Jan Palach doused himself in petrol and set himself alight on 16 January 1969. He eventually died of his horrific injuries three days later. The 20-year-old history student took this drastic action in an attempt to spur his fellow Czechs and Slovaks into actively resisting a return to hard-line communist rule in the country after the invasion of Warsaw Pact forces five months previously. Palach's extreme act of resistance briefly became a focal point for opposition to the Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia and his funeral was attended by tens of thousands of people. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.