Miscellaneous 2024, November

Bandit and revolutionary, anarchist and security officer, traitor and patriot: Legendary Leva Zadov

Bandit and revolutionary, anarchist and security officer, traitor and patriot: Legendary Leva Zadov

“I’m Leva Zadov, you don’t have to joke with me!” - many remember this catch phrase and the colorful image of a Makhnovist from Alexei Tolstoy’s novel “Walking through the Torments”, as well as the film of the same name based on this work. However, few people know that the unforgettable cinematic hero had a real prototype, the fate of which, in fact, turned out to be much more interesting and confusing than the one invented by the author. In real life, Leva Zadov was a completely different person, and his real biography, of course, was

"Fate for Two": Lyudmila Kasatkina and Sergey Kolosov

"Fate for Two": Lyudmila Kasatkina and Sergey Kolosov

Big, true love - it is love, not falling in love - without falsehood, deception, betrayal; without PR, gossip and gossip; carried through all my life, difficulties, hardships and not extinguished. This was exactly what the actress Lyudmila Kasatkina and director Sergei Kolosov had. Their union lasted 62 years and ended with the almost simultaneous death of both

The name of Pasha Angelina saved her Christian family during the years of repression

The name of Pasha Angelina saved her Christian family during the years of repression

Nowadays, few people remember the legendary tractor driver Pasha Angelina. And in Stalin's times, her name thundered throughout the country, just like the legendary surnames of Chkalov, Stakhanov, Papanin. But even then it was difficult to imagine that a leader in production, a stakhanovka, a “man in a skirt”, was a normal, ordinary woman. Moreover, not very happy and not very healthy

The most beautiful three-verses written by Russian schoolchildren based on classic Japanese hokku

The most beautiful three-verses written by Russian schoolchildren based on classic Japanese hokku

Several years ago, the Russian Center for Wildlife Conservation held an unexpected competition in support of the March for Parks campaign - children were invited to try their hand at writing hokku - Japanese three-verses reflecting the diversity and beauty of wildlife and illustrating the relationship between nature and man. 330 schoolchildren from various regions of Russia took part in the competition. In our review, a selection of poems by the winners of the competition. And to give an idea of the classic hokku, we present the closest ones in terms of

10 favorite children's fairy tales that look like a horror script in the original

10 favorite children's fairy tales that look like a horror script in the original

Many famous fairy tales in the original do not end happily at all. The fact is that the brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault and many other famous storytellers wrote their works for adults, so the plots of unadapted versions of Cinderella, Three Little Pigs and many other good children's fairy tales could successfully become a script for modern horror

How London received Peter I, and what the Russian tsar learned in England

How London received Peter I, and what the Russian tsar learned in England

In March 1697, the Great Embassy of Peter I - 250 people - moved to Europe from Russia. The goal was to find allies and adopt the best European experience in order to make the country competitive. And if it didn't work out very well with the first one, then the second point was brilliantly executed. It is all the more surprising to know that the tsar himself was present in the delegation under an assumed name, and personally mastered all the basics of European sciences

Why French became native to the Russian elite: Gallomania in Russia in the 18th-19th centuries

Why French became native to the Russian elite: Gallomania in Russia in the 18th-19th centuries

At all times, great masters of the word composed odes to the Russian language, calling it truly magical, admiring the wealth, expressiveness, accuracy, liveliness, poetry, the ability to convey the subtlest nuances of feelings. And the more you enumerate these advantages, the more paradoxical the fact is that there was a period when many of our compatriots declared their native language common and vulgar and preferred to communicate and even think in French. Even the famous phrase of Kutuzov at the council in F

Why Port Arthur capitulated, and who accused the Russian general of betrayal

Why Port Arthur capitulated, and who accused the Russian general of betrayal

At the very beginning of 1905, 329 days after the start of the Russo-Japanese War, the Far Eastern fortress of Port Arthur was handed over to the Japanese after a difficult defense. Under the terms of the surrender treaty, all soldiers who ground more than 100 thousand Japanese during the siege campaign were subject to capture. Having witnessed the incredible heroism of the privates and officers of the garrison defending Port Arthur, contemporaries put the defense of the fortress on a par with the defense of Sevastopol. And the Soviet writer Stepanov argued that for capitulation

