Shot heard round the world The phrase "shot heard round the world" (alternatively "shots heard round the world" or "shot heard around the world") has also become associated with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, an event considered to be one of the immediate causes of World War I. Serbian Gavrilo Princip fired two shots, the first hitting Franz Ferdinand's wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, and the second hitting the Archduke himself. The death of Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, propelled Austria-Hungary and the rest of Europe into World War I. The phrase "Shot heard
Muhamed Mehmedbašić the way to Sarajevo, gendarmes searched the train; fearing they were on to him, he threw the knife out the window. Potiorek was planned to be assassinated at the end of March 1914, when the new mufti Čaušević was to be enthroned in Sarajevo. However, upon hearing that Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria would come to Sarajevo on Vidovdan, the Black Hand changed their minds. The Archduke's scheduled visit on Vidovdan (28 June), a Serbian national holiday, was perceived as an insult. Ilić summoned Mehmedbašić and informed him on 26 March that the plan now was to murder Archduke Franz