Abram Gannibal was a black African-born Russian nobleman in the 18th century. Sold into slavery, he was eventually freed by Peter the Great and adopted into the Emperor’s household as his godson. His great-great grandson is the celebrated author and poet Alexander Pushkin.
Russia
In 2018 the Domino’s in Russia…
In 2018 the Domino’s in Russia offered up to 100 free pizzas every year for 100 years if a customer got the Domino’s logo tattooed visibly on their body. Initially intended to last a month the promotion proved to be so popular Domino’s ended it after a week with 350 accepted winners.
There is Russia’s “spacecraft graveyard” in the Altai…
There is Russia’s “spacecraft graveyard” in the Altai region, where over 2,500 tons of space debris — some dozens of feet long — have rained down since the start of the Space Age. As new space junk falls, locals rush to raid the wreckage for precious metals they can sell.
The Ket people is an isolated population…
The Ket people is an isolated population of 1200 in Siberia. Their language is strikingly similar in structure to the Native North American languages, and they are one of the last true hunter and gatherer societies on Earth.
In 2007 Russia planted their national…
In 2007 Russia planted their national flag underwater in hopes of securing the arctic’s potential natural resources. “This isn’t the 15th century,” one foreign minister said. “You can’t go around the world and just plant flags and say, ‘We’re claiming this territory.’
When USSR premier Nikita Khrushchev…
When USSR premier Nikita Khrushchev visited IBM’s Silicon Valley research facility in 1959 he showed indifference to computing technology, but he was so impressed by their buffet style cafeteria that he instructed factories across the Soviet Union to implement the self service dining concept.
The US Govt. used shell…
The US Govt. used shell companies to import Titanium from the Soviet Union, to build the Blackbird SR-71, so they could spy on the Soviet Union.
Pre-dissolution Soviet comedians…
Pre-dissolution Soviet comedians had to have all their jokes approved by the Department of Humor. Jokes about politics, religion, and sex were banned, which left mostly jokes about animals.
Russians considered the winter…
Russians considered the winter when Napoleon invaded Russia to be “a relatively mild winter”.
In a project called Pleistocene Park…
In a project called Pleistocene Park, some Russian scientists are trying to restore a small region of Russia to the way it would’ve looked ~10,000 years ago.