11 SEPTEMBER 1978
Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov dies
The exiled writer is assassinated using a poisoned umbrella
On 7 September 1978, Georgi Markov was waiting at a bus stop on Waterloo Bridge in central London when he felt a sharp prick on the back of his thigh. At first believing it to be a bee sting, he then spotted a man picking up a dropped umbrella and jumping into a taxi – the significance of which soon became clear. By the time Markov arrived at the BBC World Service offices, a small, inflamed pimple had appeared on his leg. Within hours, he developed a fever and was admitted to hospital. Four days later, the 49-year-old Bulgarian writer and radio broadcaster – who had defected to the west in 1969 – was
