Historical figures who survived assassination attempts
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Historical Figures Who Survived Assassination Attempts — Daily trivia Friday, April 3, 2026: questions and answers
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Q 01Which agency's agent took a bullet shielding President Reagan from John Hinckley Jr.?
- ASecret Service
- BFBI
- CCIA
- DNational Guard
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Secret Service
Secret Service: agent Tim McCarthy stood in the line of fire and took the fourth bullet, while the sixth ricocheted off the limousine and hit Reagan.
Q 02Which plot to assassinate Hitler hid explosives in a briefcase at the Wolf's Lair?
- ANight of the Long Knives
- BOperation Valkyrie (20 July Plot)
- CBeer Hall Putsch
- DKristallnacht
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Operation Valkyrie (20 July Plot)
The 20 July Plot, also known as Operation Valkyrie, was an attempt by German military officers to kill Adolf Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime, but Hitler survived the blast.
Q 03Who fired the first of the assassination attempts on Queen Victoria, shooting at her carriage?
- ARoderick Maclean
- BEdward Oxford
- CJohn William Bean
- DArthur O'Connor
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Edward Oxford
Eighteen-year-old Edward Oxford fired twice at Victoria as she rode out with Prince Albert in 1840; either both shots missed or the pistols held no shot. He was the first of seven people who tried to kill her by 1882.
Q 04Who shot Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square?
- AGavrilo Princip
- BLee Harvey Oswald
- CMehmet Ali Ağca
- DJohn Wilkes Booth
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Mehmet Ali Ağca
On May 13, 1981, Turkish national Mehmet Ali Ağca shot Pope John Paul II, who survived his injuries and later famously forgave his attacker.
Q 05In which US city was Theodore Roosevelt shot in the chest before a speech?
- AChicago
- BPhiladelphia
- CSt. Louis
- DMilwaukee
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Milwaukee
Theodore Roosevelt was shot in Milwaukee, but a folded 50-page speech and his steel glasses case slowed the bullet, and he spoke for about 50 minutes before getting treatment.
Q 06By what method did Franz Ferdinand survive an earlier assassination attempt on the day he was shot?
- ABomb
- BPoison
- CStabbing
- DSniping
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Bomb
On June 28, 1914, Nedeljko Čabrinović threw a bomb at the Archduke's motorcade, which bounced off the car and injured bystanders, allowing Franz Ferdinand to initially escape.
Q 07Who made the first recorded assassination attempt on a sitting US President, targeting Andrew Jackson?
- ARichard Lawrence
- BCharles Guiteau
- CLeon Czolgosz
- DJohn Wilkes Booth
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Richard Lawrence
Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter, fired two pistols at Andrew Jackson outside the Capitol; both misfired, and Jackson beat him with his cane.
Q 08Which paramilitary group organised the Petit-Clamart assassination attempt on Charles de Gaulle?
- ARed Army Faction
- BIrish Republican Army
- COrganisation armée secrète (OAS)
- DFront de libération nationale (FLN)
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Organisation armée secrète (OAS)
The Organisation armée secrète (OAS) attempted to assassinate de Gaulle due to his support for Algerian independence, firing over 150 bullets at his car, but he emerged unscathed.
Q 09On which Berlin boulevard did Bismarck survive five pistol shots?
- AUnter den Linden
- BKurfürstendamm
- CFriedrichstraße
- DKarl-Marx-Allee
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Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden: Ferdinand Cohen-Blind fired twice from behind, then Bismarck grabbed him as three more shots went off, the last two glancing off his ribs.
Q 10Which US president did two Puerto Rican nationalists try to kill at Blair House?
- AHarry S. Truman
- BFranklin D. Roosevelt
- CDwight D. Eisenhower
- DHerbert Hoover
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Harry S. Truman
Collazo and Torresola attacked Blair House, where Harry Truman lived during White House renovations; he was napping upstairs, and the mortally wounded officer Leslie Coffelt shot Torresola dead.
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