A massive 1800 assassination attempt using a 'hellish machine' failed to kill Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte narrowly escaped death in 1800 when a massive barrel bomb exploded in the streets of Paris, an event that would change the course of French political history forever.
In 1800, a carriage carrying Napoleon Bonaparte raced through Paris toward the opera, unaware that a 'hellish machine' awaited him. Royalist conspirators had packed a large wine barrel with gunpowder and shrapnel, intending to assassinate the First Consul on the rue Saint-Nicaise. The explosion was so powerful it destroyed dozens of buildings and killed several bystanders, but Napoleon's driver had been traveling fast enough to clear the blast zone just seconds before detonation.
There's more to this story — open the app to keep reading.