Famous Massacres Flashcards
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was carried out by gangsters under the command of what rival of Bugs Moran?
Al Capone
It is widely believed that former members of a gang known as Egan’s Rats, including Fred Burke, were the gunmen.
What is the name given to the period of mass murder of civilians committed by the Japanese army in 1937, early in the Second Sino-Japanese War?
Rape of Nanking
Who fired into the crowd of protesters during the 1970 Kent State Shootings?
The National Guard, called in by Ohio governor Jim Rhodes
What revolution began with Bloody Sunday and ultimately led to the establishment of the Russian Duma (parliament) and the adoption of a new constitution?
Revolution of 1905
Who won a Pulitzer Prize for uncovering the events of the My Lai Massacre through extensive interviews with William Calley (and later broke the story of the mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib Prison during the Iraq War)?
Seymour Hersh
Plotters angry over the Peterloo Massacre and the Six Acts formed what conspiracy in 1820 in the hope of murdering Liverpool and his entire cabinet.
Cato Street Conspiracy
How long did the Rape of Nanking last?
6 weeks (beginning 13 December 1937)
Who began clearing Tiananmen Square late at night on 3 June 1989?
People’s Liberation Army
A famous photograph, known as “Tank Man,” shows an anonymous protestor standing in front of a row of tanks.
On 22 January 1905, who led protestors on a march to the Winter Palace to petition Tsar Nicholas II for better working conditions and higher wages?
Father Georgy Gapon of the Russian Orthodox Church
What ritual were the Lakota Sioux observing at the time of the Wounded Knee Massacre?
Ghost Dance
The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre was instigated by whom against which ethnic group?
Instigated by Catholic mobs and the Swiss Guard against French Huguenots (an ethnic group of Protestants)
What name was given to the 23 August 1572 murders carried out by Catholic mobs and the Swiss Guard against French Huguenots?
St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
The St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre occurred a few days after which wedding?
The wedding of Margaret of Valois to the future King Henry IV (who was raised in the Protestant faith)
What did historian Dee Brown title his 1970 history of Native Americans in the West?
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
What governor of Massachusetts ordered an inquiry into the Boston Massacre?
Thomas Hutchinson
What Miniconjou chief was killed in the Wounded Knee Massacre?
Spotted Elk
The protest song “Ohio” was written by what group shortly after the Kent State Shootings?
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
What Episcopalian missionary extensively photographed the massacre that was the Rape of Nanking?
John Magee
Where did the Peterloo Massacre occur?
St. Peter’s Field in Manchester, England
The name given to the massacre alluded to Napoleon’s final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo four years earlier.
By what name do British sources often refer to the Boston Massacre?
The Incident on King Street
What was the British government’s response to the Peterloo Massacre?
The Six Acts, to curtail radical gatherings.
The Tiananmen Square Protests were prompted by the death of what former Politburo member?
Hu Yaobang
What massacre occurred after British private Hugh White had struck a wigmaker’s apprentice in the head earlier that day, provoking the crowd?
Boston Massacre
What massacre began when, during an observation of the Ghost Dance ritual, a deaf Lakota named Black Coyote refused to surrender his rifle to James Forsyth’s 7th U.S. Cavalry, resulting in the rifle accidentally discharging?
Wounded Knee Massacre
In an effort to circumvent Chinese censorship, how do some people also refer to the massacre that ended the Tiananmen Square Protests?
May 35th or VIIV
The incident occurred 4 June.
What photographer took photos of the My Lai Massacre?
Ronald Haeberle
What was the capital of the Republic of China at the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War?
Nanking (today generally spelled Nanjing)
In what year and in what Vietnamese province did the My Lai Massacre occur?
1968 and Quang Nai Province
Who was the tsar of Russia at the time of the Bloody Sunday Massacre?
Tsar Nicholas II
What massacre is usually considered the first event of the Revolution of 1905 in Russia?
Bloody Sunday
(The term “Bloody Sunday” is also used for several other incidents, including several events in Ireland and Northern Ireland.)
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre turned public opinion against Capone and led to him being named what?
Public Enemy No. 1
What 4 May 1970 massacre took place during a nonviolent anti-war demonstration by students at an Ohio university?
Kent State Shootings
Who was the Prime Minister at the time of the Peterloo Massacre?
Robert Jenkinson, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool
What was the codename of the hamlet in which the My Lai Massacre occurred?
Pinkville
What was the crowd at the Peterloo Massacre protesting and who led the protest?
