Nelson won Britain's greatest naval victory and died within hours of securing it

At Trafalgar in 1805, Admiral Horatio Nelson's outnumbered fleet destroyed a combined French-Spanish force, ending Napoleon's hopes of invading Britain. A sniper firing from an enemy ship's rigging struck Nelson as the battle turned decisively in his favor. He lived long enough belowdecks to be told his fleet had won before he died.

— Horatio Nelson, Battle of Trafalgar — 21 October 1805