Forgotten Traditions of the Russian Elite: What Mottos Did Noble Families Have

Forgotten Traditions of the Russian Elite: What Mottos Did Noble Families Have

Then - the motto on the coat of arms, now - the status in social networks, but in fact, the meaning of the motto comes down to designating your existence in the world, and even better - not only your own, but the whole family. The desire to preserve your name in history, to give it weight not only with high-profile deeds, but also with signs of your belonging to those who are marked by a noble birth and the grace of the sovereign - this is what stood behind the "statuses" of past centuries

Some plots of Scandinavian mythology in metal plastic found on the territory of Ancient Russia

Some plots of Scandinavian mythology in metal plastic found on the territory of Ancient Russia

Influence of the Scandinavians on Russia in the 10-11th centuries - a topic that attracts attention over a long period of time. According to most researchers, the Swedish Vikings were the most successful in this. Judging by the treasures found on the island of Gotland, extensive trade was conducted with both the West and the East, which confirms the existence of two trade routes: from the Varangians to the Greeks and from the Varangians to the Persians

Smoking kills? You haven't tried fries yet! Interesting ad from Canadian scientists

Smoking kills? You haven't tried fries yet! Interesting ad from Canadian scientists

According to modern scientists, French fries are as harmful to human health as cigarettes. However, unlike tobacco, the harmful effects of fast food are not always obvious to the layman. To somehow remedy the situation, Canadian doctors initiated an anti-advertising campaign for "harmful" products

Unpopular literature - about the weirdness of the world of people and the wonders of art

Unpopular literature - about the weirdness of the world of people and the wonders of art

Traveling through space and time, the discovery of unknown lands, undeservedly forgotten directions in art, new technical principles, psychological laws that determine our behavior - this book review is devoted to all this

Incredible video: on a piano lid, a ballerina performs a dance, balancing on sharpened kitchen knives

Incredible video: on a piano lid, a ballerina performs a dance, balancing on sharpened kitchen knives

En Puntas is a video installation by Javier Perez featuring ballerina Amelie Segarra performing an incredible dance on a piano lid, in pointe shoes, to which sharp kitchen knives are attached

TOP 5 best bakeries in Berlin

TOP 5 best bakeries in Berlin

Freshly baked bread with a little butter or olive oil and a pinch of salt is a real treat when you visit one of Berlin's popular bakeries. Texture, taste, density - for the Germans, these parameters are an ideal opportunity to combine science and art. It is no coincidence that many countries have recently adopted their bakery traditions

Sweet conversation with Fritz Knipschildt - the founder of one of the most elite pastry houses

Sweet conversation with Fritz Knipschildt - the founder of one of the most elite pastry houses

They say that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but is this statement completely true? There is definitely something missing here. But what about sweets? Almost everyone loves chocolate. It looks so tempting that it is simply impossible to admire it. Knipschildt confectionery house, recognized as one of the most elite and expensive in the world, is able to make all the sweet dreams of its visitors come true

Basketball backboard with 6 rings: multiplying your training efficiency

Basketball backboard with 6 rings: multiplying your training efficiency

Probably, the employees of llbot & pons are familiar with the spirit of rivalry, when men compete for the attention of one girl, customers argue who will get the last cake from the window, and athletes cannot share one basketball hoop. No wonder the designers presented a sports ground and a basketball backboard with 6 rings to the audience. In their opinion, such a solution will not only avoid disputes among players, but also increase the efficiency of training

Actress Tilda Swinton sleeps in a glass box at the Museum of Modern Art in New York

Actress Tilda Swinton sleeps in a glass box at the Museum of Modern Art in New York

Scottish actress Tilda Swinton literally sleeps in a glass box in front of hundreds of staring tourists at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA). Thus, she takes part in a touching performance "Probably" ("The Maybe")

