History’s Most Infamous Shotgun Weddings

Last night at the Republican National Convention, all eyes (and cameras) were on Bristol Palin, the pregnant 17-year-old daughter of VP candidate Sarah Palin. As if spending the evening surrounded by thousands of morally indignant Republicans wasn’t awkward enough, she was also forced to spend the entire convention holding hands with Levi Johnston, her baby’s father who she is now engaged to.

The Palin clan is continuing the great tradition of the “shotgun wedding,” when a woman (or her family) demands marriage in response to an unplanned pregnancy. Check out some of the most memorable forced unions from the last 500 years.