In March 1981, Marianne Bachmeier opened fire in a crowded courtroom and killed Klaus Grabowski — the man on trial for murdering her 7-year-old daughter.On March 6, 1981, Marianne Bachmeier opened fire in a crowded courthouse in what was then known as West Germany. Her target was a 35-year-old sex offender on trial for her daughter’s murder, and he died after taking six of her bullets. Immediately, Bachmeier became an infamous figure.

The Presidential Assassination Attempts That Targeted Bill Clinton Public DomainBill Clinton at his 1997 State of the Union address. Bill Clinton was a fairly popular president — despite his infamous impeachment — who left office with a 65 percent approval rating. But a number of would-be assassins tried to take his life while he was in office. In January 1994, Ronald Gene Barbour, an unemployed limousine driver, traveled to Washington, D.

Between 1985 and 2000, four bodies were found crammed into barrels in the woods of Allenstown, New Hampshire, and authorities believe they were victims of "Chameleon Killer" Terry Rasmussen.Wikimedia CommonsFrom left: Marlyse Honeychurch, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn, a still unidentified victim, and Sarah McWaters. The case stumped investigators for years: four bodies, found dismembered, skeletonized, wrapped in plastic bags, and stuffed in two 55-gallon steel drums in the Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire.

From a vampire graveyard in Poland to a lost German city swallowed by the sea centuries ago, this is what happened in the world of history this month.As always, we’re finishing out the month by highlighting a number of the most interesting history news stories we featured on the site, as well as some historic anniversaries of events that happened in June. This month, we wrote about the discovery of human blood in a 2,000-year-old ritualistic Egyptian vase, an unearthed Bronze Age sword in Germany so well-preserved that it practically gleams, how a French mayor became the “most hated man in the country” for removing stones which may have been 7,000 years old, the discovery of a “vampire graveyard” in Poland, and new evidence that seems to confirm the existence of the long-lost city of Rungholt in Germany.

Once called "the fool of Owari," Oda Nobunaga would eventually be known as the first "great unifier" of Japan. In the 16th century, Japan was divided. Called the Sengoku Period, it was a time when the traditional feudal structure that united the country was shattered. In the chaos that followed, there was constant warfare. Powerful lords and their samurai followers fought against each other for dominance. At the same time, the traditionally closed society was struggling to adapt to the new ideas and technologies that were introduced by Europeans.

Meet Annette Kellerman, the early 20th-century pioneer who broke swimming records, dove off 90-foot cliffs, and became the first woman to appear nude in a major motion picture.When Annette Kellerman was born in 1886, women had to wear heavy wool garments to the beach or cover their legs completely with stockings. But Kellerman, who would later become a world-record swimmer, couldn’t win races in swimwear she compared to “lead chains.”

Humanity has conjured a constellation of ways to conduct executions, and this may be one of the wildest methods of them all.Wikimedia Commons Capital punishment has always been cruel, but that cruelty has changed over time and varies in accordance with place-specific cultural mores and legal norms. Still, the prospect of meeting your end under the weighty foot of a compliant elephant seems too absurd to be real. However, the strange but true practice of death by elephant was a common method of public execution popular in Southeast Asia, predominantly India, from the Middle Ages until as recently as the late 19th century.

From elk to boars to dogs, Chernobyl's animals have found an unexpected haven for wildlife in the Red Forest of the Exclusion Zone. A stray dog forages for a skull in the harsh winter surrounding Chernobyl.Pixabay A couple of Przewalski's Horses graze near a caution sign in Chernobyl's exclusion zone. The endangered horses were reintroduced to the area and now found to be thriving.Flickr/Michael Kötter A volunteer of Clean Futures Fund (CFF) holds a stray puppy outside the improvised animal's hospital just near the Chernobyl power plant.

In just one year between 1979 and 1980, "Freeway Strangler" William George Bonin murdered at least 21 victims, though some suspect he killed over a dozen more.Los Angeles Public Library ArchivesPedophile and serial killer William George Bonin raped and murdered up to 36 victims while prowling the freeways of southern California. In 1979, dozens of murdered teenage boys were uncovered on California’s sprawling freeways, with one victim as young as twelve.

Yoshie Shiratori became known as the "man no prison could hold" after he escaped four different times — once using little more than miso soup.Wikimedia CommonsA photograph of Yoshie Shiratori, who escaped from four different prisons. Between 1936 and 1947, Japan’s Yoshie Shiratori escaped from prison four times, earning him the nickname “the man that no prison could hold.” The escape artist also became famous – or infamous. His escapes brought attention to horrible conditions in Japan’s prisons.