August 30, 1918: The Attempted Assassination of Vladimir Lenin

Artist's depiction

August 30, 1918: An attempt is made to assassinate Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Revolution, and dictator of Russia. Although he does not die immediately, the attempt can be said to have succeeded.

Born into a Jewish family, Feiga "Fanny" Kaplan served a sentence of hard labor during the Czarist years for her revolutionary activities. She became a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, and originally supported Lenin. But when the Bolsheviks banned all parties but their own, she began to view him as a "traitor to the revolution."

On August 30, 1918, she approached Lenin, who was leaving a Moscow factory, and fired 3 shots. One bullet passed through his coat. One lodged in his left shoulder. One passed through his neck, punctured part of his left lung, and stopped near his right collarbone.

Lenin was taken back to his living quarters at the Kremlin. He feared that others might be planning to kill him, and refused to leave the security of the Kremlin to seek medical attention. Doctors were brought in to treat him, but could not remove the bullets outside a hospital. Despite the severity of his injuries, Lenin survived, but his health never fully recovered from the attack. It has been speculated that the shooting contributed to the strokes that incapacitated and eventually killed him in 1924.

Interrogated by the Cheka, the forerunner of the KGB, she refused to name any accomplices, and was executed by firing squad in Moscow on September 3. She was 28 years old.

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August 30, 1918 was a Friday. Baseball legend Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox was born. So was another baseball All-Star of the 1940s, New York Yankees 3rd baseman Billy Johnson. And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Washington Senators, 6-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Walter Johnson went the distance for the win.

* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers (or the Robins, as they were known during Wilbert Robinson's management from 1914 to 1931), 1-0 at the Polo Grounds. William "Pol" Perritt pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* The Boston Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Athletics, 12-0 and 4-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Mays allowed 9 hits in the opener, but kept the shutout. Over the 2 games, Babe Ruth went 2-for-6 with 3 walks and 2 RBIs.

* A doubleheader was split at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Phillies won the opener, 1-0. Joe Oeschger pitched a 3-hit shutout. The Boston Braves won the nightcap, 8-3. Two years later, Oeschger and Brooklyn's Leon Cadore with oppose each other, and go the distance -- 26 innings, in a 1-1 tie.

* The Cleveland Indians swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 and 4-2 at Navin Field. (That ballpark was renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938, and Tiger Stadium in 1961.) Over the 2 games, Tris Speaker went 1-for-8 with a walk, and Ty Cobb went 0-for-7 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-0 at Weeghman Park in Chicago. (That ballpark was renamed Cubs Park in 1920, and Wrigley Field in 1926.) Roy Mitchell pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* And the Chicago White Sox, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the 2 St. Louis teams, the Cardinals and the Browns, were not scheduled.