The New International Encyclopædia/Becker, Oskar

BECKER, Oskar (1839-68). A German political fanatic, known for his attempted assassination of King William I. of Prussia. He was born at Odessa. In 1850 he entered Leipzig University, and in 1861, at Baden-Baden, endeavored to kill the King by firing two shots from a pistol, at a distance of three paces. The monarch suffered only a slight injury of the neck. The assassin, in a letter found upon him, stated as his motive the conviction that King William was unequal to the task of uniting Germany. He was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment, but was pardoned by the King, and released in 1866, with the stipulation that he should leave Germany forever. He lived for a time at Chicago, and subsequently went to Alexandria, Egypt, where he died.