9. Federal Hall Was Across the Street from an Anarchist Attack on New York City in 1920

Photo by New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection via Library of Congress

On September 16, 1920, a bomb went off in Wall Street, killing thirty-eight people instantly and injuring 143 others. The perpetrators were never found, but investigators believe the attack was carried out by Italian anarchists called the Galleanists. The organization, which had been responsible for several bombings the year before, was anti-capitalist and pro-violence, as per the morals of its founder Luigi Galleani, who advocated for the use of warfare to eliminate tyranny.

Galleani was deported in 1919, but it is believed that his associates carried out the Wall Street bombing, which at that time was the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil.