Outstanding Facts About Russia

2022: February 24
At dawn, Russian President Vladimir Putin announces a "special military operation" in Donbas. In this way, and after months of tension in the area, Russia attacks military targets in Ukraine. (less than a year ago)

2004: March 14
In Russia, Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer and president of the country since 1999 after the resignation of Boris Yeltsin, is overwhelmingly re-elected for a second term as president. He will rule authoritatively. (17 years ago)

1996: November 23
In Russia, Aslán Maskhadov, a Chechen general, signs in Moscow, together with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, an agreement to initiate détente in Chechnya, which will lead Russian President Boris Yeltsin to order the withdrawal of federal troops remaining in Chechnya , after a war that began on December 11, 1994 and has already caused between 80,000 and 100,000 deaths. With Maskhadov achieving this victory over the Soviets, he will be the first democratic leader of his republic. In 1999 and after some Chechen attacks in Russia to extend the war, the second Russian invasion will take place, eager to make up for the defeat of 1996. On March 8, 2005, in the town of Tosltoi-Yurt, on the outskirts of Grozny, (25 years ago)

1994: December 11
Without a previous declaration of war, Russian troops invade Chechnya with two columns of tanks, starting the Chechen War, in what at first appears as a military parade for the Russians. The war will not go according to plan and will last until Russia, subjected to internal pressure due to the casualties of its troops, and external pressure due to the brutality of the means used, signs on August 25, 1996 in Khasavyurt (Dagestan), a truce agreement between General Aleksandr Lébed, Russian President Boris Yeltsin's envoy, and the person in charge of the Chechen negotiations, Aslán Masjádov. On May 12, 1997, the Russian Federation and Chechnya will sign a final peace agreement. (27 years ago)

1993: January 3
The Russian and North American presidents, Boris Yeltsin and George HW Bush, sign the START II Treaty initiating nuclear disarmament. (29 years ago)

1991: November 7
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) is banned in Russia. In 1993, 500,000 militants will found the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which will have to be legalized. Following the dismemberment of the USSR, other influential communist parties will form in various former Soviet republics. (30 years ago)

1991: June 12
After the disappearance of the USSR, Boris Yeltsin is elected as the first president of Russia, being the first directly elected by the people in the history of his country. His mandate will be marked by corruption, economic collapse and the war in Chechnya. (30 years ago)

1922: December 30
In Moscow, Russia, the Congress of Soviets meets and unanimously approves the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a federal socialist state made up of fifteen republics. After sixty-nine years of existence, it will finally be dissolved on December 31, 1991. (99 years ago)

1918: February 14
The Soviet Government establishes in Russia the Gregorian calendar instead of the Julian. (104 years ago)

1917: November 7
In Russia, a coup against the tsarist regime puts Lenin in power. The catastrophic military failure in World War I has left Russia in unfortunate economic conditions, which has served as a breeding ground for the revolution to have had an easy birth. Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate on March 15, and a totally incompetent provisional government was established in his place. Lenin will govern the Soviet Union until his death in 1924. He will be succeeded by the dictator, megalomaniac and genocidal Joseph Stalin. (104 years ago)

1917: April 16
With the country plunged into chaos due to World War I and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin arrives in Petrograd (Russia) from his exile in Switzerland to take control of the revolution. Although first exiled in Siberia and later fled to Europe due to his political and revolutionary activities, Lenin managed to strengthen the Bolshevik Party through his writings and his fluent oratory. Seven months after his return, and under the leadership of Lenin, the Bolsheviks seize power. Lenin would oversee the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and lead the country until his death in January 1924, after being treated for syphilis the previous year. (104 years ago)

1917: March 15
In Russia, during the first phase of the revolution, Czar Nicholas II is forced to abdicate, thus ending the Romanov dynasty and the monarchy. A few days later, Nicholas II and his family will be taken prisoner. The following year, on July 17, they will be shot along with some servants, the family doctor and the child's dog. (104 years ago)

1916: October 5
Although the main route of the Trans-Siberian railway was inaugurated on July 21, 1904, today the bridge over the Amur River opens, finally linking Moscow with Vladivostok through 9,288 km of railway line, the longest in the world. This solves the serious isolation of Siberia. It crosses eight time zones in a trip that lasts about 7 days. Other branches to China and North Korea will be added later. (105 years ago)

1914: August 1
Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia, transforming the conflict between Austro-Hungarians and Serbs into a military confrontation on a European scale, starting the devastating First World War. (107 years ago)

1908: June 30
Near the Podkamennaya Tunguska river in central Siberia, a huge airburst occurs, presumably caused by a comet fragment formed by ice, which, when bursting in the Earth's atmosphere, destroys about 2,000 km 2 of pine forests. (113 years ago)

1905: October 26
Elections to the Soviet of Workers' Deputies are held in all factories and industrial enterprises of St. Petersburg. In the evening, the first session of the soviet takes place. Soon after, the Moscow Soviet of Workers' Deputies will be organized. (116 years ago)

1905: September 5
In the USA, the "Treaty of Portsmouth" is signed, ending the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, ending with the defeat of Moscow, through which Japan is granted the southern half of the island of Sakhalin and leased the Liaodong peninsula and the Russian railway system in southern Manchuria, expanding its area of influence in Asia. (116 years ago)

1905: June 15
In the Black Sea, in front of the city of Odessa (Russia), which is in a state of emergency, the battleship Potemkim flies the red flag, the seed of the revolution that will bear fruit 12 years later. (116 years ago)

1905: January 22
In St. Petersburg (Russia) the so-called "Bloody Sunday" takes place when hundreds of workers and their families die in a peaceful march to deliver to the Tsar a request for labor improvements, which does not respond to any political slogan. The march is savagely suppressed by foot soldiers and Cossack troops. The Tsar has previously left the city fearing for his safety. The bloody repression will cause a wave of protests throughout Russia: the definitive divorce between the Tsar and the mass of peasants and workers will have been consummated. (117 years ago)