What secrets are kept in the flooded ancient city of Shichen in China

What secrets are kept in the flooded ancient city of Shichen in China

In the Chinese province of Zhejiang, about one hundred and fifty kilometers from Hangzhou, there is the beautiful Qiandaohu Lake or Thousand Island Lake. This stunning beauty is by no means a work of the Creator, but the work of human hands. Only six decades ago, the valley was flooded in order to build a hydroelectric power plant. As a result, a little more than a thousand islets were formed, from which the lake got its romantic name. But the most interesting thing about this beautiful place is not what it finds

TOP 10 love triangles in movies

TOP 10 love triangles in movies

The love triangle is one of the most popular themes in films, so the list can be endless. Some of us, unfortunately, have already found ourselves in a similar situation and learned the hard way about the consequences. When watching a movie with a love triangle in the foreground, you involuntarily take one of the sides and feel a great involvement in the plot. And sometimes it is simply impossible to make a choice, and the feelings of the protagonist become close and understandable. Are you on Pete's or Gale's team? NS

Captured by the Russians: What German POWs Remembered About the Years Spent in the USSR

Captured by the Russians: What German POWs Remembered About the Years Spent in the USSR

In the fall of 1955, the last German prisoner of war was released to Germany. In total, about 2 million people went home during the repatriation period. In the postwar period, they were involved in the construction and restoration of the national economy. The Germans mined coal and Siberian gold, restored Dneproges and Donbass, and rebuilt Sevastopol and Stalingrad. Despite the fact that the special camp is not a pleasant place, in their memories the former prisoners spoke relatively well of the time

How an American soldier returned from Denmark as a cute blonde

How an American soldier returned from Denmark as a cute blonde

On February 12, 1953, American journalists greeted a bright, beautiful woman at the airport. Because of the hype around, this lady could be mistaken for a Hollywood star. However, Christina Jorgensen was only famous for being a man until recently. Today, such news would not shock anyone, but almost 70 years ago it became a real sensation. Many ordinary people simply could not understand how such an increase could occur in principle

TV magazine "Pun": How the fate of the actors from the popular television show of the 1990s

TV magazine "Pun": How the fate of the actors from the popular television show of the 1990s

Since its first airing in 1996, the TV magazine "Kalambur" has become one of the most popular programs. Funny situations in which the heroes of humorous sketches fell, grotesque acting, changing the scene, all this the viewer was able to fully appreciate. In "Kalambura" only 5 actors were filmed, while all of them at one time graduated from the Odessa Polytechnic Institute. How did their fates develop after the closure of the TV show and what are they doing now?

Romanian salt mine converted into a history museum

Romanian salt mine converted into a history museum

Romanians are an enterprising people. What is just the opening of a museum on the territory of an abandoned salt mine! The old production was changed beyond recognition, turning it into a real place of pilgrimage for tourists. Every day, hundreds of people from all over the world come to Transylvania (35 km from the city of Cluj-Napoca) to admire the former salt mine and breathe healthy air

Why the most impressive "villain" in Hollywood converted to Orthodoxy and Russian citizenship: Carey-Hiroyuki Tagawa

Why the most impressive "villain" in Hollywood converted to Orthodoxy and Russian citizenship: Carey-Hiroyuki Tagawa

The legendary cinematic villain, whom many viewers lovingly call Shang Tsung, has been a citizen of the Russian Federation for several years. This decision of the foreign actor did not surprise his friends, because back in 2010, Tagawa showed ardent love for our country - he took part in the program "Let's Get Married" on Channel One, where he was picked up by a Russian bride. The Hollywood star did not succeed in a serious relationship with her, but, apparently, Russia really got used to his heart

What the world leaders looked like and did in their youth

What the world leaders looked like and did in their youth

Even the powerful of this world were once ordinary girls and guys who dream of conquering new peaks, standing at a crossroads, looking for their own way, adoring to have fun and have a good time. Looking at their serious faces and personable appearance now, you cannot immediately say that once they could not even think that they would shoulder the responsibility for the fate of their own countries and peoples. Well, it will be all the more interesting to look at the pictures from the “before and after” series in order to understand that time has no power. Behold

