Video: 'The Duel - Alexander Hamilton vs. Aaron Burr'

(Wednesday, September 14, 1836) — Aaron Burr, the third vice president of the United States (1801–1805), serving during President Thomas Jefferson’s first term, best known for killing his political rival Alexander Hamilton in a famous duel, died today in a boardinghouse on Staten Island, New York, two years after suffering a debilitating stroke. He was 80.

While he is primarily remembered for the 1804 killing of Hamilton, he’s also remembered for his conspiracy to take parts of the United States or the Spanish Empire to form an independent country.

His secretive activities led to his 1807 arrest in Alabama on charges of treason. He was brought to trial more than once for what became known as the Burr conspiracy, an alleged plot to create an independent country led by Burr, but was acquitted each time.