Born: April 29, 1818. Birthplace: Moscow Kremlin, Moscow, Russian Empire. Zodiac Sign: Taurus. Died: March 13, 1881 (aged 62). Cause of Death: Assassination. Alexander ruled Russia as Tsar from 1855 until his demise at the hands of an assassin in 1881. Alexander the Liberator earned his moniker in recognition of his most momentous concession, the abolition of Russian serfdom, on March 3, 1861. Alexander was a reformer who, apart from eradicating serfdom, instituted modifications to the Russian legal system, promoted university enrollment, revoked certain privileges from the nobility and encouraged local self-governance. About foreign policy, he divested Alaska to the United States in 1867, ascended to the League of Three Emperors in 1872, and severed ties with France following the fall of Napoleon III in 1871. In 1863, in response to a Polish uprising, he assiduously integrated the territory into the Russian empire. The far-left terrorist organization People's Will was pursuing him for further parliamentary reforms at the time of his assassination. Ironically, his demise dealt the Russian reform movement a catastrophic setback, given that Alexander III, his son and successor, was one of the most traditionalist tsars in Russian history.