#TodayinHistory Nicolae Caesescu is caught and executed in 1989 along with his wife Elena, bringing a long dictatorship in Romania to a bloody end, after violent protests against his regime, that started around December 16. 
The revolt had it's beginning in the city of Timisoara on December 16, when the Hungarian minority rose in protest over the Govt's decision to deport Pastor László Tőkés, that soon led to ordinary Romanians coming out in revolt against Ceaușescu's regime.
The notorious Securitate, that had earlier managed to suppress dissent using strong arm tactics, proved to be incapable of stopping the revolt. Basically the austerity measures imposed by Ceaușescu to repay the debts, caused a lot of economic hardship.
Ceaușescu had tried to pacify the protestors addressing a 100,000 strong crowd to condemn the uprising in Timișoara on December 22, 1989. However with the crowd jeering,booing him, he knew his time was up. And it soon turned into a full fledged riot.
Protestors took over Bucharest, as they waved the Romanian national flag, with the Communist insignia cut out. The protestors were shot at by the armed guards, beaten up and arrested, as the violence spiralled out of control.
The tipping point was the mysterious death of Ceaușescu's minister of defence, Vasile Mile, who many believed was murdered on his orders, for refusing to fire on protestors. Though Victor Stănculescu was appointed in place, he himself turned against Ceaușescu.
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