The Day Mussolini Dodged a Bullet and Met a Mob

While October 31st is now synonymous with candy and costumes, history remembers a much more chaotic scene from October 31, 1926. On this day in Bologna, Italy, the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini narrowly escaped his fourth assassination attempt in just one year. A 15-year-old anarchist named Anteo Zamboni fired a shot at the leader, but in a stroke of bizarre luck, the bullet failed to pierce Mussolini's body. The aftermath was swift and brutal: the local crowd, enraged by the attempt on their leader, immediately turned on young Zamboni and lynched him on the spot. It serves as a dark reminder that while we celebrate with jack-o'-lanterns today, the history books have seen some truly wild and harrowing Halloween nights!