Public DomainA depiction of President James Garfield after he was shot, with his assassin, Charles Guiteau, being arrested in the background. The assassination of James Garfield happened in the blink of an eye. On July 2, 1881, the president was walking arm-in-arm with Secretary of State James G. Blaine, preparing to catch a train to his alma mater, Williams College. Then, at 9:20 a.m., Blaine heard a shot ring outand felt Garfield twist at his side. My God! the president cried. What is this? Garfield had been shot twice. The first bullet grazed his elbow, and the second hit his lower back. Both had been fired by a man named Charles Guiteau, a mentally ill failed lawyer who believed the president had wronged him and that killing Garfield would save the country. But Garfield didnt die. At least, not at first. Instead, the 49-year-old president lingered between life and death for 80 days. The doctors who tried to save his life likely made things worse, and James Garfield died in considerable agony on Sept. 19, 1881. This is the story of James Garfields assassination, from Guiteaus motives to the grisly aftermath.How Charles Guiteau Decided To Kill The PresidentThe story of James Garfields assassination begins with his assassin, 39-year-old Charles Guiteau of Illinois. A failed lawyer, preacher, and bill collector, Guiteaus mental health had declined considerably by the time Garfield was elected president on Nov. 2, 1880. In fact, Guiteau had come to believe that he had helped Garfield win the election by giving a handful of speeches on his behalf. Public DomainCharles Guiteau, the man behind the assassination of James Garfield. On the principle of first come first served, I have faith that you will give this application favorable consideration, Guiteau wrote, while asking to being appointed as the ambassador to Austria. Later, according to President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier by C.W. Goodyear, Guiteau wrote a follow-up letter stating that he would actually prefer Paris to Vienna. Undeterred by Garfields lack of response, Guiteau took to badgering White House staff for a job. Dont you know who I am? hed shout. I am one of the men that made Garfield president. Eventually, Guiteau came to believe that God wanted him to be the instrument of James Garfields assassination, so that Garfields vice president, Chester A. Arthur, could become the president. After weighing using dynamite or a knife, he settled on killing the president in an American manner with a pistol. Guiteau borrowed money from a friend and purchased a short-barreled British Bulldog revolver that he believed would one day look good displayed in a museum.I know that, Charles Guiteau remarked, for the sake of harmony in the Republican Party, I had to kill him.Public DomainA drawing of the pistol Charles Guiteau used during the assassination of James Garfield. Its since been lost.And on July 2, 1881, Guiteau put his plan into action. The Assassination Of James GarfieldBy the time of his assassination, James Garfield had been president for just three months. It hadnt been easy. Garfield, who had excelled as a Union general during the Civil War and a Republican congressman in its aftermath, had been elected as a dark horse candidate in 1880. And since taking office, his administration had been bogged down by various scandals.July 2, 1881, then, seemed like a good reprieve from the pressures of Washington. Garfield was planning to take two of his sons to Williams College, his alma mater, for his college reunion. Public DomainJames Garfields presidential portrait.On the morning of James Garfields assassination, the president and his sons set out early for the Baltimore and Potomac Station, accompanied by James G. Blaine, the Secretary of State. By this point, Guiteau had been stalking Garfield for some time, but he didnt have to guess about the presidents whereabouts that morning. As Goodyear noted, Garfields planned travel to Williams College had been reported in the newspaper. The group of four Blaine, eager to talk presidential business, had followed Garfield into the station arrived at Baltimore and Potomac Station around 9:20 a.m. Guiteau was already there. He had his pistol in his pocket, alongside two letters. One, addressed to the White House, stated that the presidents tragic death was a sad necessity, but it will unite the Republican Party and save the Republic. The other, made out to Union General William T. Sherman, read: I have just shot the President I am going to the jail. Please order out your troops and take possession of the jail at once.Then, Guiteau put his plan into action. Moments after Garfield arrived at the station, Guiteau stepped forward and fired two shots. The first hit Garfield in the elbow; the second hit the president in his lower back. Garfield cried out and fell forward as commuters piled onto Guiteau, easily detaining him. One asked what in Gods name had been Guiteaus purpose in shooting Garfield. Guiteau responded, I am a Stalwart [a faction of the Republican party] and want Arthur [the vice president] for president. Public DomainAnother depiction of James Garfields assassination, from Harpers Weekly. Meanwhile, an especially horrified witness looked on Robert Todd Lincoln, the Secretary of War and the son of President Abraham Lincoln, who had been assassinated less than 20 years before. My God, Lincoln later exclaimed. How many hours of suffering I have passed in this town. But the assassination of James Garfield hadnt gone according to Guiteaus plan. Though mortally wounded, Garfield was still alive. The Agonizing Aftermath Of James Garfields AssassinationAs Charles Guiteau was dragged off to jail, James Garfield was attended to by doctors. But their immediate actions likely made things worse. Public DomainJames Garfield in 1881, the year of his assassination and death.According to Goodyear, the first doctor on the scene gave Garfield brandy and ammonia salts before sinking his fingertips deep into the bloody hole in Garfields back, attempting to locate the bullet. This was repeated by multiple doctors who arrived at the scene, none of whom yet believed in the importance of sterile equipment or washing their hands. Though the president was the coolest man in the room, according to Lincoln, he seemed resigned to his fate. I thank you doctor, Garfield said, but I am a dead man. Garfield was right, but it would take an agonizing 80 days for him to die. Meanwhile, his doctors were of little help. They