Tsar Nicholas II

Who was he? The last emperor of Russia.

When was he assassinated? July 17, 1918.

Where was he assassinated? Yekaterinburg, Urals, Russia.

Who did it? A squad of Soviet militiamen, headed by Yakov Yurovsky, a secret policeman.

Why? The newly-installed Bolsheviks decided that Nicholas would become a rallying point for opposition if he was allowed to live.

What happened? In the early hours of July 17, Yurovsky and his men corralled Nicholas, his wife, their five children and four servants into a cellar beneath the house where they were being held. A chaotic round of shootings began, made even more chaotic by the fact that bullets were ricocheting off diamonds sewn into the princesses' bodices.

What was the consequence? Tsarist rule was now beyond revival. The Bolsheviks went on to consolidate power.