September 28

Georges Clemenceau, born on the 28th in 1841, was a political leader who helped steer France through the troubled waters of World War 1. On February 20, 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference, an anarchist shot Clemenceau. Fortunately, Clemenceau was not seriously injured. He recovered from the assassination attempt and was able to joke about it. On one occasion, he was quoted as saying, “We have just won the most terrible war in history, yet here is a Frenchman who misses his target 6 out of 7 times at point-blank range. Of course, this fellow must be punished for the careless use of a dangerous weapon and for poor marksmanship. I suggest that he be locked up for eight years, with intensive training in a shooting gallery.”