The Soviet hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba was detonated over Novaya Zemlya Island in the Arctic Sea as a test. With a yield of around 50 megatons, it was the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated to date.
Developed by the Soviet Union, the bomb was originally designed to have a yield of about 100 megatons of TNT (420 PJ); however, the bomb yield was reduced by half in order to limit the amount of nuclear fallout that would result.
Site of the detonation
Only one bomb of this type was built and tested on October 30, 1961, in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.
A mock bomb is on display in the Russian Nuclear Weapons Museum in Sarov.
The term “Tsar Bomba” was coined in an analogy with two other massive Russian objects, the Tsar Kolokol, the world’s largest bell, and the Tsar Pushka, the world’s largest howitzer. Although the bomb was so named by Western sources, the name is now used in Russia.
During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.
October 20, 1982 in Moscow was a cold, windy and snowy day, and the number of tickets sold for the match was relatively low. As a result, only the East Stand was open for spectators, and for security reasons only one exit from the stand was left open. Minutes before the final whistle when FC Spartak were leading 1-0, the spectators began to leave the stadium through this only exit. Read the rest of this entry »
A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, staged a coup d’état against then president Isaías Medina Angarita, who is overthrown by the end of the day.
In October 1945, the military declared themselves in open rebellion in Caracas and Betancourt called on the people to stage a civilian uprising. Medina resigned, but it is generally acknowledged that the army, except for the rebels, was on his side and could have put down the pardo adecos as well as arrest the insubordinate officers.
This is believable because the army was the making of Gomez and Lopez Contreras and even Medina. It was a disciplined institution. But there was the other historical antecedent and that was the long history of violence in Venezuelan politics during the previous century and Medina did not want a bloody civil war on his hands. Read the rest of this entry »
China and Russia has signed billions of dollars worth of deals during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing on Tuesday. The trip was aimed at bolstering business, political and military ties.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said that Putin came to Beijing to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. He said that the Russian leader would also meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao. The two sides are to sign a joint statement of regular high level meetings between the two countries.
Earlier in the day, Russian officials told reporters Russian and Chinese companies signed US$3.5 billion worth of deals. They include a $500 million loan from the Agricultural Bank of China to Russia’s second biggest lender, VTB. Read the rest of this entry »
Preliminary results from Sunday’s local and regional elections in Russia indicate that the United Russia party won a significant majority of votes throughout the country.
Dmitry Medvedev in 2008
Central Elections Commission official Leonid Ivlev said vote counts on Monday showed the United Russia party won nearly 80% of the local races. These included elections for mayors, as well as regional and city legislatures.
In Russia’s capital of Moscow, the pro-Kremlin United Russia obtained 66% of the vote for city council. The opposition Communist Party came in second, with 13%.
Other parties on the ballot failed to reach the required seven-percent needed to secure a seat.
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that the victory indicated “the authority the party has acquired from our people in recent years.” Read the rest of this entry »
Nearly 3,000 people demonstrated in Saint Petersburg, Russia on Saturday to oppose a proposition to construct a skyscraper in the city.
Gazprom HQ St. Petensburg
The demonstrators were protesting against the Okhta Center, a proposed supertall 77-storey skyscraper for the gas company Gazprom measuring 400 metres (1,300 feet).
They said that the tower would ruin the city’s skyline, famous for its historic buildings, palaces, and canals.
Galina Safronova, 55, said that “this action will destroy my city, the city where I grew up, and the city that I want to save for my grandchildren,” as quoted by the Associated Press news agency.
UNESCO, the cultural body of the United Nations, warned that the skyscraper, if built, may endanger St Petersburg’s world heritage site status.
Government officials supporting the proposal, however, said that the tower would give St Petersburg a large economic boost.
An international fact-finding mission headed by Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini concludes that Georgia started the 2008 South Ossetia war.
Mikheil Saakashvili
The report, commissioned by the Council of the European Union, was prepared by a group of 30 European military, legal and history experts under the head of the Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini.
The report states that the war was started by the Georgian attack “that was not justified by international law”. The report says comission found no evidence to the Georgia’s claims of being invaded by Russia prior to launching an attack on South Ossetia.
The report, however, states that the Russian reaction to the Georgian attack was disproportionate. The report also claims Mikheil Saakashvili ordered the attack despite warnings from the United States not to provoke military confrontation with the Russian Federation. Read the rest of this entry »
Under the mediation of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, the Russo-Japanese War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard near New Hampshire, USA.
Treaty of Portsmouth
Delegates who signed the peace agreement were Sergei Witte and Roman Rosen for Russia, and Komura Jutaro and Takahira Kogoro for Japan.
Fyodor Martens and other diplomats from both nations stayed in New Castle, New Hampshire at the Hotel Wentworth (where the armistice was signed), and were ferried across the Piscataqua River for negotiations held on the base located in Kittery, Maine. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by FormaeMentis 
Posted by FormaeMentis 
Posted by FormaeMentis 
