Calendar Items in Brief

On March, 13, 1985 the whole country did not work – former Soviet General Secretary Konstantin Chernenko was being buried. The event gave birth to a political joke: In the evening, a father was putting his little son to bed. Crying, the little boy asked why his favorite Good Night, Little Ones! was not being aired. “Chernenko died,” explained the father. “Which is that, Khryusha or Stepashka?” the boy replied.

In 1989, the First All-Union Congress of People’s Deputies was held. Public criticism of Lenin’s views and policies resounded from “the high tribune” for the first time. Mikhail Gorbachev presided at the Congress, and did not interrupt people’s criticisms. During a break in the proceedings (which were broadcast live), Good Night offered an interesting tale prior to the traditional cartoon. The little bear Mishutka (diminutive for Mikhail) is given a scolding by Khryusha and Stepashka for “breaking the chair of Uncle Volodya” (Volodya is a diminutive for Vladimir). The host of the program (Vladimir Ukhin) was the Uncle Volodya in question, but “Uncle” was such a common moniker for Lenin that the metaphor was hard to miss: Lenin’s ideological throne had been broken by “Mishutka” Gorbachev.

September 27, 1799

Russian General Alexander Suvorov, who never lost a battle, defeated Napoleon’s forces in Italy, captured Milan, and then, almost surrounded by French troops, was ordered to relieve another Russian force in Switzerland. So, on this day, in what is surely one of the most astounding military marches in history, he began to lead 21,000 troops on a 12-day trek through the Alps, facing intense French opposition and climbing 9,000 foot peaks. He (then 70 years old) and two-thirds of his army escaped. The feat earned Suvorov the title of Generalissimo, and the nickname “Russia’s Hannibal,” but alliance politics and the whims of Tsar Paul turned what should have been his triumphant return to St. Petersburg into an ignominious disgrace. He died May 18, 1880, reportedly of a broken heart.

September 4, 1999 

A twelve-day series of bombings in apartment buildings across Russia began on this day. In Buinaksk, 64 people were killed, 133 injured. Two Moscow explosions followed, one September 9 on Guryanov street and another four days later on Kashirskoye shosse, killing 223 people, and injuring over 300. In Volgodonsk on September 16, 18 were killed and 288 injured. Then on September 22, a bomb was found in Ryazan, its timer set for 5:30 am. Authorities at first claimed that a terrorist act had been averted, then later said the incident was an FSB training exercise. On September 23, then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered the bombing of Chechnya. On October 5, 1999 Russian armed forces entered Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. 

September 12, 1944

Celebrated violinist and conductor Vladimir Spivakov (“Virtuosos of Moscow”) was born. 

September 22, 1784 

Russians founded the first permanent settlement in Alaska. 

September 28, 1949 

USSR terminated its Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with Yugoslavia. Miraculously, the head of Yugoslavia, Josef Broz Tito, survived the confrontation and died of old age in 1980.

October, 9, 1874

Nikolai Roerich, Russian famous artist, writer, archaeologist and traveler was born.

October 16, 1959

The first of Moscow’s underpasses were opened. 

October, 10, 1974

The prisoners of Mordovian labor camp marked the Day of Political Prisoners with a hunger strike. As a result, since 1991, October 10 has been marked as a Day of Remembrance for Victims of Political Repression. 

October, 14, 1964

Nikita Khrushchev was deposed in a bloodless coup. Leonid Brezhnev became First Secretary.