Calendar Items in Brief

March 7, 1910

Today is the birthday of circus balance artist Yevgeny Milayev. Milayev was highly skilled, able to balance a nine-meter ladder with platform, on which gymnasts performed acrobatic feats. Another of his famous tricks was called “Ladder on Ladder.” The gymnast on top of the ladder balanced by Milayev balanced another ladder, on which a third gymnast performed. But Milayev was also infamous as the source of much gossip: he was briefly married to Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev’s daughter Galina, before Brezhnev was at the height of his power. Galina fell in love with the strong and handsome athlete during one of his circus performances in Kishinev in 1951. Galina abandoned her university studies and eloped with Milayev, who was 20 years older; soon after, he had his first heart attack. Milayev and Galina had a daughter, Viktoria, named for Galina’s mother, and Galina traveled with the circus, working as a costumier. A year later, she returned to her parents, though she did not officially divorce Milayev until eight years later. Even after the divorce, however, Brezhnev did not forget about his grandchild’s father and made him one of the first acrobats to receive the much-coveted title of the People’s Artist of the USSR, and the only gymnast to become a Hero of Socialist Labor. Milayev also was appointed Director of the second Moscow Circus, on Vernadsky Prospect – some even said that the Circus was built specially for him. He died of a heart attack in 1983.

April 30, 1905

Nicholas II signed the Edict of Toleration, which declared an official policy of toleration of non-Orthodox believers in the Russian empire. In reality, persecutions and pogroms continued.

April 8, 1935

The criminal code in the USSR was made applicable to children over 12, which meant that they could now be sentenced to death.

April 15, 2000

Twenty-two Ukrainian parachutists landed at North Pole.  It was the first Ukrainian parachute expedition to the North Pole. To celebrate the event, a stand-up lunch and football match were organized.

March 31, 1980

In the Kremlin, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was awarded Lenin Prize in literature for “his” memoirs, The Small Land and The Revival. These memoirs as well as three more books “written” by Brezhnev became obligatory reading for Soviet children, students, and citizens. The real authors of the memoirs were leading Soviet journalists.