Bulgarian umbrella Bulgarian umbrella A Bulgarian umbrella is an umbrella with a hidden pneumatic mechanism which injects a small poisonous pellet containing ricin. It has a hollowed stalk into which the pellet neatly sits. Such an umbrella was allegedly used in and named for the assassination of the Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov on 7 September 1978 (the birthday of the Bulgarian State Council chairman Todor Zhivkov, who had often been the target of Georgi Markov's criticism) on Waterloo Bridge in London. Markov died three days later. It was also allegedly used in the failed assassination attempt against the Bulgarian dissident journalist
1884 attack on London Bridge The three men had already been under surveillance by the police in America and in Britain. 1884 attack on London Bridge On 13 December 1884, three American-Irish Republicans carried out a dynamite attack on London Bridge as part of the Fenian dynamite campaign. The bomb went off prematurely while the three men were in a boat attaching it to a bridge pier at 5.45 pm during the evening rush hour. There was little damage to the bridge, and no casualties other than the bombers. The men's boat was so completely destroyed the police initially thought the bombers had fled. "The