October 15, 1946: Hermann Goering Poisons Himself at Nuremberg

Hermann Goering killed himself with cyanide on the night of October 15, 1946, hours before he was to be hanged. He had been convicted at Nuremberg of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. The poison had been smuggled into his cell, and it has never been established with certainty who passed it to him. He was the highest-ranking Nazi to be caught alive, and he cheated the gallows at the last moment.