Miscellaneous 2024, November

The famous singer, who was loved all over the world for her unique voice, gave birth to her only son at the age of 39. For the sake of the opportunity to know the joy of motherhood, Anna German risked her own life and refused to take into account the prohibitions of doctors, who had every reason to doubt the positive outcome of the singer's pregnancy and childbirth. Son Zbigniew became the meaning of the singer's life, and today he categorically refuses to listen to songs performed by his mother

Famous actors and singers always become the object of adoration of the opposite sex. Everyone goes through this test differently. Someone rushes "all bad", someone, on the contrary, jealously remains faithful to the lawful spouse. In the life of Leonid Utesov there was everything - loyalty, and infidelity, and his beloved wife, and crazy admirers, an abandoned bride, and even a late marriage at the end of life

Olga and Elena Rostropovich grew up in a legendary family. Their parents were world stars, and from childhood they were accompanied by music that poured literally from everywhere. But at the same time, Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya were not inclined to pamper their daughters. Many years later, the legendary opera singer sincerely regretted the excessive severity, and sometimes harshness, but noted: her girls received the right upbringing

More than two years have passed since the day when Dmitry Hvorostovsky, a talented singer, owner of a deep baritone, passed away. It is difficult to convey how the performer's relatives experienced this loss. Parents will never be able to come to terms with this loss, as his beloved Florence will never forget her husband, and children will always lack the wisdom and support of the dad. But their life goes on, even though there is no longer the dearest person in it

She became famous as a teenager and at the age of 17 she signed her first contract. Today Britney Spears earns an annual income of several tens of millions of dollars, but at the same time she has no right to dispose of her own money. In addition, she does not have the opportunity to freely visit friends or get married, and her father exercises full control over the life of the 39-year-old performer, and her mother is trying very hard to get her share of her daughter's property

In the distant 30s, a shocking attraction appeared in America where a "doctor" named Martin Coney, later nicknamed the incubator doctor, demonstrated premature babies in incubators. The ticket cost 25 cents and there was no end to those wishing to see little babies

Anyone who is even a little familiar with the history of Ancient Egypt can easily name a couple of names of the rulers of this country - the pharaohs, those who were portrayed in special clothes, for whom huge tombs were erected, in whose honor inscriptions were carved on the walls of temples. Being a pharaoh meant about the same as being a celestial - a deity, as if briefly descended to earth. But what is surprising is that none of the rulers ever called himself Pharaoh, moreover, never the title of ruler E

A huge lake in the middle of the Libyan desert, named after one of the pharaohs, was decorated with two huge pyramids; the largest labyrinth of antiquity was located on the shore. Herodotus and his followers, who visited the Fayum oasis, wrote about this. And now - and the lake has become much smaller, and the pyramids have disappeared, leaving almost no chance to learn at least something about them, and the labyrinth has not yet been found even by the most persistent enthusiasts. There are only mummies left - and the amazing beauty of Fayum portraits

Historians and archaeologists still have a lot of work in relation to Ancient Egypt - the Great Sphinx alone keeps so many secrets that it will be enough for more than one loud discovery. But there is an even more mysterious ancient phenomenon, the first mention of which, by the way, dates back to the time of the construction of this stone guardian of the desert. It is about the country of Punt, from which, according to their beliefs, their gods came to the Egyptians

A reformer pharaoh, a seer, a guest from the past, or … an alien? The identity of the mysterious ruler of Egypt, the husband of the beautiful Nefertiti, is surrounded by many fantastic rumors. If you cut off the most incredible, there will be a story of a man who went against millennial traditions - in politics, religion and art. He rejected all canons, rejected all gods except one, and ruled Egypt along with a mysterious woman

They became close when they no longer thought that personal happiness was possible. Valentin Gaft and Olga Ostroumova became the perfect couple, having gone through four official divorces for two before. Their wedding took place in a hospital ward without witnesses, and today they remember it as one of the brightest events in their lives. And most importantly, their late love is real

More than 3.5 thousand years ago, a whole chain of amazing and terrible events took place in Egypt, which received the name - 10 Egyptian executions. According to the biblical book of Exodus, the Egyptian Pharaoh was punished in this way for his hardheartedness, because he did not want to release the Jewish people from slavery. Ancient Egypt befell ten terrible calamities. Only at the tenth execution did Pharaoh surrender and release the people of God. How was it and what scientific evidence is there for all the events described?

As a child, he was struck by the sight of the only Egyptian mummy in the local museum. It was not yet known about the existence of most of the temples, nothing disturbed the centuries-old peace of hundreds of burials, then no one had yet seen the paws of the Great Sphinx - they were hidden under a thick layer of sand. The museum, which will become the largest repository of ancient Egyptian treasures, did not exist either. All this was to be dealt with by this French boy who was considering an ancient sarcophagus in his hometown

The Suez Canal, opened to shipping in 1869, proved to be very costly and very profitable. In addition, it was a breakthrough in sea traffic - it was no longer necessary to go around Africa, as Vasco da Gama did, to get into the Mediterranean waters from the Indian Ocean. Why hasn't the new waterway been laid earlier? Perhaps because in the past, people were more concerned with preserving the environment

Novels about great and bright feelings have not lost their popularity for many decades. But those books in which the real love stories of great people were described are of much greater interest. Life tested them for strength, but feelings turned out to be stronger than distances, diseases, boundaries and even death. Our today's review features poignant and romantic books about non-fictional love

He was very shy, eccentric and incredibly talented. And Ray Bradbury remained a child all his life. He looked at the world with interest, retained a childlike spontaneity and accepted exclusively children's toys as gifts for Christmas. For 57 years his beloved wife Maggie was next to the writer. If not for her, the world might never have read Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, or perhaps his other works

Today you can often hear that Georgia was the best in the Union. There could be several reasons for the privileged position. This is a good geographical location, and the Georgian elite in the party elite, and the peculiarities of the Transcaucasian mentality. But the fact remains: in the Soviet Union, everyone had the same rights. But for some reason the Georgians were allowed a little more

The works of Ernest Hemingway conquered the world in the 60s and 70s of the last century. Many of his novels became cult, and the writer himself was a legendary person. He himself told friends and acquaintances about the countless number of his lovers, diligently creating a reputation for macho. The state of falling in love was necessary for the writer, like air, it was in women that Hemingway often drew inspiration for his amazing works. Images of some of his lovers can be found in novels and stories

According to Samuel Marshak himself, he began to write poetry even earlier than he even learned to write, and his passion for poetry was akin to an obsession. But there was another passion in his life that accompanied him ever since, when he met Sophia Milvidskaya on a steamer heading to the Holy Land. For 42 years they were together and, as the poet's friends said, Samuil Marshak took place largely thanks to Sofya Mikhailovna

They met in their student years and went through life hand in hand for more than half a century, but in the eyes of those around them, this union was too strange. The Nobel laureate and ideologue of feminism was united by a love for philosophy and for each other, but in their relationship many of the usual signs of marriage were missing. One can endlessly argue about whether such love had a right to exist, but for Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, the answer was obvious and unambiguous

The name Margaret Mitchell was covered with legends during her lifetime, and the day after her tragic death all materials and early manuscripts of "Gone with the Wind" were burned. The wife of the writer, according to her will, left only those materials that made the authorship of his wife undeniable. John Marsh became the second husband of Margaret Mitchell, and for two years he had to put up with the fact that his wife did not part with the gun even at night

They drew attention to themselves during their lifetime, and their love story is of unrelenting interest even 80 years after the dramatic end. Francis Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayr had incredible vitality. The talented writer and his wife lived as they felt - in full force. But what could lead two bright people, in love with life and with each other, to such a sad ending?

The great Leo Tolstoy wrote: "All happy families are similar to each other …" But here's the secret of happiness, it seems, everyone has their own. Someone believes that patience is necessary for a strong marriage, while for someone the basis for a long relationship is a sense of humor and the ability to see funny in the most difficult situations. In our today's review, foreign celebrities who have lived together for over 40 years share the secrets of a strong marriage

Alexander Trifonovich Tvardovsky is a special phenomenon in Russian Soviet literature. Contemporaries called him the conscience of poetry and marveled at his "correctness." But next to him was the one who believed him more than herself. Maria Illarionovna Gorelova became the first and only love in the poet's life, muse, support and "the second wing of his conscience." But in his work there will not be a single poem dedicated to his wife

Mark Twain fell in love with his chosen one Olivia Langdon at first sight and, as it turned out, for life. Although the moment they first saw each other, no one could have imagined a more unsuitable couple for starting a family. Markt Twain and Olivia Langdon were so different that the prospects of their love seemed very dubious. And yet they went through many difficulties and got married to live together for almost 35 happy years

In his life there were many bright encounters, real adventures and trials. And there was an absolutely incredible story, which he will describe in his "Ordinary Miracle", which took Evgeny Schwartz 10 years to create. The great storyteller lived with his Katerina Ivanovna for almost 30 years, she was for him not just a wife and friend, but also a muse who made him dream and create, believe in goodness and in the all-conquering power of love

The first book written by Janusz Wisniewski is Loneliness on the Net. It was sold all over the world in multi-million copies, instantly becoming a bestseller and making the author famous all over the world. But before that, he was enthusiastically engaged in science, seeing it as his calling. Janusz Wisniewski has a master's degree in physics and economics, he defended his Ph.D. thesis in computer science and his doctoral degree in chemistry. What made the scientist take up the writing of the book, and how did it change his whole life?

