Today in History: March 13

“The Assassination of Alexander II” (1881) by G. Broling
132 years ago today, on March 13, 1881, Tsar Alexander II was killed by an assassin's bomb in St. Petersburg. The 62-year-old tsar alighted unhurt from his bulletproof carriage after a revolutionary with the People's Will group threw a bomb, killing one Cossack guard and injuring several people. But then another revolutionary threw a second bomb. The tsar known for freeing the serfs died shortly afterward at the Winter Palace.