What good did Genghis Khan do for the world, and why historians do not like to remember this

What good did Genghis Khan do for the world, and why historians do not like to remember this

The Mongol Empire was the largest empire in the history of mankind. Genghis Khan managed to conquer and unite almost all of Asia, including China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, and reached Eastern Europe with his troops. Now, in the minds of many people, the Mongol Empire is inextricably linked with destruction and decline, but at the same time it brought many very positive reforms

Tikhon Khrennikov: Stalin's favorite, Prokofiev's admirer and founder of a musical dynasty

Tikhon Khrennikov: Stalin's favorite, Prokofiev's admirer and founder of a musical dynasty

“Live yourself and let others live” is the first quote that comes to mind to the grandson of the famous composer Tikhon Khrennikov. These words accurately characterize his famous grandfather and full namesake. Stalin's favorite, Prokofiev's admirer and founder of the musical dynasty wrote "a musical portrait of the twentieth century"

Father of Five Victor Hugo and His Favorite Courtesan: A 50-Year Love Story

Father of Five Victor Hugo and His Favorite Courtesan: A 50-Year Love Story

He considered himself the only classic of the 19th century, and she called him God. Victor Hugo was married, had hundreds of mistresses and an affair with a courtesan that lasted half a century. The beautiful Juliette Drouet became his muse, irreplaceable assistant, first advisor, friend. What was this woman who conquered the French writer?

Disappointed Wanderer: Why did Dostoevsky dislike Europe and what country he simply hated

Disappointed Wanderer: Why did Dostoevsky dislike Europe and what country he simply hated

Literary critics often say that Fyodor Dostoevsky knew more about Russia than anyone else. Meanwhile, he hardly saw his native country. The writer made only one forced "trip" to Siberia. His exile lasted 5 years. But Dostoevsky knew a lot about Europe firsthand. He visited 10 countries. For several years he moved from city to city, each of which greatly disappointed him

The people who are about to disappear from the face of the Earth: Where did the cheldons come to Siberia and how they live today

The people who are about to disappear from the face of the Earth: Where did the cheldons come to Siberia and how they live today

Among the rare nationalities of our country, the cheldons (chaldons) are perhaps the most mysterious. Mentions about these indigenous inhabitants of Siberia can be found in the works of the classics of Russian literature - Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Korolenko, Mamin-Sibiryak, and colorful Siberian words, such as "Do not know" or "Do not understand", are known to everyone. The cheldons themselves are still surrounded by an aura of mystery. There is still no consensus on the origin of this people. And this is complicated by the fact that at the moment cheldons on the territory

The Butterfly Writer Loved: How Nabokov's Winged Muses Became His Fatal Passion

The Butterfly Writer Loved: How Nabokov's Winged Muses Became His Fatal Passion

Vladimir Nabokov caught the first butterfly in the Vyra family estate near St. Petersburg, when he was six. It was a magnificent swallowtail. The boy put him in a glass cabinet. In the morning, when the door was opened, the winged creature flew away. The next butterfly caught by the future writer, the mother helped to put to sleep with ether. This is how Vladimir Nabokov's passionate love for lepidoptera began. He also loved chess and boxed. But it was precisely the passion for butterflies, according to his son, that became fatal for the writer

The unsolved mystery of "The Little Humpbacked Horse": What hidden knowledge the author could encrypt in a fairy tale

The unsolved mystery of "The Little Humpbacked Horse": What hidden knowledge the author could encrypt in a fairy tale

When Pyotr Ershov wrote The Little Humpbacked Horse, he was only 18 years old. The genius of this tale, which has not lost its popularity until now, as well as the fact that after it the writer could no longer create anything outstanding (the rest of the works were clearly weaker), never ceases to amaze readers and literary critics. But lovers of mysticism and hidden meanings find a lot of encrypted information in The Little Humpbacked Horse. They believe that in this way the author wanted to pass on some secret knowledge to the descendants

Incestuous Marriages, Schizophrenia, and Jewish Relatives: Origin Secrets Hidden by Adolf Hitler