1894: May 26
Nicholas II, who will be the last Tsar, is crowned in Russia. Nicholas, who does not want to be Tsar nor has he been prepared for it, will not turn out to be a good regent. He will dedicate himself to maintaining an ironclad autocracy in a time of change. After a series of fiascoes in the Russo-Japanese War and during World War I, he will finally be dismissed and arrested in 1917. During the Russian Revolution, on the night of July 16, 1918, an order will be issued for the execution of Nicholas, his wife, children and several servants, as the Bolsheviks thought that the counterrevolutionary forces might try to rescue them. (127 years ago)

1875: May 7
In exchange for 18 of the Kuril Islands, Japan cedes the island of southern Sakhalin to Russia. (146 years ago)

1869: March 6
In St. Petersburg (Russia), the chemist Dmitri Mendeleev presents a first version of his periodic table of elements to the Russian Chemical Society. It is the first consistent table of the similarities of the chemical elements, according to their atomic masses. It lists the 63 elements known at that time in increasing order of atomic weight. (152 years ago)

1867: March 30
Russia, tired of the problems caused by the unproductive territory of Alaska, impossible to colonize due to its inclement weather, decides to sell it to the United States for the modest amount of 7,200,000 dollars in gold. In this way, she avoids justifying military spending in defending the sovereignty of a land that the majority of the Russian population sees as wasteland, and that, probably, they would have had to defend when the Canadians became independent from the English. (154 years ago)

1861: March 3
In Russia Alexander II abolishes serfdom, something that affects more than 40 million peasants; but the "mir" system (rural community that owns the land it works, but is collectively responsible for taxes) will endure. (160 years ago)

1860: May 31
In Russia, the Imperial Russian Bank is founded, which, at the end of the 19th century, will become the Central Bank of Russia. (161 years ago)

1858: July 2
In Russia, Tsar Alexander II, who after his failure in the Crimea is planning great reforms, grants emancipation to the serfs of the empire. (163 years ago)

1854: September 20
During the Crimean War, the British and French forces, determined to close off the Russians from passing through the straits that leave the route to India open, defeat the Russians in the Battle of Alma (Russia, along the river of the same name which empties into the Black Sea), a strategic victory that leaves the Russian naval base in Sevastopol vulnerable and puts any Russian position in jeopardy. In it, 240,000 combatants of both sides die. Sevastopol will fall a year later. (167 years ago)

1854: March 27
France and the United Kingdom, as allies of Turkey for the maintenance of the integrity of the Ottoman Empire and fearful of tsarist expansionism, declare war on Russia, which gives rise to the Crimean War. The war will end with the signing of the Peace of Paris on March 30, 1856, which will mean the isolation of Austria, the hegemony of France and the end of the strongly conservative policy of Tsar Nicholas I. (167 years ago)

1833: May 2
In Russia, Tsar Nicholas I prohibited the sale of slaves in public markets. (188 years ago)

1826: August 3
The coronation of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia takes place in Moscow. (195 years ago)

1812: September 14
The Napoleonic troops arrive at the gates of Moscow (Russia) after three months of march in which they have taken several cities and fought several battles; but the Muscovites have taken refuge in the nearby forests and set fire to the city so that, without food and enduring extremely low temperatures, the French army will be forced to withdraw without having achieved its objective of subduing Tsar Alexander I. Only 58,000 troops of the Napoleonic army, little more than 20% of the total, will survive the Russian campaign. (209 years ago)

1812: September 7
In Russia, the battle of Borodino takes place, about 120 km from Moscow, in which, after nine hours of intense fighting between the French and Russian armies, some 100,000 deaths are produced on both sides and the withdrawal of Russian troops that will lead to the occupation of Moscow, where they will arrive on the 14th, finding the capital literally razed to the ground. This tactical victory of Napoleon and his French troops will not finish off the Russian forces under the command of Prince Mikhail Kutuzov. (209 years ago)

1812: June 24
Napoleon begins his campaign in Russia, without a previous declaration of war, when he crosses the Niemen River with his army. (209 years ago)

1807: February 7
In Eylau, present-day Russia, the bloody battle of the same name takes place, which will conclude the following day, between Napoleon's troops against the Russian-Prussian army, with an uncertain outcome: after 14 hours of continuous battle, no other conclusion can be drawn than the huge loss of life for both sides. Casualties between dead and wounded are estimated at 40,000. (215 years ago)

1805: December 2In the Battle of Austerlitz (present-day Czech Republic), also called the Battle of the Three Emperors, Napoleon defeats the armies of the Third Anti-French Coalition (Great Britain, Austria, and Russia), wiping out the remnants of the Holy Roman Empire. This victory will make France the head of a great empire. (216 years ago)

1801: March 24
In Russia, a conspiracy of a group of nobles, soldiers and merchants, with the connivance of the future Tsar Alexander I, achieves that Tsar Paul I is assassinated by officers of his guard. The erratic policy and absent of any sign of sanity of this tsar is what has led him to this tragic destiny. (220 years ago)

1795: October 24
When concluding Prussia, Russia and Austria the third division of Poland, this ceases to exist. Poland will regain its independence in 1918 in the form of a republic, at the end of the First World War. (226 years ago)

1787: August 13
Turkey declares war on Russia, after Catherine II's rejection of the ultimatum given by Turkey to abandon its "protectorate" of Crimea. (234 years ago)

1772: August 5
In the agreements of Saint Petersburg, Russia, Prussia and Austria share a third of the Polish territory, thus avoiding a European war. (249 years ago)

