This day in history

Grigory Rasputin, a self-fashioned Russian holy man, is murdered by Russian nobles eager to end his sway over the royal family.

Rasputin won the favour of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra through his ability to stop the bleeding of their haemophiliac son, Alexei. Although the Siberian-born peasant was widely criticised for his lechery and drunkenness, he exerted a powerful influence on the ruling family of Russia. He particularly influenced the Tsarina, and when Nicholas departed to lead Russian forces in World War I, Rasputin effectively ruled Russia through her.

In the early hours of 30 December, 1916, a group of nobles lured Rasputin to Yusupovsky Palace, where they attempted to poison him. Seemingly unaffected by the large doses of poison placed in his wine and food, he was finally shot at close range and collapsed. A minute later he rose, beat one of his assailants, and attempted to escape from the palace grounds, where he was shot again. Rasputin, still alive, was then bound and tossed into a freezing river.

A few months later, the imperial regime was overthrown by the Russian Revolution.

Israel and the Vatican agree to establish full diplomatic ties.

Boers, under Paul Kruger, declare the Transvaal in southern Africa to be a republic.