Unfortunate mutiny of a Soviet naval officer and first airing of Russia’s beloved TV show make up this day in Russian history.
Soviet authorities crush naval officer’s rebellion
On this day in 1975, Valery Sablin led a mutiny aboard a Soviet Baltic Fleet destroyer.
The naval officer was convinced that the government was leading people the wrong way and planned a revolution.
Sablin advocated a multiparty system, freedom of speech and debate, as well as changing the election procedures.
The Soviet leadership took his actions very seriously: the ship was bombed and Sablin himself was executed a year later.
Read more on this event in Russian history
Russia’s beloved humor show goes on air
On this day in 1961, KVN humor show aired for the first time on Soviet TV.
KVN abbreviates the Russian for “Club of the Merry and Inventive.”
This programme shaped the modern Russian comedy scene.
Teams competed by giving funny answers to questions and preparing sketches.
Inthe early 1970s, the programme was shut down for containing politicizedsketches – the Soviet government did not take irony too well.
However, KVN has been back on air since 1986
Russian “Da Vinci”
On this day in 1711, the Russian “Da Vinci” – Mikhail Lomonosov – was born in the city of Arkhangelsk in a peasant family.
His hunger for knowledge was immense. At nineteen, Lomonosov joined a caravan travelling to Moscow, where hemanaged to become a student by claiming to be a priest’s son.
After finishing courses in Russia and then abroad, he became a renowned chemist, physicist, mineralogist and historian. He was also a poet and a linguist.
Lomonosov founded Moscow’s first State University – which is named after him.