Velvet Revolution, Prague November 17, 1989. At the 50th anniversary of closing of universities by German occupational forces and subsequent death of Jan Opletal, about 15 000 students commemorate this event. Soon after the demonstrating students were met by herds of police officers who brutally beat many of them. This chain of events contributed to the defeat of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and led to Vaclav Havel´s innaguration. Havel was the first democratic president elected since the 1948 Communist takeover. Photo shows Vaclav Havel speaking to protestors at Letna Plains on November 25, 1989.