1762: July 9
In Russia, Catherine II assumes the position of empress as the successor of her husband Pedro III, assassinated in a plot. Catalina will attempt a Europeanization of the country, and will grant the nobility a relevant position that she has not had until that moment. She will fail in her attempt to create a code with the ideas of Montesquieu, and in 1773 she will have to face a dispute with the peasants, due to the disastrous social situation in which the rural population will be plunged. She will be considered an intelligent, cultured, shrewd, highly skilled, passionate woman with a somewhat peculiar private life. She will cultivate a great friendship and communication with the great French Enlightenment such as Diderot, Montesquieu or Voltaire. (She 259 years ago)

1762: June 28
The German princess Sofia Federica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst, married since 1745 with Emperor Pedro III, ascends the Russian imperial throne, with the name of Catherine II. During her reign, Russia will begin one of the brightest times in its history with a great growth of the economy due to liberalizing measures. (259 years ago)

1755: April 26
The first Russian University, with three faculties, is opened in Moscow. The project has been approved by Empress Isabel on January 12 of this year. (266 years ago)

1727: May 17
Peter II, the 11-year-old minor grandson of Peter I the Great, is appointed Tsar of Russia after the death of Tsarina Catherine I. He will die in Moscow in 1730, at just 14 years of age, a victim of smallpox. . He will be the last Romanov through the male line. (He 294 years ago)

1723: September 12
In Russia, the Treaty of Saint Petersburg is signed, ending the Russo-Persian War. Taking advantage of the revolts that had broken out in Persia, Tsar Peter I the Great occupied the coast that said country had on the Caspian Sea. (298 years ago)

1721: September 10
Russians and Swedes sign in Nystadt (Russia) a peace treaty that ends the Great Northern War, thus beginning a century of balance of forces in the Baltic. Russia annexes Livonia, Estonia, Ingria and Karelia. (300 years ago)

1720: January 21
Sweden, in its capital Stockholm, signs peace with Prussia, ending hostilities in the so-called Northern War, in which Denmark and Russia are also involved. On July 14 she will sign peace with Denmark and on September 10 of the following year, finally with Russia. (302 years ago)

1700: February 12
As a result of great historical disagreements between Sweden and its neighbors Russia, Denmark-Norway and the Republic of the Two Nations (Poland and Lithuania), today Saxon troops attack the Swedish city of Riga and its surrounding fortifications in Livonia, giving beginning of the Great Northern War, which lasted until 1721, for supremacy in the Baltic Sea. (322 years ago)

1700: January 1
In Russia, with the modernizing reforms promoted by Tsar Peter I the Great, the Julian calendar came into force, instead of the Byzantine one. (322 years ago)

1689: September 12
Peter I the Great, Tsar of Russia, imprisons the current regent, his half-sister Sofia, in a convent in Moscow and assumes power. (332 years ago)

1682: May 7
In Moscow (Russia) there are serious clashes over the imperial succession, since when Tsar Feodor III died on April 27, the National Assembly elected his 10-year-old brother Peter I as the new Tsar. The Court, however, considers this designation illegal, but he will reign until his death in 1725, making Russia a power. (339 years ago)

1667: January 30
The Peace of Andrusovo is signed, ending the Thirteen Years' War between Russia and Poland. Russian sovereignty of Left Bank Ukraine is agreed, while Right Bank Ukraine and Belarus will remain under Polish control. (355 years ago)

1656: May 17
Russia declares war on Sweden. The next day he will begin hostilities by penetrating through Livonia into Swedish territory. (365 years ago)

1648: June 1As a result of unpopular tax measures that have caused great discontent in the population, Morozov's government is overthrown by a popular uprising in the city of Moscow (Russia). Many officials are lynched and Morozov has to flee. (373 years ago)

1613: March 3
In Russia, an assembly of nobles elects the young Michael I as Tsar. With him the Romanov dynasty begins. The boyars, very committed to the previous Polish government, withdraw completely. (408 years ago)

1613: February 21
The Russian National Assembly unanimously elects the 16-year-old Michael Romanov, as Michael I, as Tsar. reigned for 700 years. During these intervening years, three impostors appeared claiming to be Prince Dimitri, the son of Ivan the Terrible who had his throat slit in 1591 as a child. Taking advantage of the prevailing chaos, the Poles invaded Moscow. Later, in an atmosphere of extreme patriotism, the capital managed to be liberated during a popular revolt and Miguel was chosen as Tsar. With his election, which will culminate in his coronation on July 22, the Romanov dynasty begins, which will rule the country until the February Revolution of 1917, in which Tsar Nicholas II will be forced to abdicate. (409 years ago)

1613: February 7
In Russia, Michael Feodorovich Romanov, Michael III, is elected as the new Tsar, ending the so-called "time of disturbances", which began in 1598 when Tsar Fedor I, who was mentally deficient, died in the city of Moscow, extinguishing the dynasty. Russian of the Ruríkidas in its masculine line. (409 years ago)

1598: January 7
In Russia, when Fyodor I Ivanovich died, Boris Godunov became Tsar. He will force the banishment of the Romanovs. He will fight against the privileges of the nobility and strengthen trade. In 1604 he will defeat the usurper Demetrius who will try to overthrow him and will finally die in 1605. (424 years ago)

1571: May 24
In the morning, Crimean Tatars set fire to wooden houses around Moscow, Russia, in response to Ivan IV's annexationist attempts. A strong wind blows, fanning the fire, and soon the entire city is on fire. Behind them, the Tartars loot the houses and persecute their inhabitants. In a few hours the city turns into a heap of smoldering ashes, only the Kremlin is saved, protected by its high stone walls. (450 years ago)

