April 30, 1980
While Iranians held American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, six
Iranian gunman — protesting oppression in their country by the Ayatollah
Khomeini, who had recently come to power — stormed Iran's embassy in London and took 26 people hostage, demanding that Tehran
release 91 political prisoners. The gunmen freed several hostages in the
days that followed, but on the sixth day, after the gunman killed their
first hostage and pushed his body out the door of the Embassy, British
special forces stormed the building and killed the militants.