From ancient rulers to modern leaders, these individuals' deaths marked turning points that forever altered the course of civilization. Their departures triggered revolutions, sparked wars, changed empires, and transformed societies in ways that continue to influence our world today.
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00:00The Archduke has inadvertently made himself a target for assassination.
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at individuals who each
00:07changed the course of history by meeting an untimely demise.
00:11When the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.
00:17Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
00:19It's one thing to just fall from power. It's another to get gunned down in a basement with
00:24your entire family. The brutal execution of Tsar Nicholas II didn't just mark the end of the
00:29Romanovs. It symbolized the death rattle of imperial Russia and the birth scream of the Soviet Union.
00:35Russia died, and that moment when he was killed, Russia died too.
00:39Nicholas had bungled Russia through famine, war, and revolution. His death was a warning to
00:44monarchists and moderates alike. The old world wasn't just gone, it was dead and buried.
00:49Once the family was in, the basement room was sealed, and Yakov Yurovsky, their chief executioner,
00:54informed them, they would be executed. Nicholas could only respond with one word.
01:00Sto?
01:01Had Nicholas lived, some historians believe Russia might have transitioned into a constitutional
01:05monarchy. Instead, his death was a seismic shift in global power. It set the stage for a century of
01:11totalitarian rule and Cold War paranoia.
01:15Pope Gregory XI
01:16Gregory XI's death didn't just end a papacy, it broke the Catholic Church in half. After years of
01:23comfortable exile in Avignon, Gregory moved the papal court back to Rome. However, when he did
01:28finally return, he found the city of Rome to be wholly in trouble, with great turbulence and civil
01:33unrest. He hoped to restore order, but died before his dream could come to fruition. The Romans demanded
01:39an Italian pope. After they got one, French cardinals then elected their own. A council at Pisa elected a
01:45third. Thus began the Western Schism, multiple courts, and one decades-long holy mess.
01:51This unusual arrangement lasted five more years, until the Council of Constance in 1417.
01:59Had Gregory lived, or stayed in Avignon, this split might never have happened. Instead,
02:05his death broke the illusion of unity and set the stage for the Reformation.
02:09Henrietta Lacks
02:10Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in 1951, buried in an unmarked grave. But part of her never
02:17stopped living. She went to Johns Hopkins for treatment, because it was the only place anywhere
02:23near her that treated Black patients. Without her knowledge or consent, doctors took samples of her
02:28tumor. They discovered that her cells could survive indefinitely in the lab. Named Gila,
02:32they became the first immortal human cell line. In response to all of his colleagues asking for
02:37them, George Guy, sent them to anyone who wanted to use them for research. Her death quietly fueled
02:44medical breakthroughs for decades. Polio vaccines, gene mapping, cancer drugs, IVF, even COVID research.
02:51No one ever told her family. Her story, once brought to light, forced medicine to reckon with its history
02:56of taking without asking. This information was out there for so many years, and the family was not
03:03even aware of Henrietta's, that they had taken cells from Henrietta Lacks, and these cells have been used
03:12all over the world. It exposed decades of consent violations, racial exploitation, and profit at the
03:18expense of the powerless. Attila the Hun
03:20You have to be one nasty dude to earn the nickname the Scourge of God. Attila wasn't just nasty. He was
03:27the nightmare of empires. You pray to your pantheon of gods as Attila and his barbarian army approaches
03:33your city gates. There will be no escape. For a while, it looked like he might do what no one else
03:38had, bring down the Western Roman Empire. But then he died suddenly on his wedding night, reportedly from
03:44a nosebleed. He simply got a nosebleed and was too drunk to wake up. No blaze of glory,
03:50just a twist of fate. Without Attila, the Hunnic Empire fractured almost immediately. Germanic tribes
03:56once bound by fear turned on each other, and the region's power balance collapsed. Some historians
04:01believe that had he lived, Rome might have fallen sooner or differently. Instead, his death delayed
04:07one collapse and set the stage for centuries of chaos. Louis XVI
04:11Louis XVI lost his crown. Immediately thereafter, he lost his head. With the fall of the guillotine's
04:18blade, the old world order was shattered. His royal execution marked the point of no return
04:23for the French Revolution. The execution of King Louis XVI was a pivotal moment in the history of
04:28France. It symbolized the end of the corrupt monarch that had been bleeding the country dry
04:32in the subsequent decades before, and the beginning of the revolution that led to democracy.
