May 15 incident
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The May 15 incident of 15 May, 1932, was the assassination of then-Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi. This act was one of the main reasons Japan's party-based government ended, afterward making the military an influential voice in the rule of the country — which would last until the end of the Second World War. The rise of Japanese militarism and expansionism led it to attack China and the United States, beginning WW II.
Attempting a Coup d'état, eleven young Naval Officers (most were just turning twenty years of age), attacked the Prime Minister's residence.
The eleven were court martialed, and at the end of the trial a petition containing 350,000 signatures was collected in favor of a reduction of the sentence from death. Eleven severed fingers were sent to the court house, as it was traditional in ancient Japan to cut off the little finger of the left hand as a punishment for a crime. (This ensured that the criminal would be unable to properly hold a sword.)