1547: January 16
In Moscow (Russia) Ivan IV, later known as Ivan the Terrible because of the brutal cruelty and heavy hand with which he ruled the destinies of his country, had himself crowned the first Tsar of all the Russias. (475 years ago)

1533: December 4
In Moscow (Russia), at the age of three, the one who will become known as Ivan the Terrible is proclaimed Grand Prince of Moscow, on the occasion of the death of his father, Grand Prince Vasily III. His mother will reign in his name until she dies poisoned in 1538 by boyar clans who will compete for power. (488 years ago)

1380: September 8
The Battle of Kulikovo takes place, near the Don River (Russia), in which the Russians, commanded by the Muscovite Prince Donskoi, suffer 70,000 casualties, but emerge victorious after facing the Mongol Tatars, who lose 130,000 men. After this battle the Russians will remain united marking the beginning of the end of Mongol rule over Russia. (641 years ago)

1242: April 5
In the icy waters of Lake Peipus, Russia, Alexander Nevsky, thanks to the courage of his soldiers and his own cunning, manages to annihilate the Teutonic Knights when they end up drowning after the ice of the lake breaks due to the weight of their armor. Alexander becomes the great savior of Russia, demonstrating that the unity of the people can destroy any invader and he becomes a national hero. Because of his victories, but also because he knew how to be realistic, the Orthodox Church will make him a saint. (779 years ago)

Featured births in Russia
1934: March 9
Yuri Gagarin was born in Klúshino, present-day Russia. On April 12, 1961, he would become the first human being to cross space aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft. He would die on March 27, 1968, when the MiG-15 aircraft that will pilot during a routine flight crashes near Moscow. (87 years ago)

1906: December 19
Born in Dnieprodzerzhinsk (Russia) Leonid Brezhnev who, during his tenure as Soviet leader from 1964 to 1982, would elaborate a doctrine that would affirm the right of Soviet intervention in other countries of the socialist area, and would order the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. (115 years ago years)

1898: January 22
Sergei Eisenstein was born in Riga, capital of present-day Latvia but then a city of the Russian Empire, an avant-garde film director who, despite his scant filmography, which did not even make 20 films, some of them unfinished, managed to make his work continue reviewing assiduously for his contributions and influences in filming, set design, and montage in European and American cinema, especially for breaking with the hitherto inhabitable techniques in montage and starting his particular vision to link the scenes of a headband. His film "The Battleship Potemkin" of 1925, will be considered a masterpiece of the history of the seventh art. (124 years ago)

1894: April 17
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was born in Kalinovka (Russia) and would be the top leader of the Soviet Union between 1953 and 1964, who would purge Stalin's excesses and bring positions closer to the capitalist West. (127 years ago)

1872: March 31
Born in the Chudovsky District, Russia, Sergei Diaghilev, a Russian businessman and promoter who founded the legendary Ballets Russes, a company from which many famous dancers and choreographers will emerge. In Paris in 1910, during the premiere of Schérézade , he will exchange the dancers' tutus for daring trousers designed by León Bask and the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky will wear gold paint on his body and jewels on his clothing. (149 years ago)

1870: April 22
Born in Simbirsk (Russia) Vladimir Ilich Ulianov, who will be known as Lenin, Russian revolutionary leader and Bolshevik leader. He will be the first chairman of the Government of the Soviet Union (the Council of People's Commissars). (151 years ago)

1868: March 28
Maxim Gorky was born in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, pseudonym of Aleksei Maksimovich Peshkov, a Russian playwright and politician identified with the Soviet revolutionary movement. A master of realism, he will be considered one of the most relevant personalities in the culture and literature of his country. Over time, his work will acquire a markedly political character. Among his writings, it is worth mentioning "The mother" and "The underworld". (153 years ago)

1866: December 16
Born in Moscow (Russia), Wassily Kandinsky artist who in his works will paint his inner feelings in a search for the spiritual by interpreting what he feels when seeing the world. He will be, somehow, despised and highly criticized for this new way of painting. For this reason he will be considered the inventor of abstract painting. (155 years ago)

1857: September 17
Konstantin Tsiolkovski, a Soviet physicist who will be considered the father of cosmonautics for his studies on space travel, was born in Izhevskoye, Russia. (164 years ago)

1846: May 30
Peter Carl Fabergé, a famous jeweler who manufactured beautiful pieces in the shape of gold and enamel Easter eggs, miniature animals, chalices, and chocolate boxes, was born in the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia. (He 175 years ago)

1845: March 10
Alexander III Romanov was born in Saint Petersburg, present-day Russia, and ascended to the throne in 1881, after the assassination of his father Alexander II in the same city. He will be an authoritarian and energetic sovereign, who will keep intact the autocratic and absolutist system of the Russian monarchy. He will reign in this way until his death on November 1, 1894. Nevertheless, his reign will be considered quite prosperous. (176 years ago)

1844: March 18
In Tijvin, Russia, the famous composer and conductor Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and one of the great figures of the Russian nationalist school was born. Among his best-known orchestral works are "Capricho español" , the "Overture of the great Russian Easter" and the symphonic suite "Scheherazade". (177 years ago)

1842: December 9
Piotr Alekséyevich Kropotkin was born into an aristocratic family in Moscow (Russia), who would be a geographer, naturalist and political thinker. He is considered one of the main theoreticians of the anarchist movement. (179 years ago)

1840: May 7
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer, was born in Votkins (Russia). With a nervous personality, it will be the loss of his mother when he is only 14 years old, his passion and idolatry for Mozart and his platonic relationship with women, the elements that will mark and influence his beautiful works, such as the romantic "Overture 1812 ". (He 181 years ago)

