April 17

Taksin was born on the 17th in 1735. He would become King of Siam (now Thailand) in 1768. As with many destined to become king, he had a rather lofty opinion of himself. Teetering on the edge of sanity, Taksin became convinced that he was destined to become a Buddha and directed that those monks who did not worship him as such be flogged. In March of 1782, Taksin was declared insane and removed from power. He was then wrapped in a velvet sack and beaten to death with a sandalwood club. As a royal whose blood could not be allowed to hit the ground, he was locked in the sack.