17 July - Nicholas II death in 1918

Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov (18 May 1868 – 17 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,was the last Emperor of All Russia, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his forced abdication on 15 March 1917. During his reign, the Russian Empire implemented reforms such as the first civil liberties in Russian history, literacy programs, state representation, modern infrastructures, the beginning of major Industrialization and military reforms after the defeat in the Russo-Japanese war (1904–1905). He was reviled by Soviet historians promoted by state propaganda as a weak and incompetent leader whose decisions led to military defeats and the deaths of millions of his subjects.

In 1979, the bodies of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsaritsa Alexandra, three of their daughters, and those of four non-family members killed with them, were discovered near Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) by amateur archaeologist Alexander Avdonin.[156][157] In January 1998, the remains excavated from underneath the dirt road near Yekaterinburg were officially identified as those of Nicholas II and his family, excluding one daughter (either Maria or Anastasia) and Alexei. The identifications—including comparisons to a living relative, performed by separate Russian, British and American scientists using DNA analysis—concur and were found to be conclusive.
In July 2007, an amateur historian discovered bones near Yekaterinburg belonging to a boy and young woman.Prosecutors reopened the investigation into the deaths of the imperial family,[citation needed] and in April 2008, DNA tests performed by an American laboratory proved that bone fragments exhumed in the Ural Mountains belonged to two children of Nicholas II, Alexei and a daughter.That same day it was announced by Russian authorities that remains from the entire family had been recovered.

On 1 October 2008, the Supreme Court of Russia ruled that Nicholas II and his family were victims of political persecution and should be rehabilitated.In March 2009, results of the DNA testing were published, confirming that the two bodies discovered in 2007 were those of Alexei and one of his sisters.

In late 2015, at the insistence of the Russian Orthodox Church,Russian investigators exhumed the bodies of Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra, for additional DNA testing,which confirmed that the bones were of the couple.