You understand today and tomorrow better when you know what happened yesterday. And the day before.
On August 17, 1978, Vera Maretskaya, the “mistress of the Mossovet Theatre,” winner of four Stalin Prizes, died. She lost her husband in the war and two brothers in 1937.
Vera Maretskaya: the actress's death. August 17 Read More »
On August 16, 1969, Mark Bernes, the singer of "Dark Night" and "Cranes," died. This is the story of an artist who survived persecution and recorded his last song a month before his death.
Mark Bernes: The Death of an Artist. August 16, 1969 Read More »
On August 14, 1850, Gennady Nevelskoy, despite the ban, raised the Russian flag on Cape Kuegda. Thus, Russia gained the Amur region and Sakhalin.
Nevelskoy raised the flag on the Amur on August 14, 1850. Read More »
On August 13, 1990, Gorbachev signed a decree restoring the rights of all victims of political repression from the 1920s to the 1950s. Some he rehabilitated, and some he didn't.
Gorbachev's decree on the rehabilitation of victims of repression - August 13 Read More »
On August 12, 2013, Vasily Peskov, a journalist for Komsomolskaya Pravda, host of In the World of Animals, and author of Taiga Dead End, died.
Vasily Peskov: journalist, ecologist, and traveler. August 12 Read More »
On August 11, 1954, Alexander Tvardovsky was removed from his post as editor-in-chief of Novy Mir for his criticism of socialist realism and the poem “Tyorkin in the Other World.”
Tvardovsky and Novy Mir: resignation on August 11, 1954 Read More »
On August 10, 1970, Nikolai Erdman died—the author of “The Mandate” and “The Suicide,” the screenwriter of “Volga-Volga,” who was exiled to Yeniseisk and Tomsk for his fables.
Nikolai Erdman: The death of a playwright. August 10 Read More »
On August 9, 1894, Mikhail Zoshchenko was born—the most popular satirist of the 1920s and 30s, who was erased from literature after the Central Committee decree of 1946.
Mikhail Zoshchenko: the writer's birthday is August 9 Read More »
Alexander Khanzhonkov was born on August 8, 1877. The biography of this pioneer of Russian cinema includes his first full-length film, a stop-motion animation, arrest, and poverty.
Alexander Khanzhonkov: Biography of a Cinema Pioneer. August 8 Read More »
On August 7, 1932, the USSR passed the "Three-Ear Law." A handful of grain was punishable by death: 182 people were convicted under it in the RSFSR alone.
The Three-Ear Law: Execution for Grain, August 7 Read More »
On August 6, 2014, Putin signed a decree on counter-sanctions against the West. The food embargo, the elimination of sanctions, and import substitution—how it happened.
Russia's counter-sanctions: Putin's decree of August 6, 2014 Read More »
August 5: Wassily Leontief, an economist from Petrograd who became a Nobel laureate. On August 5, 1905, in Munich, into a professorial family, Wassily Leontief, an economist and creator of the theory of inter-industry analysis, was born.
Vasily Leontiev: The economist's birthday is August 5th. Read More »
On August 4, 1914, Boris Laskin was born near Mogilev. He was the author of the songs “Three Tankers” and “The Dark Mounds Sleep,” and co-author of the script for “Carnival Night.”
Boris Laskin: the poet and songwriter's birthday is August 4 Read More »
On August 3, 1998, Alfred Schnittke, a composer from Engels and the author of The History of Doctor Johann Faust and the Ninth Symphony, died in Hamburg.
Alfred Schnittke: the composer's date of death is August 3 Read More »
On August 2, 1932, Vladimir Arro, a playwright and author of the plays "The Supreme Measure" and "Look Who's Came!", was born. He called the Siege the most important event in his life.
Vladimir Arro: a playwright who survived the siege. August 2 Read More »
On August 1, 1887, Mikhail Katkov, a publicist and publisher of Moskovskiye Vedomosti, ideologist of the counter-reforms of Alexander III and opponent of Herzen, died.
Mikhail Katkov: publicist and ideologist of counter-reforms. August 1 Read More »
On July 31, 1957, Pavel Chelishchev, an artist from the Kaluga region, the founder of mystical surrealism and the “Russian Dali,” died in Italy.
Pavel Chelishchev: artist, "Russian Dali." He died on July 31. Read More »
Lev Shlosberg, a politician, human rights activist, and leader of the Pskov Yabloko party, was born in Pskov on July 30, 1963. He celebrated his 63rd birthday in a pretrial detention center.
Lev Shlosberg: The Pskov politician's birthday is July 30 Read More »
On July 28, 1844, Pushkin's widow married General Lanskoy. Natalia Goncharova's second marriage was dubbed "the union of hunger and thirst."
Natalia Goncharova's second marriage: wedding to Lansky on July 28 Read More »
On July 28, 1980, Andrei Sakharov wrote an open letter to Brezhnev from his exile in Gorky about Afghanistan, demanding the withdrawal of Soviet troops.
Sakharov: letter to Brezhnev about Afghanistan. July 28 Read More »
On July 26, 1976, Nikolai Nosov, author of "Dunno," "The Living Hat," and "Vitya Maleev," died. We explore the life of this Soviet children's writer.
Nikolai Nosov: A Biography of the Author of "Dunno." July 26 Read More »
On July 25, 1826, the Decembrist Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin was executed—the youngest of the five leaders of the uprising, a brilliant orator and “demon of propaganda.”
Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin: The execution of the Decembrist. July 25 Read More »
On July 24, 1828, Nikolai Chernyshevsky was born in Saratov. He was a philosopher, socialist, and author of the novel What Is to Be Done?, who was called “enemy number one of the Russian Empire.”
Nikolai Chernyshevsky: the revolutionary's birthday is July 24 Read More »
On July 23, 1883, Boris Grigoriev was born in Rybinsk. He was an avant-garde artist, portraitist of Yesenin and Gorky, author of the “Race” cycle, and a first-wave emigrant.
Boris Grigoriev: an artist from Rybinsk. July 23 Read More »
On July 22, 1930, Yuri Karyakin was born—publicist, the "voice" of perestroika, and author of the phrase "Russia, you've gone mad!" He saved Solzhenitsyn's manuscript and rehabilitated Dostoevsky.
Yuri Karyakin: The publicist's birthday is July 22. Read More »
July 21 marked the birth of David Burliuk, a poet, artist, father of Russian Futurism, founder of the Gilea group, and a first-wave emigrant who spent the second half of his life in the United States.
David Burliuk: The Father of Russian Futurism. July 21 Read More »
On July 0, 1990, Yavlinsky and Shatalin presented their “500 Days” program – a plan for the USSR’s transition to a market economy that was never adopted.
The 500-Day Program: A Plan for the Transition to a Market Economy. July 20 Read More »
On July 18, 1920, the Cheka-Likbez, a commission to combat illiteracy in the USSR, was established. Within 20 years, literacy had tripled to almost 90%.
Cheka literacy program: the fight against illiteracy in the USSR. July 18 Read More »
On July 18, 1932, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, a poet, author of Babi Yar and Stalin's Heirs, and a Nobel Prize nominee, was born in the Irkutsk region.
Yevgeny Yevtushenko: the poet's birthday is July 18 Read More »
On July 17, 1990, Lidia Ginzburg, a literary scholar and author of “Notes of a Man from the Siege,” who survived the siege of Leningrad, arrests, and persecution, died.
Lidia Ginzburg – Memorial Day for the author of "Notes." July 17 Read More »