1834: February 8
Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Dmitri Ivánovich Mendeléyev, Russian chemist, creator in 1869 of a new and definitive Periodic Table of the elements. It will classify and rearrange several chemical elements taking into account the increasing value of their atomic masses, grouping them in rows and columns so that all the elements in the same column will present a similar behavior while reserving blank spaces to add elements not yet discovered and predicting the properties of those elements yet to be discovered. With this new version of Mendeleev, the way will be opened to the great advances experienced by chemistry during the 20th century. (188 years ago)

1828: September 9
In Yásnaya Poliana (Russia), the prolific Russian writer Liev Nikolaevich Count of Tolstoy, known as Leo Tolstoy, author of "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" among other works in which he admirably described Russian life and customs, was born. He was an ideologue of active nonviolence. (193 years ago) 1821: November 11Fyodor Milkhailovich Dostoevsky, a great figure of Russian literature of the 19th century and of all time, was born in Moscow (Russia). His works of great realism will enjoy a deep psychological content. (200 years ago)

1818: April 29
Born in Moscow, Russia, Alexander II, Tsar reformer and supporter of peace, who paradoxically will have to face numerous discontents and the nationalism of his subjects. He will implement the most difficult reforms undertaken in Russia. (He 203 years ago)

1818: April 17
In the city of Moscow, Russia, Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov, eldest son of Tsar Nicholas I, great-grandson of Catherine the Great, was born. He will occupy the throne on the death of his father in 1855. In 1856 the Crimean War will end with a significant loss of territorial influence for Russia. He will sign alliances with France and England against Turkey. He will also undertake reforms such as the abolition of the serfdom of the glebe, that is, the freedom of the Russian peasants. He will create courts with free magistrates and juries. He will suffer several attacks until in 1881 one of them ends his life. Then his son Alexander will succeed him. (203 years ago)

1814: May 31
In Priomukhino (Russia), the Russian revolutionary and writer Mijail Alexandrovich Bakunin was born, who would elaborate the theory of anarchism, as a way to achieve the abolition of any form of governmental authority. (207 years ago)

1776: January 24
In Königsberg (Prussia, now Russia), the German writer and composer ETA Hoffmann was born, who would exert a great influence on the romantic movement of German literature. (246 years ago)

1724: April 22
Born in Köenisburg (now Russia), Imanuel Kant, a German philosopher whose key work will be "Critique of Pure Reason" , in which he will try to base human knowledge and its limits. (He 297 years ago)

1715: October 23
In St. Petersburg, Russia, Peter II was born, who would be Tsar of Russia from 1727 until his premature death, a victim of measles, in 1730, at the age of 14. (306 years ago)

1709: December 29
Elizabeth I of Russia, daughter of Peter I and Catherine I, was born in Kolomenskoe (Russia), residence of the tsars, and reigned as empress from 1741, after organizing a palace revolt to depose Tsar Ivan VI, until her death in 1762. (312 years ago)

1672: June 9
Tsar Peter I the Great, son of Tsar Alexis and Natalia Narishkina, was born in Moscow (Russia). In 1689 he will lead a coup d'état that will remove from power his half-sister Sofía, who occupies the regency, and his half-brother Iván IV. (349 years ago)

1530: August 25
Ivan IV Vasilyevich, also called Ivan the Terrible, was born in Kolomenskoe (Russia), Tsar of Russia from 1547 to 1584, considered one of the creators of the Russian state. (491 years ago)

1440: January 22
Ivan III the Great, "Great Prince of Vladimir and Moscow" and "Sovereign of all the Russias", was born in Moscow, present-day Russia. He will carry out a skillful policy of alliances and confrontations with the Tartar chiefs, which will quadruple his territory. He will marry the niece of the last Byzantine emperor making Moscow the third Orthodox Rome. (582 years ago)

1220: May 30
In Vladimir, present-day Russia, Alexander Nevsky was born, a Russian leader who would fight against the Swedes in 1240, defeating them on the Neva River, near St. Petersburg. Later, in April 1242, he will confront the Teutonic Knights in Novgorod and defeat them at the Battle of Lake Peipus, expelling them. When the Mongols invade Russia from the East, he will mediate between his people and the Mongols, and in 1246 he will be appointed Grand Prince of Kiev by the Mongols themselves. In 1251 they will raise him as Prince of Vladimir, removing his brother Andrew. He will be canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church, whose feast day is celebrated on September 12. (801 years ago)

Reported deaths in Russia
2007: April 23
Boris Yeltsin, who was president of Russia between 1990 and 1999 and the first to be democratically elected, dies in Moscow (Russia). In that decade, he led his country through a political and economic transition. (14 years ago)

1921: February 8
Piotr Kropotkin, geographer, Russian thinker and father of anarchism along with Bakunin, dies in Moscow (now Russia). (101 years ago) 1918: July 16In Siberia (Russia), former Tsar Nicholas II and his family are taken to the basement of the country house of merchant Nikolai Ipatiev, where they are lined up and shot by 11 Bolshevik soldiers. Not all die instantly and several daughters of the Tsar, who hide jewels sewn into their clothes against which the bullets collide, have to be finished off with rifle butts and bayonets. (103 years ago)

1916: December 29
Rasputin, an illiterate monk of peasant origin and mystic with great influence over the Romanovs, is assassinated by people close to the Tsar. His body is thrown into the icy waters of the Neva River. (He 105 years ago)

1908: June 21
In Saint Petersburg, Russia, the famous composer and conductor Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov dies after years of suffering from angina pectoris. He has been one of the great figures of the Russian nationalist school, consistent in the use of popular folk songs and their harmonic, melodic and exotic elements, seeking distance from the classical Western way of composing, although not rejecting it. Among his best-known orchestral works, "Capricho español", the "Overture of the great Russian Easter" and the symphonic suite "Scheherazade" should be highlighted . (113 years ago)

