This day in history

Vladimir Lenin seizes power from the Tsarist regime in a coup d'etat.

Widespread starvation and catastrophic military failure in World War I left Russia ripe for revolt. Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate on 15 March, 1917, and an ineffectual provincial government was established in his place.

Contemptuous of what the revolution had accomplished thus far, Lenin returned from exile in Switzerland to spark his Bolshevik revolutionaries culminating in the coup of 7 November He led the Soviet Union until his death in 1924 and was succeeded by Joseph Stalin.

Hilary Clinton is elected as a Senator for New York, making her the only ever First Leader to win an elected office in American history.

In East Germany, the Communist dominated government resigns.