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Nicholas II of Russia is born.
Nicholas is the oldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. He had three younger brothers and two younger sisters. He was jealous of his father's physical strength growing up and was very close to his mother. -
Nicholas II ascends to the throne
After the sudden death of his father, Nicholas II finds himself Tsar of Russia; a post he didn't feel he could adequately serve. -
Nicholas II marries the love of his life, Alexandra Feodorovna
Alexandra was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Her name was actually Alix Viktoria Helena Luise Beatrice of Hesse. Her name was changed when she converted to the Russian Orthodox Church so that she could marry Nicholas II. -
Anastasia Romanov is born
Anastasia is the fourth daughter of Nicholas II and Alexandra. Her three older sisters are Olga, Tatiana, and Maria. Anastasia is a bit of a tom-boy and loves playing practical jokes. She was also a very gentle person and loved spending time with her dogs. -
Alexi Romanov was born
The long awaited heir. Alexi was doted on by his entire family. However, he was very sick. Not wanting the public to know that their only heir had a deadly disease, the Romanovs kept his disease a closely guarded secret. What was it? Hemophelia. This disease stops your blood from clotting. If he cut or bruised hiimself he could have potentially bled to death. For this reason, he was kept indoors at all times and was closely watched. -
The Mad Monk
A self-proclaimed "holy man", Rasputin came to the attention of Alexandra as a means to helping her son, Alexi. The doctors that had been treating him were not successful, and Alexi was in constant pain. Although no one knows how he did it, Rasputin was able to give the boy some relief on their very first encounter. Some say he used hypnosis, which relaxes a person and lowers his/her stress levels. -
A predicament
While Nicholas II was off fighting in WWI, many Russians began to wonder about the relationship between their Tsarina and Rasputin. Some felt that they were having an affair. Rasputin wrote a letter to Alexandra warning her that if he died at the hands of her family, she and her entire family would be dead within 2 years. -
An Assassination
Fearful of the influence Rasputin had gained over the Tsar and Tsarina, a group of nobles led by Prince Felix Yusupov lured Rasputin to a cellar where they fed him a meal laced with enough cyanide to kill 5 men. Legend has it that it did not affect Rasputin, so Prince Felix shot Rasputin in the head. They then tied him up and dumped his body in a river. When his body was found and autopsied, the cause of death was drowning. -
Abdication
Due to riots and revolution, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate the thrown of Russia. He and his family were taken prisoner and moved to Siberia. Before being taken prisoner, Alexandra and her daughters sewed all the family jewels and heirlooms into their undergarments. When they were forced to leave, they were carries around pounds of jewels that noone new about but them. -
Massacre
The family was moved around quite a bit due to the revolution taking place in Russia. One night, while being held at Ipatiev house (in picture) the family was awakened. They were told they had to move to the cellar for their protection from the Bolsheviks. Once in the cellar they were seated and arranged for a photograph. All of a sudden armed guards stormed in and began firing on the family. The entire family, including a doctor, two servants, and the family's pet dog were killed. -
A Shallow Grave
The girls didn't die right away due to the fact that the bullets were hitting the jewels sewn into their clothes. The guards couldn't figure out what was going on. It is said that Anastasia and Alexi were the last ones killed. The family was then loaded into trucks, driven out in the woods, and buried in shallow graves. -
An Interesting Turn
On this date, a young woman jumps off of a bridge in Berlin. She had no identification and refused to give her name when she was pulled out of the river. She was taken to a mental asylum where someone recognized her as Tatiana Romanov. She said that she was actually Anastasia. -
Discovery
In 1979, an amatuer archaeologist discovered the remains of Nicholas II and his family; minus one of his daughters and his son Alexi. -
DNA
Through DNA analysis the bodies found in 1979 were positively identified as Nicholas II and his family. Two bodies were still missing. -
The Story Ends
In July of 2007 two set of bones were discovered in the Ural Mountains; those of a young boy and girl. On April 20, 2008 it was announced that DNA had proven that the two sets of bones belonged to Alexi and Maria Romanov. They were finally laid to rest with the rest of their family.
