10 Must Brutal Acts Of Revenge In History

5. Aaron Burr Got Sick Of Alexander Hamilton Masterminding His Defeat At Elections... So He Shot And Killed His Political Rival In A Duel

It's fair to say that Fathers of the American Revolution Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton did not like each other very much - and they eventually settled their differences via the very 19th-Century method of a duel.

Hamilton had a habit of influencing the outcome of elections - and he was at least partially involved in Burr's loss to Thomas Jefferson when the House of Representatives elected a new President in 1801. Burr was forced to settle for the runner-up prize of the vice-presidency - and, although he accepted this at first, it was Hamilton's meddling in the governorship race for New York that eventually prompted the duel.

Hamilton launched a smear campaign against Burr's candidacy - claiming he would entertain a Federalist secession movement in New York - and the latter believed this cost him the election. Angered by the aftermath of this, Burr challenged Hamilton to an illegal combat method named code duello.

Despite duelling having been outlawed in New York, on July 11, 1804, the pair met outside Weehawken, New Jersey, and Hamilton was mortally wounded by a shot - on the exact spot where his son had died three years previously.

Amazingly, Burr was not convicted despite the duel being illegal - although his revenge did cost him any future in politics.