04:37Kings had been overthrown before, but rarely like this. Tried, convicted, and massacred by his own
04:43people. His death sent shockwaves throughout Europe. Monarchs panicked, revolutionaries cheered,
04:48and war erupted across the continent. The message was clear. The divine right of kings was dead.
04:54Some leaders, not content with just changing the government, sought to completely transform
04:59French society. Its religion, its street names, even its calendar. Had Louis escaped or been spared,
05:06the revolution might have cooled or crumbled. Instead, the blade came down, and history lurched
05:11into a new blood-soaked era. While the number of official executions was close to 17,000,
05:16that doesn't count how many people were just killed in the street by the authorities or by mobs.
05:21Then, there were those who perished in the prisons where food was scarce and disease was rife.
05:25France would see the birth of republics, reigns of terror, and eventually, an emperor named Napoleon.
05:31Ogade Khan
05:32Genghis Khan built the Great Mongol War Machine. His son Ogade steered it straight into the heart of
05:37the known world. The empire was too large for him to manage on his own anymore,
05:42so he divided the Mongol Empire into three regions. Under his rule,
05:46the Mongols arguably became the first true global superpower. They conquered vast stretches of
05:51China, steamrolled through Russia, and marched into Central Europe. Then, just as their armies
05:57reached the gates of Vienna, Ogade died. Ogade, having laid the foundations for a governable empire
06:02that stretched throughout Asia, died on 11 December 1241 at age 56. Per Mongol law, the generals withdrew to
06:10attend the election of a new Great Khan. Europe was spared, quite possibly by a night of partying to death.
06:16Had Ogade lived a few more years, historians believe the continent could have fallen. His death
06:21didn't end the Mongol onslaught, but it slammed the brakes on one of history's most unstoppable
06:26invasions. Even though the empire lasted only a short while, the Mongols left a legacy of world
06:32domination that remains unmatched today. John F. Kennedy
06:36When JFK was shot in Dallas, his death didn't just end a presidency, it shattered America's sense of
06:42innocence. He was young, charismatic, and seen as a symbol of hope and a bright future. His death and
06:52its coverage on television stunned the world and sent the U.S. careening into a decade of upheaval.
06:57Today, in this moment of new resolve, I would say to all my fellow Americans,
07:05let us continue.
07:12The Vietnam War escalated under his successor. Civil rights progress met harsher resistance.
07:17Public trust in government began to rot. Some historians argue that had Kennedy lived,
07:22he may have pulled out of Vietnam or pushed harder for civil rights.
07:25Today, we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish
07:32to be free. Instead, his assassination froze him in myth and changed the trajectory of American
07:38politics forever. Yitzhak Rabin
07:40Yitzhak Rabin was a warrior who chose peace. He paid for it with his life.
07:45Enough of blood and tears. Enough!
07:49As Prime Minister of Israel, he signed the Oslo Peace Accords. He made history,
07:54shaking hands with his lifelong enemy Yasser Arafat. Together, they set a fragile path toward
07:59a two-state solution. But in 1995, a Jewish extremist assassinated him at a peace rally.
08:05At two o'clock this afternoon, the city of Jerusalem ground to a halt.
08:09The bullet didn't just kill a man. It quite possibly ended all hope of a peaceful resolution
08:14to decades of conflict. Rabin's death unraveled momentum for peace, deepened mistrust,
08:19and hardened divisions that still define the region. Many believe he was the only leader
08:24with the credibility or the backbone to make real progress. His assassination closed a door
08:29that's never reopened.
08:30When this war someday ends, perhaps a new generation of leaders will look back at this
08:35moment, recognize how close peace felt, and be inspired by some of Rabin's last words.
08:41In every central square of every city, scream out and cheer, only for peace.
