Miscellaneous 2024, November

A sham marriage is not about starting a family at all. Rather, it is a commercial transaction in which one or both spouses receive some kind of benefit. For what reasons can people go to the conclusion of a fictitious marriage? Registration, citizenship, material benefit? Celebrities who have had a fake marriage experience are reluctant to be reminded of the circumstances under which they had to make a deal

He was born into a stellar family and, as it might seem, grew up as a completely prosperous child. Stas Piekha in childhood often appeared on television with his star grandmother, went on tour with her while his mother, Ilona Bronevitskaya, was building her career. No one could even imagine that already in adolescence he was a deeply dependent person. However, Stas Piekha admits today - his addiction has not gone anywhere, because the former fans of prohibited substances

During the Soviet Union, viewers often did not even know which of the republics this or that performer was from. Of course, the air most often sounded songs performed by Lev Leshchenko, Joseph Kobzon, Alla Pugacheva, Sofia Rotaru and other recognized and honored masters. But millions of people, along with them, listened with pleasure to those whose names were not so well known: Nikolai Hnatyuk, Roza Rymbaeva, Nadezhda Chepragu and others. After the collapse of a huge country, the destinies of these performers were

In 2009, he won the hearts of the audience with an enchanting performance at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. Violin mastery and unforgettable voice of the performer made him a real favorite. Alexander Rybak was then only 23 years old, and it seemed that new victories and achievements awaited him ahead. Now he is 35 and the path he has traveled since winning the competition was not at all as smooth as it once seemed. The stumbling block was the performer's serious problems

It's hard to imagine, but in the 1980s, when Zhenya Belousov took off to the musical Olympus of a huge country, there were only three songs in his repertoire! And behind him were an invented biography, an alien image and passionate dreams of enduring glory. He had millions of fans, he played the role of a sweet young boy and only in moments of rest, hiding from prying eyes, allowed himself to become himself again, not Zhenya, but Yevgeny Belousov

The Ukrainian serf Ustym Karmelyuk is associated with the rebellious liberation movement in the Ukrainian lands of the Russian Empire. But his personality is still seen by historians in different ways. In Ukrainian textbooks, he is designated as a fighter against the gentry, leader and protector of the peasants. Here are just some of the historians questioning the glorified heroism of Ustim. After all, both Poles and Jews were members of his group. And the chips flew not only at the robbed rich people, ordinary people also suffered from Karmelyuk's tricks

In the late 1980s, the entire vast country began to sing along with Alice Mon when she appeared on the screens with her hit "Plantain". She was bright, perky and seemed very independent. During the concerts, she easily held an audience of thousands and won over millions of listeners with her talent. From the outside, the life of Alice Mon seemed like a fairy tale, but as soon as the lights went out and the singer left the stage, a real nightmare began, which seemed to have no end

Black caviar has always been a symbol of Russia, along with fur, nesting dolls and a bear with a balalaika. It turns out that there was a scientist who dreamed of creating synthetic caviar from oil and feeding it to the entire population of the country. We are talking about Alexander Nesmeyanov, who headed the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in the fifties of the 20th century. Read in the article why he was preoccupied with creating artificial food, what were the pasta created from petroleum products, and why Nesmeyanov's idea collapsed

The stereotyped image of a typical oligarch looks like this: a man of mature age with a multimillion-dollar fortune, who adores luxury and leads an idle lifestyle. And a prerequisite: a young companion (or several) with a doll face, an ideal figure and high demands. However, not all rich people believe that there should be a long-legged model next to them. Among them there are those who are sure that the family should be a reliable home front. Once having chosen women as companions who are ready to go with them fire, water and copper t

They have always been surprisingly harmonious both on stage and in life, despite the diametrical opposition of characters. They were together when only a narrow circle of fans knew about the Verasa ensemble, they did not part at the zenith of fame and became support for each other at a time when they had to leave their favorite band because of the drug scandal. Alexander Tikhanovich and Yadviga Poplavskaya lived together a whole life to the incessant melody of happiness

For a long time in St. Petersburg it was believed that Mikhail Lomonosov was a bachelor. Imagine the surprise of the public when it turned out that the scientist was married and had two children. Lomonosov's wife was a certain Elizaveta Zilch from Germany. Read in the material how this strange marriage was concluded between a young German woman and a great scientist, why Lomonosov hid from his wife in St. Petersburg, and who helped Elizabeth find her husband

Leo Tolstoy refused the Nobel Prize before being its laureate, therefore he is not among the legal "refuseniks". In addition to Tolstoy, history knows seven cases when famous politicians, writers and scientists did not accept the award already awarded to them. Only two of them - Jean-Paul Sartre and Le Duch Tho - did it of their own free will. The rest made such a decision under pressure from the current government

In 1990, making concessions to the United States, the USSR gave them a huge territory rich in commercial fish and deposits of natural resources. This happened after the signing of the Agreement on June 1, which defined the maritime boundaries between states, giving the United States a much greater territorial advantage. The agreement signed by Shevardnadze and Baker has not yet been ratified by the Russian side, which believes that the procedure was carried out in violation of not only Russian, but also international legislation

