4. The British Prime Minister was assassinated in 1812
On May 11, 1812, British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval arrived at the House of Commons minutes early for a session. As he entered the lobby a Liverpool merchant named John Bellingham walked up to the Prime Minister, drew a pistol, and shot him in the chest. He then sat on a bench in the lobby, making no attempt to flee, and awaited his fate. Perceval died moments later after being carried to the Speaker’s office. Bellingham did not have long to wait. Within a week he had been arraigned, tried, and convicted of the murder. Bellingham suffered death by hanging in Newgate Prison, London, on May 18, one week after the crime had been committed.
On June 8, nearly one month after the murder, the Prince Regent appointed Lord Liverpool to continue the Tory ministry formerly run by Perceval. The cabinet did not lean in the Tory direction and on June 23, repealed the Orders in Council which had authorized British ships to stop American vessels and search them for British sailors. The Orders in Council had been the principal reason for War Hawks in the United States demanding war with Great Britain. Its repeal came too late. The United States declared war on Great Britain on June 18. The British ship which arrived in the United States carrying news of the repeal returned to Great Britain carrying copies of the declaration of war. As of this writing, Spencer Perceval is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated while in office.