1907: February 2
Dmitri Ivánovich Mendeléyev, Russian chemist, creator in 1869 of a new and definitive Periodic Table of the elements, dies in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He classified and rearranged several chemical elements taking into account the increasing value of their atomic masses, grouping them in rows and columns so that all the elements in the same column would present a similar behavior while reserving blank spaces to add elements not yet discovered and predicted the properties of those elements yet to be discovered. With this new version of Mendeleev, the way was opened for the great advances experienced by chemistry in the 20th century. (115 years ago)

1893: November 6
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer, dies in Saint Petersburg (Russia). With a nervous personality, it was the loss of his mother when he was only 14 years old, his passion and idolatry for Mozart and his platonic relationship with women, the elements that marked and influenced his brilliant works. (He 128 years ago)

1881: March 13
Alexander II, Tsar Regent of Russia since 1855, is assassinated in a bomb that explodes in the streets of Saint Petersburg. The perpetrator is the group "The Will of the People", founded two years earlier, which does not hesitate to use terror and assassination in its attempt to wipe out tsarism from Russia. The assassins of Alexander II will be arrested and hanged and the members of the group will be persecuted until their total elimination. (140 years ago)

1881: February 9
Fyodor Mijailovich Dostoevsky, Russian writer, dies in Saint Petersburg (Russia). Among his best-known works, the unforgettable "Crime and Punishment", "The Gambler", "The Idiot" and "The Brothers Karamazov" stand out . (141 years ago)

1881: January 28
Fyodor Milkhailovich Dostoevsky, a great figure of Russian literature of the 19th century and of all time, dies in Saint Petersburg (Russia). His works of great realism have a deep psychological content. (He 141 years ago)

1855: March 2
Czar Nicholas I dies in Saint Petersburg (Russia). His son Alexander II succeeds him. (166 years ago)

1804: February 12
Imanuel Kant, a German philosopher whose key work is "Critique of Pure Reason" , dies in Köenisburg (present-day Russia). (He 218 years ago)

1796: November 17
In Saint Petersburg (Russia), Tsarina Catherine II the Great dies at the age of 67. During her 33-year absolute reign, she achieved the unification and expansion of the Russian empire and the Russian economy grew considerably and cities such as Sevastopol and Kherson were founded. The reforms of it were of an aristocratic nature favoring the immobility of the traditional structures of society, erected in the servitude of the peasantry. (225 years ago)

1783: September 18
The Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler dies in Saint Petersburg (Russia), who with his work on differential calculus achieved a great advance in infinitesimal calculus. (238 years ago)

1671: June 16
In the Red Square of Moscow (Russia) Stenka Razin, head of the Don Cossack rebellion against the nobility and the tsar's bureaucracy in southern Russia, is quartered. (350 years ago)

1605: April 13
Boris Gudonov, Tsar of Russia, dies. Not being a member of the upper bourgeoisie, he was exposed to intrigues, especially from the later Romanov family of tsars. (416 years ago)

1585: August 16
In Siberia, the head of the Cossacks Timofeievich drowns in the Irtysh River while fleeing from the Tatars. With his campaign launched in 1581 he paved the way for the conquest and annexation of Siberia to Russia. (436 years ago)

1584: March 18
Tsar Ivan IV, nicknamed the Terrible, dies in Moscow at the age of 53, under whose reign a regime of terror was established against the upper classes and he assumed for the first time an expansive policy in Russia. (437 years ago)

Top 10 Amazing Facts About Bolivia

We’re back on the road again, crossing the exotic lands of South America for a stop off in Bolivia to see exactly why over one million people visit these exotic lands every year! So, fry up your salchipapa and grab a glass of mocochinchi as we explore this multi-ethnic and diversified country with these ten amazing facts about Bolivia.

10. Cuisine of Bolivia
Vegetarians and pet owners look away now – Bolivia’s specialty dish is... guinea pig! Guinea pig, or cuy, has been a traditional part of the Bolivian diet for many years as it is a major source of protein and is also considerably easy to raise. If you don’t have the stomach for guinea pig, other dishes on the menu include salteña, an empanada-style pastry filled with beef, pork or chicken, or Silpancho, a super filling dish consisting of rice, potato, meat, egg, vegetables and herbs. Feeling a little parched? Try a traditional licuado, a water or milk-based beverage blended with your choice of fruit.

9. World records
When it comes to setting world records, Bolivians are all about size. The largest charango - which is a South American guitar - was created in 2004 measuring 20-feet or 6.1-meters long, and the largest morenada dance, or Bolivian folk dance, was achieved in 2014 involving an incredible 3014 people. Bolivia also boasts three of the largest musical ensembles – 2,317 panpipes in 2004, 1,166 trumpets in 2006, and 1,157 charangos in 2009.

8. Famous Bolivians
Bolivia boasts many well-known faces, and you may recognize actresses Carla Ortiz, Tanya Callau and Ximena Herrera from such movies as Forgotten and The Princess Diaries 2. Bolivian football stars include Gilbert Álvarez and Carlos Saucedo, who have both played for their national team. Maria Fernanda Álvarez is also a recognizable Bolivian known for her tennis prowess and you may even recognize Claudia Balderrama, who competed at the 2012 summer Olympics as a race-walker. Bolivia is also the birthplace of several internet stars, including amazing YouTubers Elias Ayaviri, Favio Apaza-MansOn, and VicenticoTD, and Blogger Andrea Roman. Inventions include the Tiki-Taka - or click-clackers - a toy to both entertain and test your balance and skill; Coca Lorini, a syrup-type elixir that predates and paved the way for Coca-Cola, and Nit Occlud, a medical device for treating infant heart problems.