The crowd was protesting the Corn Laws and was led by Henry Hunt
What were the students at the Kent State Shootings protesting?
The Nixon administration’s bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War
The Rape of Nanking occurred early in what war?
The Second Sino-Japanese War
The events of the Peterloo Massacre inspired the founding of which newspaper?
The Manchester Guardian, the predecessor to the Guardian
In 1997, what American-born Chinese author wrote a bestselling account of the 1937 massacre titled The Rape of Nanking?
Iris Chang
Who defended eight of the soldiers of the Boston Massacre at their trial? (Six were acquitted of murder charges.)
John Adams
What 16 March 1968 massacre killed at least 300 unarmed Vietnamese civilians in a hamlet codenamed “Pinkville” in Vietnam’s Quang Nai Province?
My Lai Massacre
Who commanded the Japanese troops during the Rape of Nanking?
Prince Yasuhiko Asaka and Iwane Matsui
Who was the only man convicted for his role in the My Lai Massacre?
William Calley, who defended himself by saying he was “just following orders” given by Ernest Medina
During the Rape of Nanking, where could Chinese civilians go to be safe from harm?
The “Nanking Safety Zone” around the foreign embassies
What student-led pro-democracy protests led to the massacre of 4 June 1989?
Tiananmen Square Protests in Beijing
What statue was erected in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 protests?
Goddess of Democracy statue
How did Jack McGurn, one of the gunmen of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, avoid charges?
The so-called “Blond Alibi:” he took the chief witness against him across state lines and married her.
What massacre occurred on 5 March 1770 when British troops stationed in Boston under Captain Thomas Preston opened fire on a crowd of civilians?
Boston Massacre
What leader of China declared martial law on 20 May 1989?
Deng Xiaoping
What helicopter pilot attempted to radio for help during the My Lai Massacre and later rescued a four-year-old girl, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross?
Hugh Thompson Jr.
What 29 December 1890 massacre killed 200 to 300 Lakota Sioux on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota?
Wounded Knee Massacre
The massacre occurred near Wounded Knee Creek.
Where did the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre occur?
A warehouse in Lincoln Park in Chicago
The day after the Wounded Knee Massacre, surviving Lakota confronted the soldiers in what incident?
Drexel Mission Fight
What Lakota Sioux refused to surrender his rifle to James Forsyth’s 7th U.S. Cavalry before the incident that resulted in the Wounded Knee Massacre?
Black Coyote
Ten days after the Kent State Shootings, two students at what historically black university in Mississippi were killed under similar circumstances (but received far less press attention)?
Jackson State University
The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre occurred two days after an assassination attempt on which Huguenot leader?
Gaspard de Coligny
It is likely that the signal to begin what attacks was given by the ringing of matins bells at the church of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois in Paris?
St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
Members of which Native American nation were killed in the Wounded Knee Massacre?
Lakota Sioux
For which 1890 massacre were twenty U.S. soldiers were controversially awarded the Medal of Honor?
Wounded Knee Massacre
despite frequent protests, those awards have not been rescinded by Congress
What Boston silversmith made a notable engraving of the Boston Massacre?
Paul Revere
What 14 February 1929 massacre resulted in the deaths of seven members of Bugs Moran’s North Side Gang?
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
Who was the commander of the British troops that opened fire on civilians in the Boston Massacre?
Captain Thomas Preston
Who was the only survivor of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?
a dog named Highball
The sequence of events leading up to Russia’s Bloody Sunday began with what incident, in which four ironworkers in St. Petersburg were fired because they were members of a labor movement? (The resulting strike left St. Petersburg without electricity.)
Putilov Incident
What massacre occurred on 16 August 1819 in Manchester, England during a protest led by Henry Hunt against the Corn Laws when the British cavalry charged the crowd of tens of thousands (killing fourteen)?
Peterloo Massacre
What former slave was killed (along with four other men) in the Boston Massacre?
Crispus Attucks
Where did the Imperial Guard fire on the protesters of Russia’s Bloody Sunday?
Near the Narva Gate in St. Petersburg
How were the members of Bugs Moran’s North Side Gang lured to the warehouse in Lincoln Park for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?
With the promise of crates of stolen whiskey (which was especially valuable during Prohibition)
Who allegedly ordered the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre?
Catherine de’ Medici, the mother of then-king Charles IX
Who was murdered in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?
Seven members of Bugs Moran’s North Side Gang