"Stalin's deportations" are a common cliché and traditionally condemned by society. The leader's manners are condemned with a special scope by pro-Western experts. But there is another story, which, for obvious reasons, is not heard. In the early post-war years, there was a massive displacement of ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe. Expulsion in most cases was accompanied by violence, confiscation of property, lynching, concentration camps. According to the Union of the Exiled, the European deportation of Germans was

After the formation of the Soviet state, there was a fierce struggle against religion, which did not spare the clergy of any denomination. However, the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, with the threat of the capture of the country by the enemy, united the previously almost irreconcilable parties. June 1941 was the day when secular and spiritual authorities began to act together in order to unite the people with patriotism to rid the Motherland of the enemy

Unfortunately, the hero of the Soviet Union and Russia, Sergei Krikalev, did not receive such world fame as Yuri Gagarin or Valentina Tereshkova. Even not all Russians know about the existence of such an astronaut and about his interesting biography. Meanwhile, for ten years he was the Earth's record holder for the longest total time spent in space. And he also unwittingly became the only cosmonaut who went into orbit from the Soviet Union, and returned when the USSR had already disintegrated

Wanting to speed up their victory, the Germans had a plan to use Soviet prisoners of war for this. To recruit Red Army soldiers in the camps, any methods were used - from intimidation by hunger and backbreaking work to the processing of consciousness with anti-Soviet propaganda. Psychological pressure and hard physical existence often forced soldiers and officers to go over to the side of the enemy of the Red Army. Some of them became excellent performers and killed their people. And some after the disembarkations

In 1941, the Germans sanctioned the creation of Republik Lokot - "Lokot Administrative District". It included several districts located in the North-West of the Kursk and districts located in the south of the Bryansk (then Oryol) regions, and the population was over half a million people. Republik Lokot was subordinate to the rear command of the Second Panzer Army of the Wehrmacht, led by Colonel General Heinz Guderian. The so-called Russian liberation n

Lavrenty Beria in March 1953 significantly changed the lives of not only a million people who were suddenly released from the prison backyards, but also those who were now forced to coexist with them. Moreover, this decision had a significant impact on the cultural and social life of the entire USSR, and the echoes of this amnesty are still heard today. Why was Beria so humane to criminals and so cruel to ordinary citizens, for whom the summer of 53 became really cold

Military historians call Dmitry Lavrinenko the most productive Red Army tanker during the Great Patriotic War. In a little over two months of fighting, he eliminated 52 fascist tanks. The war chronicles did not record any more such an example. Lavrinenko took part in the battles for Moscow, covered the legendary Panfilov division, and single-handedly recaptured a small town from the Germans. His high class and unique ability to competently improvise in the hottest battles turned into l

Nikolai Shchelokov is still considered the most controversial person in the government of Leonid Brezhnev. He did everything possible to change the attitude of society towards the police, and on the other hand, he was removed from office for numerous abuses. He was able to raise the status of a police officer to a high level. As a result, he committed suicide after he was stripped not only of his position, but also of all his titles and awards

In the first year of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, Red Army units were actively replenished with persons with a valid prison term. And although most of them had only one go to the zone, often recidivists also got to the front, for whom the prison became practically their home. Despite the fearlessness of the criminals and their audacity in battle, since 1944 the authorities have ceased to equip military units with "urks" for several reasons

Probably every writer or poet dreams of getting into history. Very often, talent is not enough to become a classic, and you also need luck. There is also a saying that mediocrity will break through, and talent must be maintained. Using the example of Russian classics, one can see how the process of their recognition took place in the literary and poetic world. Read about the universal genius of Alexander Pushkin, and also why Lenin was sick of Dostoevsky's prose and how Yesenin's poems were recorded in secret notebooks

"The real father is not the one who gave birth, but the one who raised" - this is how the Russian proverb sounds. And it doesn't matter: rich or not, famous or not a new father, the main thing is that he loves and is engaged in education. Today we want to remember the famous stepfathers who were able to give warmth to the acquired children, as well as instill in them a love for the acting profession. And what is surprising - their worries were not in vain - adopted daughters and sons achieved success and became no less popular than their stepfather

In the public consciousness, the opinion that no one lived in Russia was worse than serfs. That it was the most disenfranchised stratum of the population in tsarist Russia. It turns out that this is not the case. There were strata of the population that were essentially slaves. Read in the material about slaves, servants and other castes in Russia, whose position the peasants of even the most strict landowners did not envy, how people became powerless and what they did

In old Russia, the word "chaerezy" was used to describe criminals who attacked and plundered tea carts. Why exactly tea? Did they really have little other goods - furs, jewelry, fabrics, dishes? After all, one could profit well by attacking a trade train. Read in the article why tea aroused such interest among robbers, why it was Siberia that became the birthplace of terrible and dexterous tea trees, why they were named that way and why people were horrified when they were mentioned