gave the president quinine, morphine, alcohol, and even champagne, all of which caused him to vomit. Doctors also continued to search for the bullet in Garfields back, at one point enlisting the help of Alexander Graham Bell, who examined Garfield with an early version of a metal detector. But the president just wasted away. The president lost nearly 100 pounds and was plagued by a high fever and abscesses on his body. Then, after roughly 11 weeks of terrible suffering, James Garfield died on Sept. 19, 1881, at the age of 49. Public DomainJames Garfields casket lying in state at the Capitol Rotunda after his assassination. At that point, the nation turned to his assassin, Guiteau. In the immediate aftermath of James Garfields assassination, Guiteau continued to believe that he would be protected by Chester Arthur, who succeeded Garfield upon his death. Arthur and all those men are my friends, he told one police detective, and Ill have you made Chief of Police. But Arthur, for his part, seemed horrified at the idea of becoming president. God knows I do not want the place I was never elected to! he exclaimed to a visiting dignitary. He had little faith in his own abilities, and when Garfield seemed to rally, Arthur told a journalist: As the president gets better, I get better.But when James Garfield died, Arthurs worst fears were realized. He was sworn in as president at 2:15 a.m. on Sept. 20, 1881.Two months later, Guiteau stood trial for James Garfields assassination. Despite claiming that the presidents death had been Gods will and more the fault of his doctors than Guiteau himself, the assassin was found guilty. He was hanged on June 30, 1882. After reading about the assassination of James Garfield, discover the mystery surrounding the death of President Zachary Taylor, who reportedly died after eating cherries and drinking cold milk. Or, learn about Leon Czolgosz, the anarchist who assassinated President William McKinley in 1901. The post The Story Of The Assassination Of President James Garfield And The Deranged Shooter Behind It appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Urk et al. 2025, Subterranean BiologyA member of the research team standing next to the worlds largest spider web.Arachnophobes beware: Scientists have discovered the worlds largest spider web in a pitch-black cave along the Albanian-Greek border. This extraordinary and frankly horrifying web stretches a staggering 1,140 square feet and houses more than 110,000 arachnids of two different species. In a study recently published in the journal Subterranean Biology, researchers noted that these particular spiders are not typically social creatures. As such, this discovery may also be the first example of the two arachnid species forming a colony. An Unprecedented Colony Of Spiders Living In Sulfur CaveThe massive web stretches along the wall of a low, narrow passage near the entrance of Sulfur Cave, a cavern hollowed out by sulfuric acid. The structure comprises thousands of individual, funnel-shaped webs woven together into a single massive patchwork located in a perpetually dark area of the cavern.The natural world still holds countless surprises for us, Istvn Urk, the studys lead author and a biology professor at Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania in Romania, told Live Science. If I were to attempt to put into words all the emotions that surged through me, Urk said, I would highlight admiration, respect, and gratitude. You have to experience it to truly know what it feels like.Urk et al. 2025, Subterranean BiologyThe barn funnel weaver spider, T. domestica, in Sulfur Cave.Two spider species coexist within the colony: Tegenaria domestica, commonly known as the barn funnel weaver or domestic house spider, and Prinerigone vagans. Researchers estimated that approximately 69,000 T. domestica and 42,000 P. vagans specimens inhabit the web.Whats fascinating here is, firstly, that there is a group of communally living spiders in a cave, Jason Dunlop, a curator of arachnids and myriapods at the Berlin Natural History Museum, told Metro. Most spiders are solitary, Dunlop continued, but a few species are known to live in groups, although these usually build large communal webs outdoors covering a whole tree or bush.Moreover, while both T. domestica and P. vagans are widespread near human dwellings, their collaborative living is unprecedented behavior. Whats really unexpected is that two rather different species of spider from two different families are involved, Dunlop added. Thats unique as far as Im aware. The discovery of the web is also revealing new information about the diets of these spider species.New Insights Into The Spiders DietsThe discovery is continuing to challenge existing knowledge about these species. Scientists would typically expect barn funnel weavers to prey on P. vagans. Instead, T. domestica was found to be dining on tiny, non-biting midges. Researchers believe that the caves total darkness may impair the spiders vision, preventing such predation. The sheer amount of available food may also be a contributor to their change in diet. Urk et al. 2025, Subterranean BiologyThe darkness of the cave might explain the spiders cohabitation.What the authors of the study are suggesting here is that this very unusual arrangement is only possible because there is an abundance of small flies in the cave, which means there is food enough for everyone, even when living at impressive densities of tens of thousands of individuals, Dunlop said. Often, we think we know a species completely, that we understand everything about it, yet unexpected discoveries can still occur, Urk told Live Science. Some species exhibit remarkable genetic plasticity, which typically becomes apparent only under extreme conditions. Such conditions can elicit behaviors that are not observed under normal circumstances.Urk also emphasized the importance of preserving the colony, though its location straddling two countries presents potential challenges. That said, the researchers are preparing another study that will provide additional insights into Sulfur Caves creepy-crawly inhabitants.After seeing the worlds largest spider web, learn about the terrifying camel spider. Or, meet the Goliath birdeater, the heaviest spider species in the world.The post Scientists Have Discovered The Worlds Largest Spider Web That Covers 1,140 Square Feet appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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