Nicholas II of Russia
Saint Nicholas, originally known as Nicholas the Bloody, was a controversial figure in the Russian Orthodox Church. His reign was marred with tragedies: the Khodynka Tragedy, a devastating stampede that claimed 1389 lives; horrifying anti-semitic pogroms; brutal suppression of the 1905 Russian Revolution; crushing defeat in the Russo-Japanese War; and staggering losses in World War I. All these disastrous events would make for the grimmest scrapbook in history.
In the chilling year of 1917, Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, was forced to renounce his throne, marking the end of 300 years of Romanov rule. Banished to the harsh wilderness of Siberia, he and his family lived in exile. On the fatal command of Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks ruthlessly executed Nicholas, his beloved wife Alexandra, and their five innocent children. Their hidden resting place was unveiled in 1979 and, in 1998, they were finally laid to rest in St. Petersburg, exactly eight decades post their tragic demise.