June 10, 1924: Giacomo Matteotti is assassinated, for daring to speak against his country's leader. He was 39 years old.
Born on May 22, 1885 in Fratta Polesine, in Veneto near Venice, Matteotti was a lawyer who was elected as a Socialist to Italy's Chamber of Deputies in 1919, and became the leader of the Unitary Socialist Party.
He opposed Benito Mussolini's 1922 Fascist takeover of the country. In 1924, his book The Fascisti Exposed: A Year of Fascist Domination was published, and he made two impassioned and lengthy speeches in the Chamber of Deputies, denouncing Fascism and declaring that the last election, marked by intimidation and militia violence, was "invalid."
On May 30, 1924, in Parliament, he again declared the recent election a fraud. He also found evidence of bribes from American company Sinclair Oil in favor of Mussolini, in order to get permission for Sinclair's exploitation of petroleum reservoirs under Italian control.
Like all tyrants and would-be tyrants, Mussolini couldn't handle being criticized. On June 10, Matteotti was bundled into a car, a Lancia Kappa, and stabbed several times with a carpenter's file as he was struggling to escape. His corpse was found after an extensive search near Riano, 14 miles north of Rome, on August 16. 1924.
Five men were arrested: Amerigo Dumini, Giuseppe Viola, Albino Volpi, Augusto Malacria and Amieto Proveromo. A sixth, Filippo Panzeri, fled from arrest. Dumini, Volpi and Poveromo were convicted, but were soon released under amnesty by King Victor Emmanuel III, who, by this point, was little more than a puppet of Mussolini.
Of those 6 defendants, Malacria was murdered in 1934; and Volpi died in 1939, apparently of natural causes, and still in Mussolini's good graces. Mussolini remained in power for another 19 years, before being overthrown in 1943 and executed in 1945, and so no evidence of his involvement in Matteotti's kidnap and assassination was ever presented. In 1947, the other 4 defendants were charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Poveromo died in prison in 1952. Dumini was given amnesty in 1953, and died in 1967 as the result of a household accident. I can't find information on the deaths of Viola and Panzeri.
One of Matteotti's sons, Gianmatteo "Matteo" Matteotti, became a Social Democratic parliamentary deputy, serving as Italy's Minister of Tourism in 1970–72, and Minister of Foreign Trade from 1972–1974.
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June 10, 1924 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns, 5-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Waite Hoyt pitched a 6-hit shutout. 3rd baseman Ernie Johnson hit a home run. Babe Ruth went 0-for-2, but drew 2 walks and scored a run. For the Browns, George Sisler went 2-for-4.
* The New York Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-6 at the Polo Grounds. Frankie Frisch went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Bill Terry went 1-for-4 with a walk.
* The Brooklyn Robins (as the Dodgers were known during Wilbert Robinson's managing, from 1914 to 1931) beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Ebbets Field. Zack Wheat went 0-for-4.
* The Boston Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2 at Braves Field in Boston.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 4-3 at League Park in Cleveland. Indians manager-center fielder Tris Speaker went 0-for-2 with a walk. He sent George Uhle, normally a pitcher, up to pinch-hit with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, and he doubled Chick Fewster home to tie the game. Charlie Jamieson then singled Joe Sewell home to win it.
* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at Navin Field (later Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Ty Cobb went 1-for-3.
* And the Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Bibb Falk (his real name) hit a home run in the bottom of the 13th inning to win it.
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