August 21: Rudolf of Austria Born, 1858

Crown Prince Rudolf was destined, it seemed, to become Emperor of Austria-Hungary. But fate intervened.

When he was only 30 years old, he and his mistress were found dead at his hunting lodge, Mayerling. Was it suicide? Or political assassination?

Read article here.



Pictured:
Left: Archduke Rudolf in about 1887. From the George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress.
Below: Mayerling, picture taken before 1889.