At a 1976 Amsterdam chess tournament, Soviet grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi politely asked an English competitor how to spell the words “political asylum.” He then went straight to a police station and announced that he wished to defect.
Russia
When Maxim Gorky arrived in the US in 1906…
When Maxim Gorky arrived in the US in 1906, he initially received a warm welcome. President Roosevelt, Mark Twain planned to meet him. But when it was reported that Gorky was accompanied not by his wife, but by his mistress, his hotel threw him out and he got cancelled. Gorky on a goodwill and fundraising mission for the Bolsheviks. But in 1906 this didn’t mean much to Americans.
It turned out the woman accompanying Gorky was not, in fact, Mrs. Gorky. She was Maria Andreyeva, a star of the Moscow Art Theatre. Sure, she was another ardent Bolshevik, but apparently that wasn’t the problem. She and Gorky weren’t legally married. That was the problem, considered by the media to be a moral blemish worse than anarchism. American morality, was made of different stuff.
The mayor of a Russian town persuaded…
The mayor of a Russian town persuaded the cleaner of the local administration building to run as his rival, in order to fulfil the minimum requirement of two cаndіdates. The residents of the town were fed up with the mаyor, and the cleaner was elеcted, receiving almost 62% of the vоtes.
In 1944, three American B-29 bombers…
In 1944, three American B-29 bombers on missions over Japan were forced to land in the Soviet Union. The Soviets, who did not have a similar strategic bomber, decided to copy the B-29. Within three years, they had developed the Tu-4, a nearly-perfect copy.
To train new operatives during the…
To train new operatives during the Cold War, the Soviets built fully functional replicas of American towns. Their residents consisted of retired deep cover operatives who taught the trainees everything they needed to know about blending into American life.
The Facts Behind Russian Roulette
Russian roulette is a lethal game of chance, gambling where the risk isn’t about money, it’s a matter of life and death.
This gruesome game isn’t played around a classic roulette wheel instead this game is played with a six-shot revolver loaded with a single bullet. Chancers spin the loaded cylinder put the weapon to their head and pull the trigger. Is there anything to be won or only a life to be lost?
The game of Russian roulette is now a well-known concept that frequently appears in movies, song lyrics, and books. However, most people aren’t aware of its chilling origin story and the urban legends that surround it. In this article, we are gonna break down the facts and give you the full story of Russian roulette.
In Russian culture “British Scientists,”…
In Russian culture “British Scientists” is a running joke and Internet meme used as an ironic reference to absurd news reports about scientific discoveries, particularly ones that have no practical value. For example, “British scientists debunked the myth that mice love cheese.”
During the reign of Tsar Peter the Great…
During the reign of Tsar Peter the Great, it was customary for foreign dignitaries to drink from the “Cup of the White Eagle”, a chalice containing 1.5 litres of vodka – so many nations’ ambassadors travelled in pairs, with one official drinking the vodka, and the other discussing state issues
On March 18, 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first man to walk in space. The 30-year-old Russian floated outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft for 12 minutes while connected to a 16ft tether.
Early Russian silent movies…
Early Russian silent movies often had two endings — a tragic one for the home market and a happy one for export. Conversely, foreign movies at the time often were made with a happy ending for the home audience and a tragic ending, specifically for Russia.