Today in History

November 21, 1920

Bloody Sunday

One of the seminal events in the Irish fight with the UK for independence took place on this day in 1920.

The Irish Republican Army's Chief of Intelligence, Michael Collins, devised a plan for the assassination of 35 British intelligence agents in Dublin.

At an appointed time on the morning of November 21, 1920, squads of IRA hit men opened fire in eight different locations around Dublin in an effort to carry out Collins' orders. However, only 14 of the 35 were actually killed.

That afternoon, in reprisal, British Forces opened fire without provocation on a crowd attending a football match. 114 rounds of ammunition were fired into the defenseless crowd, fatally wounding 12. Later that day, two of the IRA's assassins that had been captured were killed.

Bloody Sunday marked a turning point, dissolving support both in Ireland and in much of Britain for continued rule in Ireland.

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