One hundred years ago today, Austria-Hungary's Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his consort Sophie, were assassinated on the streets of Sarajevo, Bosnia, providing the spark that ignited the First World War. A Serb nationalist named Gavrilo Princip shot the two as their open car navigated a narrow side street, having made a wrong turn. Austria-Hungary and its ally Germany along with the Ottoman Empire lined up against Britain, France, Italy and Russia -- Serbia's patron -- and later the U.S. in a war that would claim the lives of millions, set the stage for the Second World War, and sow bitter antagonisms in the Balkans that remain to this day.
(photo: Franz Ferdinand and Sophie leave Sarajevo's Town Hall minutes before their assassination. Karl Trostl)
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