postpostochlophobist

124 years ago today Louis Lingg, Haymarket Martyr, committed suicide in prison the day before he was to be executed.

From Wiki:

Lingg, the youngest of those sentenced to death, took his own life on November 10, the day before he was scheduled to hang. He used a small bomb (a blasting cap smuggled to him by a fellow prisoner). He put it in his mouth and lit it at 9AM; it blew off his lower jaw and destroyed a large portion of his face. He survived in agony for another 6 hours, until his death at around 3PM. It was believed by many that he didn't want his fate to be in the hands of the oppressors and would rather be a martyr for the cause, by his own volition.