Bullets flying in Miami: it's really nothing new. On this day in 1933, America's president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt here when an unemployed brick layer fired six shots at his open touring car.
Roosevelt had only just delivered a speech at Bayfront Park from the car when 32-year-old Giuseppe Zangara shouted, "Too many people are starving," according to History.com, and opened fire. Though Roosevelt escaped injury, five others were struck and Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was mortally wounded in the stomach.
From the University of Miami library's files on the case:
Three days before the shooting, Zangara purchased a .38 caliber pistol at a Miami Avenue pawn shop. As Roosevelt finished a short speech at Bayside Park, Zangara fired five rounds from 25 feet. Roosevelt was completely untouched by the gunfire due to Zangara losing his footing atop an uneven chair, and a bystander striking his arm. One bullet struck Chicago's Mayor Anton Cermak who was shaking hands with Roosevelt at the time. Four others were wounded, including Mrs. Joseph Gill, wife of the President of Florida Power and Light.
On March 20, 1933, Zangara was executed for Cermak's murder in Florida's "Old Sparky" electric chair, railing against capitalists to the end. Watch film from an interview with Zangara above: when asked whether he would shoot Roosevelt again if given a chance, he answers affirmatively.