First woman to walk in space and the tallest memorial column in the world are remembered in tonight’s Historama.
Space walk in high heels
Today in 1984, Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to perform a space walk.
It lasted 3 hours and 35 minutes.
Savitskaya is also famous as a test and sports pilot. She set 18 international world records on MiG aircraft and three records in team parachute jumping.
This brave woman was twice awarded a “Hero of the Soviet Union” title. She is now a member of the Russian parliament.
Read more on this day in Russian history
3,000 men to lift one column
On this day in 1832, the famous Alexandrian Column was brought to St. Petersburg from Finland.
It was designed by French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand and topped with a statue of an angel holding a cross.
Later it was erected by 3,000 men in less than two hours. The spectacle attracted crowds of city residents.
The column is considered to be the tallest of its kind in the world. It commemorates the Russian victory in the war with France, and is named after Emperor Alexander I, who defeated Napoleon.