Calendar Items in Brief

January 26-7

The Japanese fleet launches a surprise attack on Port Arthur. The Russo-Japanese War begins, ending in the rout of the Russian fleet, Russian surrender on December 20, 1905, and a peace treaty mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt and signed in Portsmouth, NH.

February 2

Legendary pilot Valery Chkalov was born on this day. In 1937, Chkalov made the first non-stop flight via the North Pole, from Moscow to Vancouver (see Russian Life, Dec/Jan 1999). He died in an airplane crash in 1938.

January 20, 1714

Peter I issued a decree whereby nobles without sufficient education to enter state service were not allowed to get married. Subsequently, at state expense, young nobles were sent abroad to learn different trades.

February 3, 1754

Russian merchants presented Empress Elizabeth with a 56-carat diamond to thank her for abolishing inland customs tariffs in Russia.

February 8, 1834

On this day, chemist Dmitry Mendeleev, who formulated the Periodical Table of Elements (1869), was born. His doctoral dissertation was devoted to “The Combination of Spirit and Water.” His formulation of the ideal recipe for Russian vodka is still used by distillers today.

February 13, 1864

The Moscow zoo was opened.

February 15, 1914

Emperor Nicholas II announced the beginning of a campaign against the excessive consumption of alcohol.

February 19, 1954

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who was Ukrainian, made the Crimea (then in Russia) part of Ukraine.