1881Jul, 2
Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield (who would die of complications from his wounds on September 19).
Charles Julius Guiteau ( ghih-TOH; September 8, 1841 – June 30, 1882) was an American writer and lawyer who assassinated James A. Garfield, president of the United States, on July 2, 1881. Guiteau falsely believed he had played a major role in Garfield's election victory, for which he should have been rewarded with a consulship. He was so offended by the Garfield administration's rejections of his applications to serve in Vienna or Paris that he decided to kill Garfield, and shot him at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. Garfield died two months later from infections related to the wounds. In January 1882, Guiteau was sentenced to death for the crime, and was hanged five months later.
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Events on 1881
- 1Jan
Panama Canal
Ferdinand de Lesseps begins French construction of the Panama Canal. - 16Apr
Bat Masterson
In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle. - 12May
French protectorate of Tunisia
In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate. - 21May
Clara Barton
The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton in Washington, D.C. - 19Nov
Meteorite fall
A meteorite lands near the village of Grossliebenthal, southwest of Odessa, Ukraine.