If you are the happy owner of an old grandmother's chest or attic, where a heap of incomprehensible rubbish is gathering dust, do not rush to get rid of such an "inheritance". History knows many cases when in the family "bins" there were truly amazing things that brought their owners whole fortunes

Real works of art and historical rarities, of course, cannot be accurately estimated in monetary terms, since many of them are simply priceless. However, each item costs as much as they are willing to pay for it, and if the item was once sold, then it is on this price that you can rely. In our review, a story about five books, for which record amounts of money were paid at auctions in different years. Today they are considered the most expensive in the world

It is known that Joseph Brodsky was not only a talented poet and prose writer, but an even greater connoisseur of female beauty. He enjoyed success with the fair sex and at the same time absolutely categorically did not know how to accept defeat in romantic affairs. However, he rarely heard refusals from women. And the more painful was the rejection of the one to whom Joseph Brodsky dedicated the "Embankment of the Incurable"

The fact that Russian is difficult for foreigners to learn is a well-known fact. A huge number of exceptions to the rules, some hard-to-pronounce letters and words no longer surprise anyone. But what lovers of Russian linguistics from other countries do not get tired of being amazed at is the boundless number of established expressions, which in no case should be taken literally. We ourselves do not realize that they constitute a significant part of our speech

On February 5 (January 23, according to the old calendar), 1901, in Moscow, at the junction of Tverskaya Street with Kozitsky Lane, at exactly 12.00 in the presence of a huge number of spectators, a significant procedure for opening a large trading enterprise, which was called "Eliseev's Store and Cellars of Russian and Foreign Wines", took place. This enterprise still exists today. Moreover, it is one of the visiting cards of the main city of Russia

From the very first classes of study, we are told that Russian is the most difficult language. It would seem, what could be simpler than speaking your native dialect correctly? But not everything is as easy as we would like! Day after day, we are faced with mistakes in speech and writing, which at least force us to correct the interlocutor and, at the most, arouse in us a feeling of disgust for the speaker. At the same time, the mistakes are the most elementary and terribly ridiculous! And it is about them that will be discussed further

The truth of the popular proverb that one cannot renounce prison and the bag is often confirmed. In the era of the USSR, one could get a prison sentence not only for real crimes, but also on trumped-up charges. Representatives of the intelligentsia, actors, scientists, and politicians were sent to camps. We invite you to recall today those celebrities who served an undeserved sentence in prison or in camps

Experienced journalists and publishers treat typos as a nasty but indestructible evil. They can disappear from the pages of newspapers, magazines, books, and now the Internet only when a person is completely replaced by machines. Most often they are not paid attention to, however, there have been such mistakes in history that led to very unusual results. Unfortunately, for inattentive proofreaders, such incidents did not always end well

Over the centuries of its existence, the Russian language has undergone tremendous changes in various fields: from the phonetic system to grammatical categories. Some phenomena and elements of the language disappeared without a trace (sounds, letters, vocative case, perfect tenses), others were transformed, and still others appeared, seemingly out of nowhere

It would seem that we are all cultured, modern people, but in our oral, and even in written speech, illiterate words slip through every now and then. And after all, they are so ingrained in everyday life, so familiar to the ear that we do not even notice that we say or write incorrectly. Verbs are especially insidious in this regard. Some of them have become so firmly embedded in our speech that they have already begun to seem the norm. Here are just a few examples of common mistakes we make in verbs

Over the past 200-300 years, not only the way of speaking in Russian has changed, but also the meanings of many words. If a contemporary falls into the time of Catherine the Great, and no matter how he watches his speech, so that “virtuality” and “smoothies” do not slip through there, they will still not understand him the way they would like. Generations of the twenty-first century generally have to interpret a lot in the books of the twentieth, which seem modern and understandable to adults

Few people know that the famous story of Nikolai Gogol "Taras Bulba" in the history of world cinema has been filmed many times. However, until recently, not a single version based on the plot of his immortal creation was filmed in the writer's homeland. And this despite the fact that it was filmed twice in Germany, as well as in France, Great Britain, Italy, the USA and Czechoslovakia. Why did it happen and what prevented the filmmakers of the Soviet era from perpetuating the image of the Cossacks of the time?

The question of stress in verbs is always very painful, especially when it comes to words that are familiar to us. Well, how to believe that a verb we are familiar with, which we hear all our lives from others with one stress, in fact, needs to be pronounced differently. Moreover, in the correct version, it seems to us, sounds strange and even dissonant. But you can't argue with the rules of the Russian language. Here are just a few examples of verbs that many people mispronounce