7. Stunning Sights
Bolivia’s most stunning sight is the Salar de Uyuni, a salt flat that surpasses any other. At over 4,000 sq-miles (10,000 square km), it is the largest salt flat in the world and measures roughly the size of Jamaica. Travelers have been known to spend days exploring this giant mirror-like wonder. Visitors also tend to flock to Lake Titicaca, South America’s largest lake by volume. Straddling the border with Peru, Titicaca measures up at 3,232 sq-miles (8,372 square-km) and is considered by many locals to be sa cred.

6. Sacred Lake Titicaca
Sacred Lake Titicaca has incredible origins and is said to be the birthplace of the region’s ancient civilization. The Inca myth states that the god Con Tiqui Viracocha, emerged from Titicaca, bringing with him a small group of humans. Under his orders, the sun, moon, and the stars rose into the sky, creating the universe which he populated with people created from stone. As the human populace was brought to life, Viracocha commanded them to populate the world, creating the ancient civilizations that predate the modern world. According to the Incas, after death, their spirit will return to Lake Titicaca for eternity.

5. Sports of Bolivia
As is the case with most South American nations, Bolivians are huge football fans, and the sport has an almost religious following. Club Bolívar is the most successful team in Bolivia and is currently at the top of the league. It’s also the only Bolivian team to reach the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores tournament, the major South American club tournament. Bolivia’s love of football is so strong that they bring that love indoors with a version of the sport called Futsal, or futsala, which can be played on a basketball court and uses smaller goals and balls and teams of only 5.

4. Bolivians and Nature
As of 2001, though 78% of Bolivia's population identifies as Roman Catholic, the nation's traditions are more deeply rooted in their respect for nature rather than the religion they follow. Pacha Mama, or Mother Earth, is still worshiped by many who offer sacrifices of llama to bring good luck and fortune. Bolivian’s have so much respect for nature in fact, that in 2010 the government passed the Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which grants nature the right to pure water, clean air, and to live free of contamination.

3. Bolivia’s festivals
Bolivians enjoy many fun-filled fiestas throughout the year, starting with the Alasitas Fair in January. The month-long festival is dedicated to giving gifts to Ekeko, the god of abundance. One quirky festival that sounds less enjoyable than most is Tinku. Loosely translating to “violent encounter,” brutal ritualistic combat erupts in the hill-towns of Bolivia once a year. Using fists and stones, participants supposedly fight to honor Pacha Mama, but nowadays it’s more to prove bravery. Warfare is so vicious that deaths are reported each year, meaning you’ll want to avoid the Bolivian highlands during early May if you plan to vacation there.

2. Bolivia’s Battle for Independence
Bolivia’s independence was hard fought for against the Spanish and 16 years of bloody wars were endured so that Bolivia could have the right to govern itself. Before becoming its own nation, Bolivia was part of the Spanish Río de la Plata viceroyalty. After failed revolutions in Sucre and La Paz in 1809, Spanish authorities continued to reign. But, as the Spanish American wars of Independence raged across the continent, Bolivians continued to fight for their freedom under the campaign of Simón Bolívar. Support came from the north via Bolívar’s friend and fellow Venezuelan Antonio José de Sucre, for whom the capital is now named. Independence was finally declared on August 6th, 1825, and Bolivians celebrate each year with parades and fireworks.

1. The Naming of “Bolivia”
Born in 1783 to a wealthy Creole family in Venezuela, Simón Bolívar was a military and political leader who played an integral part in the independence of Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. Upon its independence, the country was granted the right to a name of its own. Initially, the Republic of Bolívar stuck until congressman Manuel Martín Cruz declared that “if from Romulus comes Rome, then from Bolívar comes Bolivia”. The new name was made official in 1825, but was changed to “Plurinational State of Bolivia” in 2009, to recognize the diversity and multiple ethnicities spread throughout.

Top 10 Amazing Facts About China

Are you ready for another journey across the globe, fellow Archivists? For our next stop, we're going to a place that covers 3.7 million square-miles (9.6 million square-km) of the Earth and boasts the largest registered population at 1.4 billion people. China is a fascinating land filled with so many intriguing tidbits that it was quite the renwu (yen-woo) to narrow down a list of only the top ten amazing facts about the China Red Dragon.

10. A Longstanding Feud
During the Tang Dynasty, Chinese and Japanese relations were amicable, but it was a pleasant time that wouldn't last forever. Though the nations feuded over control of Korea, there was a relative peace between the two. Unfortunately, that wouldn't last forever, and when Commodore Perry butted into Japanese affairs in 1850, the empire was forced out of isolation and quickly became a military power, surpassing China. Though China started to admire Japan, radicals in the budding nation felt its Asian counterpart was inferior. This was most evident in the early 20th century, when Japan pushed into Chinese territories, sparking the Second Sino-Japanese War. Even today, anti-Japanese sentiment is rampant in China - and vice versa for Japan.

9. The Cuisine of China
It's time to clear something up. That take-out you get from the Flaming Panda every Friday night isn't exactly Chinese food. Sure, it's generally inspired by it, but it's very Americanized. In 2014, Business Insider did a piece on the dishes you should order from a Chinese restaurant, comparing them to the American versions. For instance, the crab rangoon you get isn't a Chinese delicacy, but Xiao Long Bao from Shanghai, which is filled with real crab or pork, is. As much as you may love Fortune Cookies, their country of origin is - you guessed it - the United States of America. Chinese take-out is considerably heavier than authentic Chinese food, as seen with the American-style egg roll and lo mein noodles. Instead, go for cong you bing, or scallion pancakes, and zha jiang mian (Ja jee-ang mee-en), a lighter noodle dish with stir-fried pork and fermented soybean paste.

