The beginning of the end for Ceausescu was on December 17, 1989. While speaking to a crowd in the city of Timișoara, a small number of citizens began yelling and jeering (via Britannica). As more and more in the crowd joined in, a visibly shaken Ceausescu ordered his security detail to open fire into the crowd. When they refused to do so, Ceausescu abruptly fled.

Five days later, on December 22, growing demonstrations had made their way to the Romanian capital of Bucharest. Rather than put down what was growing into a revolt, the Romanian army defected to the side of the demonstrators (via History Collection). Knowing his life was in grave danger, Ceausescu made the decision to flee the capital for safer lands. He and his wife took refuge in a helicopter and ordered the pilot to take them to their other residence in Snagov (via Associated Press). After a brief stop, though, the party then went skyward again. 

Ceausescu’s pilot, on orders from the dictator, landed the aircraft near the city of Târgoviște (via Associated Press) though away from the airfield, in an attempt to avoid capture. Despite reportedly commandeering a car and driver, Ceausescu and his wife were captured by workers at a nearby factory and were arrested a short time later and charged with genocide and the undermining of the national economy (via George Mason University).

On Christmas Day, 1989, Ceausescu and his wife Elena were found guilty on all charges at the conclusion of a lightning-fast trial. Not missing a beat, the couple were escorted outside and executed by firing squad minutes after their conviction. But was it really the Ceausescus who were shot, or was it stand-ins?