I Only Mention It But…

Julius Caesar, on March 15th of 44 BCE, was stabbed to death by his political enemies and allies after it became clear he fancied the idea of becoming a king.

FYI, the Ides of March are just three weeks away.

Lady Jane Grey, an English noblewoman, was declared Queen of England in July of 1553. She was beheaded for the crime of being a pawn in a big ass political game of who-gets-to-wear-the-crown. Queen Mary I won the round.
 
King Charles I was beheaded (with an axe) for treason in 1649.

King Louis XVI of France was executed by guillotine on January 21,1793  after being found guilty of treason for conspiring with other countries and engaging in counter-revolutionary acts.

His wife, Marie Antoinette of let them eat cake fame. was similarly offed nine months later after being found guilty of treason and being Austrian.

In July of 1918, Tsar Nicholas II and his family were awoken in the early hours by the Bolshevik secret police. They were executed by firing squad. Why? Long story—it was all part of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Benito Mussolini, dictator of Fascist Italy, got the firing squad treatment in 1945. His body was then taken to Milan and hung upside down on meat hooks. Ewwww. Spectators then stoned the body. All this was broadcast on US teevee. Why was Benny offed? He was a fascist Nazi fuck—a big Hitler fanboy. Sound familiar? 

Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who headed the government of Norway during the country's occupation by Nazi Germany. Also too, he was a lying sack of rat shit. Quisling was executed by firing squad in August of 1945. His name, before he was even removed from this life, became another term for traitor.

Nicolae Ceaușescu of Romania, after being tried and convicted of economic sabotage and genocide, was executed by firing squad in December of 1989.

Remember Saddam Hussein?

He used an extensive secret-police establishment to suppress any internal opposition to his rule, and he made himself the object of an extensive personality cult among the Iraqi public. (source)

Saddam was executed by hanging in 1982 for crimes against humanity, including the killing of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites.

Why's this on my mind today? Oh, no reason. I'm just in a history kind of mood this morning.