ON THIS DAY

----------ooOoo----------

July 3, 1915

Erich Muenter shoots Jack Morgan, son of J P Morgan

Muenter after his arrest in 1915

Erich Muenter (1871 – 1915) was a German-American political terrorist, activist, spy, professor and would-be assassin. Employed as a German professor at elite American universities, he was also a spy and a "fanatic in the clandestine service of the Imperial German government." While an instructor at Harvard University, he poisoned and killed his pregnant wife.

He:

- poisoned and killed his pregnant wife while an instructor at Harvard University;

- appeared as Cornell University professor Frank Holt who contacted the German spy network which undertook to sabotage US aid to the war in Europe against Germany;

- on July 2 1915 planted a bomb that exploded in the US Capitol;

The bombed Senate reception room

- on July 3 shot Jack Morgan, son of financier J. P. Morgan in his home;

- predicted the bombing of a steamship bound for England

- committed suicide while in police custody.

His activities, and those of other Germans, were played up by the press as "Hun barbarity"; anti-German sentiment rose in the years as America eventually entered the war with Germany.

----------ooOoo----------