1917: Mata Hari sentenced to die

Mata Hari, the archetype of the seductive female spy, is sentenced to death in France for spying on Germany’s behalf. She first came to Paris in 1905 and found fame as a performer of exotic Indian-inspired dances. Although she claimed Eastern origins, she was actually born in a small town in Holland as Margaretha Geertruida Zelle. Regardless of her questionable authenticity, she packed dance halls from Russia to America, largely because of her willingness to dance almost entirely naked in public. She was also a famous courtesan, and with the outbreak of World War I her catalogue of lovers began to include high-ranking French officers. In 1917, she was arrested for espionage, found guilty, and shot. Evidence against Mata Hari remains inconclusive--her only crimes may have been an elaborate stage fallacy and a weakness for men in uniform.