Famous assassinations have shaped the history of our world. Quite interestingly, if we have a number of infamous assassinations then at the same time we also have a number of famous assassination attempts that ultimately failed.
Here are some of the most well-executed assassination attempts that were not successful.
1. Adolf Hitler and Operation Valkyrie
Though the operation ultimately failed in achieving its main objective, yet, it still remains one of the most talked about undercover operations of all time. A man called Colonel von Stauffenberg went undercover and became a close associate of Hitler. His main motive was to assassinate Hitler but it had to be called off a number of times.
Eventually, on the 20th July 1944, the operation was carried out. Colonel von Stauffenberg placed a briefcase beside Hitler and a few minutes later he left the room. Unfortunately, someone found the briefcase in his way and moved it to the other side of a heavy table leg away from Hitler. When the bomb exploded, Hitler escaped with an injured hand and damaged eardrums.
2. Fidel Castro and the CIA
It is said that Fidel Castro has managed to escape more than 600 assassination attempts. The CIA has tried so many different and unique ways to assassinate him, that he alone could take up the entire list.
As he was a fan of scuba-diving, a plan was made to gift him a scuba-diving wetsuit, whose inside was to be coated with a deadly fungus. The CIA also tried to kill him with a ballpoint pen which had a concealed hypodermic needle filled with poison, but that attempt also failed. They even tried to poison his cigar when he visited the United Nations but even that failed and Castro lived on.
3. Nero and the collapsible ceiling
For a change, this failed assassination attempt was not on him, but by him. He is often considered as one of the most insane rulers in the history of mankind. When he assumed the throne, he became quite insecure of his mother’s popularity and so he decided to kill her.
He devised a unique way to do it. He tampered his mother’s bed in a such a way that once she sleeps on it, it would trigger a certain mechanism which would make the ceiling collapse on her, thus making it look like an accident.
But, unfortunately for him, his mother ordered one of her servants to warm the bed, and ultimately the poor servant died but his mother survived.
 4. Vladimir Lenin and Fanya Kaplan
There is hardly any communist leader who was more influential than Vladimir Lenin. Interestingly, it was failed assassination attempt that made him more popular.
In the year 1918, a revolutionary named Fanya Kaplan shot him three times. He did suffer some grave injuries but ultimately he recovered and used this incident to gain more popularity in the country. Kaplan, on the other hand, was executed.
5. Ronald Reagan and John Hinley
This assassination attempt deserves a special place in the list because of its uniqueness. The assassination was attempted by a guy called John Hinley.
He was greatly influenced by 1976 hit film Taxi Driver, starring Robert De Niro. He was so influenced by the film that he wanted to do something like that himself. But luckily, he failed.
The shooting was all the more relevant because not Reagan, but his then Vice President, Bush was also with him and luckily they both escaped. If the assassination would have been successful, it would have changed the course of history forever.
6. Franklin D Roosevelt and the bricklayer
Like most of the other popular presidents of the country, he too was a target and survived quite a few assassination attempts. But his most memorable escape, was when he was delivering a speech at Miami.
Out of nowhere, an unemployed bricklayer called Giuseppe Zangara opened fired on him. Although he narrowly survived but the Mayor of Chicago was gravely wounded. This attack was also significant because it created a sympathy for him amongst the people and helped him to gain the historic victory and become the president of the United States Of America.
This attack was also significant because it created a sympathy for him amongst the people and helped him to gain a historic victory and become the president of the United States Of America.
7. Â US president Andrew Jackson and Richard Lawrence
The only thing that saved him was the poor aim of the attacker. The attacker made a full proof plan to assassinate the president and even positioned himself in an ideal place.
Quite comically, after the assassination horribly failed, President Jackson proceeded to teach him a lesson by beating him up with his cane. He was later arrested and declared as mentally unstable.
8. Charles De Gaulle and the Citroen DS
He was considered as one of the most powerful and influential French presidents ever. There were many attempts on his life but the most prominent one happened in the year 1962.
The famous leader was traveling in a Citroen DS with his wife, when he got subjected to heavy gunfire. The attack killed two policemen and the only reason he escaped sure death was because of his driver and his car. The driver drove the car at around 70mph, thus saving both his and his wife’s life.
9. Malala Yousafzai and the Taliban
Her story of escape and bravery is something that would be talked about for centuries to come. Not a single bullet has curbed her self-determination and her fight for female education. She was quite vocal in her opposition to the Taliban, which angered the outfit and she was shot in the head but miraculously she recovered. Her fight against the outfit has today made her an international icon and one of world’s most influential human rights campaigners.
10. Pope John Paul II and Mehmet Ali Agca
The late pope’s recovery after the incident was not less than a miracle. In the year 1981, a man called Mehmet Ali Agca made a full proof plan to assassinate the leader. He fired four bullets at him, which critically damaged his arms and intestine but surprisingly he survived.
The attacker was sentenced to life imprisonment and later the pope visited him and forgave him.
These incidents somehow make you believe in destiny and that sometimes luck does favor the brave.