Sickles dies
February 19, 1859 - Rep. Daniel E. Sickles (D-New York) is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity. It is the first time an insanity defense was successfully used in American law.
Philip Barton Key II was the son of Francis Scott Key and the nephew of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney.
In the spring of 1858, Key began having an affair with Teresa Bagioli Sickles, the wife of his friend Daniel Sickles.
On February 26, 1859, Sickles learned of the affair. The following day, he saw Key in Lafayette Square signalling to his wife. Sickles rushed out into the park, drew a pistol, and shot the unarmed Key three times while the other man pleaded for his life. Key was taken into the Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House and died moments later.
Sickles joined the Union Army during the Civil War, and played a major role in repulsing slavers' attacks at Gettysburg.
The ghost of Philip Barton Key II now haunts Lafayette Square, it is alleged, and can be seen on dark nights near the spot where he was shot.