Until serfdom was abolished in 1861, landlords owned peasants as property. It happened that people were sold, given and even mortgaged. Often serfs were exchanged for other property. Trafficking in human beings in the 18th and 19th centuries was not surprising to anyone. The owners even submitted advertisements to the newspapers. Read how much the serf was worth, how people were exchanged for animals and in exchange for what items it was possible to get the property of the peasants

A sovereign state loses its independence if external political or economic factors begin to influence the internal life of the country. In the late USSR, such a factor was the dollar exchange rate, which determines the price of oil and depreciates the ruble, worsening the state of the economy. Things were different in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union before the arrival of Khrushchev: it was during these periods that the country was a self-sufficient state, while exporting at the same time a minimum of barrels of oil

We all know from literature that in the old days marriages between cousins and cousins were quite common - it is worth remembering at least the Wilkes family from "Gone with the Wind" or the Habsburg dynasty, the reason for the degeneration of which is today believed to be multiple closely related ties. However, it turns out that such practice has always been viewed negatively in Russia - the Orthodox Church prohibited such marriages, although there were also exceptions to the strict rule

Usually people imagine the Russian tower as a beautiful, solid hut. Not everyone knows that not the whole house was called with this word, but only part of it. And it was intended for the residence of women - wives, daughters, sisters and mothers of representatives of the aristocracy of ancient Russia. It was a kind of women's prison. This tradition was changed by Peter I, but thousands of women's destinies were broken. Read why the mansion was a prison for women and how they escaped from captivity

Russia has always amazed with its generosity, folk talents, beautiful women. What about food? There are several gastronomic brands, the rights to which belong to this particular country. You can't confuse them with anything, but the taste is just delicious! Even foreigners strongly associate these sweets and products with Russia. But the residents of our country do not always, because they may not know where the brand comes from

It is impossible to say exactly how many abandoned cities there are on the territory of the former USSR. Recently, they have become a favorite destination for adventure seekers and those interested in a bygone era. If once people left these places, for one reason or another, now, in the wake of the popularity of the “end of the world”, the Maya calendar, Vanga's predictions and other apocalyptic moods, they again rushed to these ghost towns. Despite the fact that now they are beyond the board of modernity, once they

There are still a lot of rumors and legends around this operation, and sometimes it seems simply impossible to separate truth and fiction. It is indisputable that the secret expedition sent by Hitler to the shores of Antarctica had a very definite goal. And the tasks assigned to the participants in the operation were very far from mysticism. Rather, the goal was set very practical and quite achievable, as it seemed to the Fuehrer

Mikhail Romanov grew up as an inquisitive but shy boy. He diligently avoided increased attention to himself from childhood and preferred to spend time reading books or fishing with Father Alexander III. He was glad that he would not have to inherit the throne and dreamed of living freely, like ordinary people. But once Mikhail Alexandrovich became the cause of a real scandal and fell out with his brother the emperor

In 1885, the famous German design engineer Daimler created the first motorcycle. This fact replenished the conveyor of the transport industry, provoked the emergence of a motorcycle culture and, in particular, motor sports. In Russian society, motorsport took its first shoots back in imperial times. And even in spite of the fact that there was no production of motorcycles inside the country, competitions with the participation of "motors", as they were then called, were regularly held until the very beginning of the First World War. October Revolution

As they say, habit is second nature. There are good habits, there are bad ones, and there are those that came to us from the USSR. People of the older generation probably remember what life was like under the Soviet Union. He was very strongly influenced by the deficit, giving rise to even natural superstitions, forcing him to develop habits that today will be incomprehensible to many, or even completely ridiculous. Almost everyone knows about some today, but some have been forgotten. The more interesting it will be to remember the strange customs of that era

The pandemic that struck the world in 1968 and raged for three years was the third global outbreak of the influenza virus. According to various estimates, from one to four million people died from the new disease during that period. There were so many dead in West Berlin that the corpses were piled in the tunnels of inactive subway stations, but there was no mass hype in the press. The Soviet Union managed to avoid a deadly epidemic

For Soviet proletarians, until the fall of 1929, Sunday was a day off. It was a reward for six working days. You could be with your family, go to church, or clean up after all. But in the eyes of the Soviet government, headed by Comrade Stalin, Sunday posed a threat to industrial progress. The machines were idle, productivity dropped to zero, and people got used to bourgeois comfort. This contradicted the ideals of the revolution and was introduced continuous work

Anthropologists argue that all forms of kinship that are considered traditional by modern science are based on the exchange of childbirth by women. Yes, in the light of progressive views, this is difficult to take for granted, but throughout history, women have played a role. This affected her position in the family and society. John Bushnell in his book describes a situation that can be regarded as a woman's rebellion, because Russian peasant women refused to marry, not with

For his creative propaganda work, confidently guiding society in a correctly chosen course, the artist Kokorekin was endowed in Moscow with preferences that few people had then. Aleksey Alekseevich was allowed to visit abroad. At the end of 1959, along with gifts to his loved ones, he brought Muscovites a long-forgotten medieval smallpox. Unprecedented swift measures taken by the Moscow authorities and services made it possible to instantly stop the spread of one of the world's worst diseases