A second sample from Alexei Bayer's mystery novel Murder at the Dacha. Here, inspector Pavel Matushkin redeems a favor to get some information from a gangster.

July 14, 1896, is celebrated as the birthday of the Russian automobile – on this day, the first Russian-built motorcar with an internal combustion engine was introduced to the public at the Arts Exhibition in Nizhni Novgorod. 
 

Sample Alexei Bayer's myster novel Murder at the Dacha with this gripping incident on board a Moscow commuter train.

Ever wonder why so many Russian Jews ended up in the US? Perhaps it was the educational quotas, or the restrictions on travel and residence, or maybe the rampant anti-Semitism and violence – and all the other miseries chronicled by Jewish writer Isaac Babel.

June 21, 1547 is remembered as the day of the Great Moscow Fire. The wooden city was devastated, and the destruction was later taken as an omen portending the horrors of Ivan IV's reign. 

Russia is not known as a soccer powerhouse. But it does have a devoted fan base and will host the 2018 World Cup. We look back at 1994, the first time Russia qualified for the World Cup and a Russian player made history.

Think you know Yuri Vizbor? Think again! Sure, you may have heard his songs, but did you know he was also a teacher? An alpinist? A journalist? A radio operator?

Ever wonder how many arshins tall you are? Or how many verst to the nearest grocery store? Get a sense from this list of old Slavic measurements.
 

Today is the 401st anniversary of the crowning of the first Romanov Tsar, Mikhail, in 1613, and the end of the "Time of Troubles." This of course has nothing to do with current events. Just thought I'd mention it in passing. 

Peace! Land! Bread! This was the battle cry of the 1917 October Revolution (old calendar) that changed the history of Russia and indeed the entire world. Since the time of Ivan the Terrible, the tsars concentrated on centralization of their power and control. The most common way of doing this was to take power away from the nobility, appeasing them by giving them dominion over their land and workers. This soon developed into the oppressive, slave-style condition known as serfdom.

Today is Vladimir Nabokov's birthday, so we asked Russian Life contributor and Nabokov expert Diana Bruk where to start when reading the master. She offers with five annotated recommendations.

Once, a group of factory workers decided to work without pay for the war effort. Somehow their voluntary sacrifice became the entire Soviet Union's mandatory labor - all "for the greater good."