Major Mike | Today in History 10/15 (Mata Hari)

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, better known by the stage name Mata Hari, circa 1914 (© ullstein bild/Getty Images)

(1917) An alluring spy faces a French firing squad

Courtesan, exotic dancer, and WWI spy, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle stands in front of a firing squad after her conviction on espionage charges. Dutch-born but inspired to adopt a new name and persona after living in Java, ‘Mata Hari’ is executed for her role as a German spy.

Margaretha Geertruida “Margreet” MacLeod, better known by the stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I and executed by firing squad in France.

Lived: Aug 07, 1876 – Oct 15, 1917 (age 41)
Height: 5′ 10″
Nationality: Dutch
Spouse: Rudolf John MacLeod (m. 1895 – 1907)
Children: Louise Jeanne MacLeod (Daughter) · Norman-John MacLeod (Son)
Siblings: Ari Anne Zelle (Sister) · Cornelis Coenrad Zelle (Brother) · Johannes Henderikus Zelle (Brother)
Highlights
1895: Mata Hari married Rudolf John MacLeod on July 11, 1895; their marriage lasted 12 years till 1907.

1905: By 1905, Mata Hari began to win fame as an exotic dancer.

1916: In late 1916, Zelle travelled to Madrid, where she met with the German military attaché, Major Arnold Kalle, and asked if he could arrange a meeting with the Crown Prince.

1916: In December 1916, the French Second Bureau of the French War Ministry let Mata Hari obtain the names of six Belgian agents.

1917: In January 1917, Major Kalle transmitted radio messages to Berlin describing the helpful activities of a German spy code-named H-21, whose biography so closely matched Zelle’s that it was patently obvious that Agent H-21 could only be Mata Hari.

1917: On 13 February 1917, Mata Hari was arrested in her room at the Hotel Elysée Palace on the Champs Elysées in Paris.

Mata Hari
wiki/Mata_Hari

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(1917) An alluring spy faces a French firing squad.
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Today in History ^10/15/17

Demonstrators in Bryant Park in New York City gather for Moratorium Day, October 15, 1969 (© AP)

(1969) Millions take to the streets, protesting for peace

With some 40,000 American troops killed in the Vietnam War, millions of people across the US and the world gather in a Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, a mass demonstration calling for peace and a withdrawal of forces from Southeast Asia. It will be called history's largest peace rally.

The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a massive demonstration and teach-in across the United States against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. It took place on October 15, 1969, followed a month later by a large Moratorium March on Washington.