What was the spring of 1969 like in the Soviet Union? A cloud of gloom had descended on the country, enveloping both those who could not see it (or at least thought it had nothing to do with them) and those only too aware of it.

One hundred and sixty years ago, the inventor Alexander Popov was born. In 1895, he created the first radio receiver. Or did he?

In the summer of 1922, Ruth Epperson Kennell, a children’s librarian, left New York City for the far reaches of Siberia. She travelled with her husband Frank and 132 other ‘pioneers' who were eager to establishing industrial and agricultural communes to aid the ‘new Russia’.

The Battle of Molodi, while not a well-remembered battle, was a rather important one in Russia’s history. Yet for some reason it is little-known.

Most people will associate Russia and Russians with tea, yet coffee is not some sort of Ivan-Come-Lately to Mother Russia.

Catherine the Great was a prolific letter writer and her missives offer a uniquely intimate view of her personal life and political development (to say nothing of her humor and passion).

Living on ice, the boorocracy, profiling perps, naming cities, and where smoking holds sway.

How salt riots and a young tsar led to a Zemsky Sobor and a new body of laws, The Council Code.

Even today, 165 years after his birth, Vladimir Gilyarovsky - journalist, poet and writer of prose - is widely revered, especially among Muscovites.

On this day 345 years ago, Alexander Menshikov was born into a poor peasant family. No one could have predicted to what heights he would rise.

Everyone in Russia knows the great writer Ivan Turgenev, whose 200th birthday is today, and they make his acquaintance in three stages. 

A look back at year end stock-taking, at changes that have been promised in years past, and promises that have been un-kept.