08:47Ngo Dinh Dinh. Ngo Dinh Dinh was the face of South Vietnam, until the U.S. decided he was a problem
08:52in need of a permanent solution. His rule was brutal and paranoid, but for a time, his iron-fisted rule
08:58kept a lid on chaos. That all ended in 1963, when a U.S.-approved coup left him dead in the back of an
09:05armored car. His death cracked the regime wide open. To kill or to subdue is easy, but what will
09:13happen afterwards? What followed was a carousel of weak leaders and an ever-increasing number of
09:19American boots on the ground. Some historians argue that Diem, however flawed, was the last shot
09:24at stability. Instead, his fall helped turn a simmering conflict into a full-blown war.
09:30Today, for good or ill, new men will write the history of South Vietnam.
09:35Martin Luther King Jr.
09:36Martin Luther King Jr. preached nonviolence in a world hell-bent on delivering the opposite.
09:41This will be the day when all of God's children be able to sing with new meaning,
09:48my country tears of thee. We land of liberty of thee I sing.
09:53When he was assassinated in Memphis, the shock ripped through America like a lightning bolt.
09:57Cities burned, grief turned to rage, and any illusion of racial harmony collapsed overnight.
10:03The city was a mess. It was a mess for those, what, five to eight days.
10:10King had been a steadying force in the civil rights movement, its moral compass. Without him,
10:15the movement splintered, and more radical voices took the lead. Some argue that if he had lived,
10:20the push for economic justice and multiracial solidarity might have gained real ground.
10:24Instead, his death leapt a void still felt today. Decades later, many Americans still
10:30desperately crave a moral vision of a peaceful and prosperous future.
10:33Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty! We are free at last!
10:39The Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
10:42It's not entirely accurate to label the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as the only catalyst for
10:47World War I.
10:48Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
10:54Today, he will be assassinated.
10:57This is the spark which will ignite the First World War.
11:00That said, it is perhaps satisfactory to describe it as the proverbial tender and flint which helped
11:06light the fire, tipping political tensions over the edge.
11:09The Archduke of Austria and his wife were shot in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian-Serb student.
11:15The assassination followed a failed bombing attempt on Ferdinand's motorcade.
11:19At the last moment, the Archduke sees the bomb coming and raises his arm to protect his beloved wife.
11:25The driver accelerates and the grenade bounces off the back of the car.
11:28Princip didn't act alone. He was part of the separatist group Young Bosnia,
11:32which received support in their actions from the Serbian secret organization Black Hand.
11:36World War I certainly loomed large at the time of Ferdinand's death,
11:40but this event effectively codified its inevitability.
11:43Just six weeks after a man was killed by a single bullet, the alliances were triggered.
11:48Germany invaded France, and the First World War had begun.
11:52Abraham Lincoln
11:53We're all taught in school about how actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln
11:57during a play at Ford's Theater.
11:59For Lincoln, finally, this punishing war has come to an end.
12:03And he's able to feel a sense of the country is going to go forward.
12:08I've done my part as a leader, and he only has five days to appreciate that before he's killed.
12:15What's also interesting are the consequences that followed,
12:17specifically during the subsequent presidency of Andrew Johnson.
12:21The former vice president failed to deliver upon Lincoln's plans for a post-war reconstruction
12:26of the South due to his desire to assist wealthy white Southern conservatives.
12:30Johnson implements a plan of reconstruction which puts control of the Southern states
12:34back into the hands of the white population.
12:37Johnson's undeniable racism ultimately led to a Reconstruction era that was plagued
12:41by carpetbagging Northern opportunists and an overarching sense of failure.
12:45His relentless conflict with Congress led to him becoming the first American president
12:50to be impeached and paved the way for increased congressional influence in American politics.
12:55Finally, the bad blood spilled over.
12:58The president was impeached and escaped removal from office by just one vote.
13:03Julius Caesar.
13:04The history of Rome dates back to antiquity,
13:07with the establishment of the Roman kingdom circa 753 BC.
13:10I'm the most powerful man Rome has ever seen.
13:13It's time to make it official.
13:15Long-serving senators might not take well to it.
13:18Even Sulla was careful with them, not to make them feel disrespected.