Incestuous Marriages, Schizophrenia, and Jewish Relatives: Origin Secrets Hidden by Adolf Hitler

The ideology of Nazism is on a mythical foundation. The purity of the race, the origin is the main thing. And the followers of the Fuhrer must be only purebred Aryans. Due to their unattractive pedigree, many were expelled from the party and even executed! But what about the origin of the Fuhrer himself? - the history of his family has long been a mystery

"Dead Souls": How Gogol's "Funny Joke" Turned into a Gloomy "Encyclopedia of Russian Life"

"Dead Souls": How Gogol's "Funny Joke" Turned into a Gloomy "Encyclopedia of Russian Life"

Pushkin motivated Gogol to create the poem "Dead Souls". He presented his idea of the plot and persuaded him to take on a worthwhile thing. After some time, Gogol introduced the poet to his book. Pushkin was amazed. Nikolai Vasilievich undertook to describe Russian reality, modeled on the work of Dante. But only one part of "The Divine Comedy in Russian" was released. Dead Souls comes out - the hell of Russian reality. And Gogol's genius manifested itself in the ability to clothe all the worst in a shell

Maria Poroshina and her children: How an actress with many children weaned her daughters from gadgets, and how director Mikhalkov helps her in upbringing

Maria Poroshina and her children: How an actress with many children weaned her daughters from gadgets, and how director Mikhalkov helps her in upbringing

The Always Say Always star believes that modesty is the main thing in a woman. Therefore, Maria Poroshina brings up her children very strictly. And not only her husband, artist Ilya Drevnov, helps her in this, but also the famous director Nikita Mikhalkov. The actress spoke about this in an interview. She also explained why she cannot get married with her husband in church

How Stalin persuaded Bulgakov to stay in the USSR and why he gave secret gifts to Vertinsky

How Stalin persuaded Bulgakov to stay in the USSR and why he gave secret gifts to Vertinsky

Stalin is a Shakespearean hero. The scale of the personality of this politician did not leave indifferent artists of the 20th century. They watched as bewitched, and yet surrendered themselves into his hands. Vertinsky and Bulgakov, what do they have in common? - Country and Stalin

Oscar Wilde's vicious passion and "The Picture of Dorian Gray", which became the most famous and unsuccessful novel of the writer

Oscar Wilde's vicious passion and "The Picture of Dorian Gray", which became the most famous and unsuccessful novel of the writer

The name Wilde translated from English means "irrepressible, ardent, passionate." Such was this mysterious writer. Always with a live flower in his buttonhole, in breathtaking outfits, handsome and talented. He was called "the prince of the aesthetes". And he did not hesitate to talk about his genius

Why J.K. Rowling's new book is out in print

Why J.K. Rowling's new book is out in print

The author of "Potteriana" and a number of detective novels released her new work entitled "Bad Blood" in mid-September 2020. The book became the fifth in the series "Cormoran Strike", which J.K. Rowling releases not under his real name, but under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. However, the novel, which tells the story of a serial criminal who disguises himself in women's clothing to hunt for his victims, has caused a wave of indignation on the network

Holy relics, battle trophies, decor and other reasons why bodies are preserved after death

Holy relics, battle trophies, decor and other reasons why bodies are preserved after death

When a person dies, then his usual body is buried or burned. In some cultures, a fast burial is a tradition (for Jews and Muslims), while there are countries (for example, Sweden) where it can take several weeks from the moment of death to the day of the burial. In some cultures, humble funerals are practiced with traditional mournful chants, while in others (often in African) people sing and have fun, seeing off the deceased on their last journey. And there is an alternative option - body parts of those who died with

10 favorite books by Hollywood stars that they recommend their fans read

10 favorite books by Hollywood stars that they recommend their fans read

Despite the fact that electronic gadgets have long and firmly entered our lives, paper books are still in demand. And many celebrities even prefer to read the works of their favorite authors in their spare time on the set. What books do Hollywood celebrities prefer? Angelina Jolie, Daniel Radcliffe, Johnny Depp and others are able to surprise with their choice