau belonged to a religious society known as the Oneida Community, which his father was already closely connected to. Guiteau left the group twice; the first time to start a newspaper, and the second time that he left, he actually filed a lawsuit against the leader of the community! In a letter to Guiteau's father, Nayes, the community leader, stated that he did not hold any ill-will towards Guiteau, but that "I consider him insane".

He definitely was a religious extremist!

Answer: Spencer Perceval

This assassination was the first successful killing of a British prime minister. Bellingham was imprisoned in Russia for a time previously, and when he returned home to Britain, he asked the government for compensation for his time in prison. When they refused to grant his request, he made up his mind to get his compensation by murdering Perceval.

Answer: Ay

Ay was thought to have murdered King Tutankhamun for a long time, but now they believe that Tutankhamun was possibly killed by a subdural hematoma. Ay was Tutankhamun's successor to the Egyptian throne.

Answer: Jack Ruby

Lee Oswald shot JFK (John F. Kennedy), but just two days after the successful assassination, Oswald himself was shot. Jack Ruby was the perpetrator of the crime; having been outraged by the president's death, Ruby sought to seek revenge.

Answer: Four times

John Lennon was shot on December 8th, 1980 by Mark David Chapman. Chapman shot Lennon four times in the chest, and then sat down on the street without his weapon and waited to be arrested. Even today, no one knows why he became an assassin.

Answer: Sirhan wanted revenge for the US' support of Israel in the Six Days' War of 1967

Sirhan Sirhan was thought to have shot Robert F. Kennedy, the Presidential Candidate for the Democratic Party, in order to get revenge on the United States for their support of Israel in the Six Days' War. Strangely enough, when Sirhan was put on trial, he first pleaded innocent, but changed his plea to guilty and asked to be executed.

It is unknown whether he felt guilty, or just did not want to be imprisoned.

Answer: Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Archduke and heir to the Austrian throne, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, a territory of the Austro-Hungarian empire. He was riding in an open car with his wife Sophie when members of The Black Hand, a group that was trying to gain independence for the states annexed by the empire, shot the two of them. World War I started two months later when Austria sent its final warning to Serbia, before declaring war.

Answer: Alexander II

Tsar Alexander II of Russia was killed while riding in a carriage with seven Cossacks (Russian knights). Nikolai Rysakov, a young member of the Narodnaya Volya (People's Will) movement, threw a bomb under the wheels of the carriage. When the explosion killed a Cossack and the driver, the tsar appeared out of the carriage, shaken, but unhurt. Rysakov then shouted to another person in the crowd, who threw another bomb at the tsar.

When the police chief tried to lift the tsar to his feet, he discovered that Alexander's legs were shattered and bloody.

At 3:30 that same day, Alexander II's standard was lowered for the last time.

Answer: Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times by an entire roomful of people, including his best friend, Brutus. His famous thought-to-be last words were: "Et tu, Brute?" This Latin phrase means "And you, Brutus?"