13:22I'll do nothing.
13:25They owe me their lives.
13:26The death of Julius Caesar, meanwhile, would signify the onset of a chaotic civil war,
13:30the demise of Rome's Republic, and the rise of an empire.
13:34March 15th, a date popularly known as the Ides of March,
13:38memorializes Caesar's assassination by Roman senators.
13:41Once the deed was done, the conspirators turned out to have no forward plan.
13:46What they got was civil war, which ended up producing one-man rule, emperors.
13:55It was the culmination of a grand and infamous conspiracy,
13:58involving over 50 of Rome's public servants,
14:01including Caesar's close compatriot Marcus Junius Brutus.
14:05Brutus' reputation is now divisive.
14:07While some vilify him as one of history's greatest traitors,
14:10others regard his actions as heroic,
14:12and a courageous stand against Caesar's lack of political accountability.
14:16So Caesar's assassination only served to strengthen the very thing it meant to destroy.
14:23Saddam Hussein
14:24The Iran-Iraq war was fought in part to prevent Iran's post-revolution influence
14:29from seeping into Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist Sunni government.
14:34Along with the United States,
14:35much of the Arab world sided with Iraq in a war that had no winner.
14:39Throughout this bloody conflict, Saddam remained in power,
14:42with his war efforts being silently backed by the United States.
14:45However, his invasion of Kuwait in 1990 led to a direct confrontation with the American military
14:51during the Gulf War.
14:53Following 9-11, American pressure on Saddam increased,
14:56leading to the invasion of Iraq and the downfall of his regime.
14:59He was later convicted of crimes against humanity and executed in 2006.
15:03The verdict was predictable. Saddam was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.
15:09This event ultimately opened the doors for the aforementioned Iranian influence
15:13and theocratic philosophies to permeate not only Iraq, but also large sections of the Middle East.
15:19Mahatma Gandhi
15:20The aftermath of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination was one of grim irony,
15:24sharply contrasting with his message of non-violence.
15:27On January 30, 1948, Gandhi was assassinated by one Natsuram Godse while on his way to a prayer meeting.
15:34He took three steps, bowed before Mahatma Gandhi, and he shot him point-blank, three bullets.
15:41Godse was a Hindu nationalist who objected to Gandhi's compassionate stance
15:44towards displaced Muslim nationalists in the aftermath of British colonialism in India.
15:49After Gandhi's death, public displays of mourning unfolded,
15:52which were juxtaposed against violent riots in areas such as Mumbai.
15:55Despite his efforts, violence between Hindus and Muslims continued,
16:01and despite his efforts, India was fractured in two.
16:05Gandhi's demise would forever raise questions as to what routes modern-day Pakistan would have taken
16:09had his peaceful ethos been allowed to continue,
16:12as India navigated the political landscape post-British Raj.
16:16Alexander the Great
16:17It's difficult to know exactly how vast Alexander the Great's empire would have become
16:21if he hadn't succumbed to fever and disease at only 32 years of age.
16:25He contracted a fever, possibly malaria.
16:28And on the 10th of June, 323 BC, after a night of heavy drinking, Alexander died.
16:36He was a month short of his 33rd birthday.
16:39What is known, however, is that Alexander's lack of foresight with regards to his line of succession
16:44resulted in chaos, civil war, and turmoil?
16:47Today, our geographical concept of East versus West is largely attributed to the fracturing of Alexander's empire,
16:53which stretched to roughly 2 million square miles.
16:56His conquests had opened the East to a flood of Western and Greek influence,
17:01and the contact between cultures was to have a lasting effect on European and Asian civilization.
17:07Nonetheless, Alexander's demise ultimately proved that his control over this empire was tenuous at best.
17:14It didn't take long for rebellions to break out over the command of this collapsing house of cards.
17:18After his death, that legend became an inspiration to many who dreamed,
17:23but ultimately failed to follow where he had led.
17:27Muctezuma II
17:28The days of the Aztec Empire were effectively numbered after the death of Muctezuma II on June 30th, 1520.
17:36Over the course of two years, a single ruthless man was able to forge an alliance
17:40which destroyed the gorgeous city, rooted out its ancient religion, and created a new realm for his king.
