Kentucky Governor-Elect William Goebel is shot on January 30
That brief summary really glosses over the story. Kentucky had been a hotbad for political corruption and both the incumbent Governor, William Taylor, and his challenger, William Goebel, had engaged in voting fraud in the 1899 election. But Goebel had done it a little better so he was announced the winner. Taylor didn’t accept this result and both men began calling up troops in anticipation of fighting for the governorship. Some members of the Taylor administration apparently felt that fighting in the streets was no way to resolve the issue. So they organized a conspiracy to kill Goebel. The assassins did a half-assed job and Goebel survived long enough to be inaugurated before dying four days into his term.
Things calmed down a little. A deal was reached whereby Lt Governor John Beckham became Governor and the Taylor people agreed to accept their defeat. Meanwhile the new Beckham administration agreed not to probe too deeply into who exactly was behind the assassination.
Beckham did later successfully run for a second term despite the state constitution prohibiting governors from serving consecutive terms. Beckham argued that his first term had only been a partial term, having been four days short of a full term.
Anyone arguing the current discord in American politics is unprecedented should learn some history.
Kentucky Governor-Elect William Goebel is shot on January 30
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Kentucky Governor-Elect William Goebel is shot on January 30
Max Planck discovers the law of black body radiation (Planck’s Law) by introducing the notion of light quanta.
In New Haven, Connecticut, Louis Lassen of Louis’ Lunch makes the first modern-day hamburger sandwich.
The second Modern Olympic Games opens in Paris.
The United States is placed on the gold standard.
Relief of the Siege of Mafeking, Second Boer War
Hawaii becomes a United States territory.
A hurricane strikes Galveston, Texas on September 8.
Death of Friedrich Nietzsche
In China, the anti-foreigner Boxers occupy Beijing. International force ends both the siege and the Boxer Rebellion.
In a re-match of the 1896 race, Republican President William McKinley again defeated his Democratic challenger, William Jennings Bryan in the 1990 US Presidential election.
American temperance agitator Carrie Nation begins her crusade to demolish saloons.
New category:
News-makers of 1950
Accused communist spy Alger Hiss is convicted on two counts of perjury.