8. Famous People of China
When you think of famous people from China, you may immediately think of General Tso, the man that created the popular chicken dish. Except he didn't, and Zuo Zongtang (Zow Zong-Tang) wasn't what we'd call "famous." Instead, you should think of people like the Dalai Lama who, despite being born in Tibet, was exiled to India and the ancient Chinese teacher and philosopher, Confucius. More modern recognizable names include Bruce Lee, Yao Ming, Jackie Chan, John Woo, Jet Li, Ming-Na, Zhang Ziyi, and Chow Yun-fat.

7. The Cave People of China
Not only are there an abundance of caves scattered across China's landscape, many of them are inhabited by people. According to a 2012 report by the Los Angeles Times, an estimated 30 million people in China live in caves. That's approximately 2% of the population. A bulk of that populous can be found in the Shaanxi province, which is known for porous and soft soil. Even well before modern man, the Zhoukoudian (Jo-Ko-Dee-On) cave system was inhabited by the Peking Man. One downfall of living in a cave, says Ren Shouhua (Show-Wa), who grew up in a cave, is that you aren't guaranteed modern conveniences, though some ritzier dwellings are equipped with electricity and running water.

6. Panda Diplomacy
Wouldn't the world be a better place if pandas could be gifted to other countries as a symbol of good faith and appreciation? Hate to break it to you, but panda gifting isn't the fix-all for the world's issues as China has implemented "Panda Diplomacy" dating as far back as the Tang Dynasty. The first use of the practice was when Empress Wu Zetian gifted pandas to the Japanese emperor...and we see how that ultimately turned out. As recently as 2014, Panda Diplomacy has been in practice with the last exchange being two pandas that were sent to Malaysia in celebration of 40 years of diplomatic ties.

5. Chinese Inventions
As much as people from the U.S. may joke about items "Made in China," many of the inventions today came from brilliant Chinese minds. Americans should, at the very least, praise China for its hand in creating gunpowder, which was a strange side effect created during the search for human immortality. We also have China to thank for silk, umbrellas, the compass, deepwater drilling, and even paper. The process of fermentation, which is used in alcohol production, is also said to have roots in ancient China.

4. China and Sports
We've covered much of the world but we're most excited to get to China so that we can talk about one of the nation's most popular sports - Pingpang. You may know it better as table tennis or ping pong. There was a time when ping pong was the only sport in China, and was the equivalent to football in the United States in popularity. If you thought Panda Diplomacy was nuts, China and the United States underwent "Ping-pong diplomacy," where the two nations exchanged table tennis players in the 1970s. Other sports that have a big pull in China include badminton, basketball, and soccer.

3. China's World Records
With a population of more than 1.4 billion people and growing, there are bound to be quite a few world record holders; and according to the Guinness World Records, in China, there are more than we have time for. In June of 2012, Liu Yang became the first female astronaut from China. In 2011, Kaifeng City in the Henan Province broke the record for longest carpet of flowers, measuring 6,597 feet and 8 inches (2,011 m). May of 2012 saw the record of the largest trouser mosaic, made from 23,171 trousers, and, in 2006, China was crowned for having the most hospitals. The list goes on and on, like earning a record for the largest producer of energy, highest consumption of cigarettes and honey, and the longest distance on a tightrope with a motorcycle with no front wheel.

2. The One-Child Policy
From 1979 to 2015, China implemented a policy that forced Han Chinese families to restrict their family size to one child per household. The fear was that China's population would grow to a point where an overpopulation catastrophe was inevitable. Limiting families to one child was believed to eventually have a positive effect on social, economic, and environmental strains. Families that didn't adhere to the policy faced income-based fines. On January 1st, 2016, the law was changed to a two-child policy, allowing families to have two children. The policy led to the creation of the term "black child," which is a baby that's born outside of the policy and not registered with the national household registration system.

1. The War on Pollution
If nations are going to lead the charge against pollution, China should definitely be one of the principal factions. When China hit a period of growth around the early 2000s, its increase in industry also created an exponential increase in carbon dioxide emissions, nearly doubling its production within a matter of years. Realizing something would have to be done, the nation started to combat pollution in an aggressive manner. Since 2015, China led the world in electronic vehicle sales and saw a drastic increase in use of solar panels. To further limit its production of pollution, which is estimated to cause 1.6 million deaths per year in the nation, China has also been pursuing wind energy and changing from coal to hydrogen.

10 Big Facts About The USA

10. President McKinley almost always wore a red carnation as a good luck charm. In 1901, moments after giving the flower to a little girl, he was assassinated.

09. There are tiny hidden images of an owl and spider hidden on the $1 bill. Many claim they are symbols of a Masonic club with several presidential members.

08. The US government are still paying 2 civil war pensions to the children of soldiers. They receive $867 a year. The last widow of the Civil War died in 2003.

07. In 1950 Tootsie Rolls were accidentally sent to fighting US Marines instead of ammunition. The Battle of Chosin Reservoir was lost when a request for the snack - codeword for ammunition-was taken literally.

06. 14,000 firework displays take place during 4th July celebrations. In 2013, 7400 were hospitalized with firework related injuries, with sparklers the number 1 cause.

05. John Adams & Thomas Jefferson both died on 4th July 1826 - exactly 50 years after signing the Declaration of Independence. Adams’ last words were “Jefferson Survives”, unaware his political rival had died hours earlier.

04. The 50-star USA flag was designed for a school project by Robert Heft, aged 17. His B- grade was raised to an A after chosen by President Eisenhower.

03. In New Jersey it is illegal to commit murder while wearing a bulletproof vest. In Ohio it is illegal to get a fish drunk & hunt whales on a Sunday.

02. In 1980 Saddam Hussein was given the key to the city & made an honorary citizen of Detroit. The honor came after he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to clear the debt of a Detroit Church.

01. The American National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, was composed by a British man. Francis Scott Key set his lyrics to the tune of a drinking song played in a London social club.

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