17:47The manner of the Aztec Emperor's death has been disputed,
17:50with most agreeing that he was stoned to death by his own people following a failed negotiation
17:55with the invading Spanish conquistador Hernรกn Cortรฉs.
17:58Perhaps even before Muctezuma was able to get a word out,
18:01stones, arrows, and darts began to fly at him.
18:04Still, others believe that it was Cortรฉs himself who did the job.
18:07While that remains up in the air,
18:09what is certain is that the conquistadors narrowly escaped Aztec land with their lives,
18:14and then came back for vengeance.
18:16Cortรฉs' war of attrition decimated the city of Tenochtitlan,
18:20setting the stage for further European colonial efforts in the New World.
18:23The situation that existed in the final siege of Tenochtitlan
18:27was very different.
18:29And surely the Aztecs who were fighting must have realized that.
18:33They must have seen that it signaled the end of their empire.
18:37Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
18:39It's entirely possible that the cultural landscape of modern-day Iran
18:42might look drastically different had the Iranian revolution not taken place back in 1979.
18:46Daily, it has become more difficult to look at the scope of opposition to the Shah of Iran
18:52and still see his monarchy surviving.
18:54The Ayatollahs are committed to the ouster of the Shah, and nothing less than that.
18:59The Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi,
19:02espoused a political ideology known as the Great Civilization,
19:05where Iran would emerge as a global superpower
19:07with idealized socioeconomic conditions for its people.
19:10I think that our country, in the next 10 years, will be what you are today.
19:17In the next 25 years, according to other people, I'm not saying that,
19:20will be among the five most prosperous countries of the world.
19:25His reign was also notable for how Iranian culture largely echoed Western fashion and music trends,
19:30rather than enforced Islamic fundamentalism.
19:32Following the revolution, Pahlavi was forced into exile,
19:35and Iran's cultural trajectory shifted towards a clerical theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini.
19:41During his 10-year reign, he implemented his ideas of an Islamic revolution with uncompromising vigor,
19:48and turned Iran into a theocracy.
19:50The Shah, meanwhile, died in exile on July 27, 1980.
19:55Vladimir Lenin
19:56Few figures from the former Soviet Union's socio-political sphere
19:59are as polarizing and controversial as Vladimir Lenin.
20:02The life of this former Soviet head of state saw his administration rise to power via the October Revolution of 1917,
20:09deposing Russian Tsar Nicholas II.
20:11This armed coup allowed for Leninist-Communist politics to shape the Soviet Union's political course for decades.
20:17Yet it was Lenin's death in 1924 that created an opportunity for change,
20:22a vacuum that would allow the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin to emerge.
20:25Some historians argue that both Lenin and Stalin were dictators, albeit in different ways.
20:30Regardless, Russia's legacy of political turbulence was further inflamed after Lenin's death.
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20:51Jesus Christ
20:53Christianity is the world's largest religion, with around a third of the global population adhering to its basic tenets.
20:59The figure of Jesus Christ sits at the center of these tenets,
21:02a singular figure whose life, death, and prophesied resurrection serve as the foundation of the faith.
21:08The most famous death in history is the death of Jesus of Nazareth.
21:122,000 years ago, in first century Jerusalem, he was crucified by the Romans.
21:22The Christian Bible describes the life of Jesus for believers,
21:25while historical and archaeological evidence paints contextual pictures for those outside of its religious sphere of influence.
21:30The crucifixion of Jesus came to have an immense political significance on a much grander scale,
21:40in that his followers founded a new religion.
21:45It is fair to point out that religious cultures all over the world possess their own important mythologies.
21:50However, the sheer vastness of Jesus Christ's impact over the world continues to be felt long after the biblical accounts of his death.
21:58What does this mean, that the one that we had all of these expectations about has been crucified?
22:04How do we deal with this, not merely the end of this life, but the shameful end of this life?
22:11Do you know of any deaths that were crucial pivot points in human history?
22:14Let us know in the comments below.
22:16At that one moment, Mahatma Gandhi rose from the ashes, from the earth.
22:28The Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the