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Did you know that there was a beard tax introduced by Peter the Great in 1698? 🔻Why? He wanted Russians to look European. Clean-shaven. Modern. 🔻But many refused to shave. So Peter taxed them. 🔻Up to 100 rubles per year — a huge sum back then. 🔻After paying, you received a special beard token which carried an inscription: • ДЕНГИ ВЗѦТЫ Деньги взяты The money has been taken 🔻Courtiers, provincial nobles, and high-ranking officials paid an astronomical sum for the time - 600 rubles! Merchants paid less, but still a lot - 100 rubles. Ordinary townspeople had to fork out 60 rubles. Everyone else from petty clerks to servants, cab drivers, coachmen, and visitors paid 30 rubles. 🧔‍♂️Pay for it or shave. #brief_and_interesting 🟠RCR | Support | Boost

Did you know that history comes to life in Russia in the summer? 🔻From June 11 to June 15 in Moscow, the next festival "Times and Epochs" was held, dedicated to the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland. More than 2,250 reenactors from 12 countries prepared scenes from the past on dozens of sites: in parks, on streets and farmsteads. 🔻The program included 20 large-scale battles, historical costumes, camps, crafts and weapons. The guests saw the life of the Scythians, Romans, Rus of the 10th - 13th centuries, the armies of the 17th century, the armies of Suvorov, Kutuzov, the armies of the First and Second World Wars. Not just a show took place at each venue, but a historical reconstruction based on archival data and excavations. 🔻The participants recreated not only the clothes but also the everyday life of their eras. Guests from abroad demonstrated their periods of history. 📎The song in the video "Ваше благородие, госпожа Удача" (▶️Your Honor, Lady Luck.) #brief_and_interesting 😎RCR | Support | Boost

During the reign of Emperor Alexander III, a soldier named Oreshkin got drunk in a royal tavern and became disorderly. 🔻When they tried to reason with him, pointing to a portrait of the Emperor, Oreshkin retorted, "I don't give a damn about your Emperor!" He was arrested and charged with insulting the Emperor. 🔻After reviewing the case, the Emperor, finding it trivial, wrote the following resolution: "Dismiss the case, release Oreshkin, and henceforth forbid hanging my portraits in taverns. Inform Oreshkin that I also don't give a damn about him." #brief_and_interesting 😎RCR | Support | Boost

On June 3, 1980, a malfunctioning American computer falsely reported a Soviet nuclear attack, triggering a nationwide nuclear alert in the United States. 🔻For ten minutes, the world teetered on the brink of nuclear Armageddon. Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile launch sites received launch preparation orders, and strategic bomber crews took their positions. 🔻However, the computers presented no clear or consistent picture of the attack. Instead, screens displayed constantly fluctuating numbers of launched missiles, with these numbers varying between different command centers. 🔻The cause of the computer and system failure was later determined to be a faulty chip, costing a mere 46 cents. 🔻Catastrophe was averted thanks to individuals who rationally concluded that such an attack could not have been launched so easily. #brief_and_interesting 😎RCRussian | Support | Boost

Today is Border Guards Day in Russia.Let's take a moment to honor the extraordinary courage displayed in the face of unimaginable odds. 🔻In July 1941, amidst the Soviet retreat across UkrSSR, a detachment of 500 border guards, along with their 150 service dogs, found themselves in a desperate battle against the 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" near the village of Legezino. 🔻Outnumbered nearly 20 to 1, they fought with fierce determination. The border guards, led by Major Lopatin, stalled the enemy advance. 🔻In a final, desperate act, they unleashed their dogs. These brave animals, sharing the hardships of the retreat, charged into the German ranks, tearing into the enemy, clinging to throats even in their final moments. 🔻The chaos and ferocity of the dog's attack shocked the Nazi's long enough for the border guards to mount a counter-attack. Only the arrival of tanks turned the tide. 🔻All 500 border guards and all 150 dogs perished in the battle. Their sacrifice, however, was not in vain. They bought precious time and slowed the Nazi advance. 🔻Today, a monument in Legezino serves as a poignant reminder of their bravery. 🔻The inscription says: "Stop and bow your head. Here, in July 1941, the soldiers of the Separate Kolomyia Border Guard Commandment rose for their last attack on the enemy. 500 border guards and 150 of their service dogs died a hero's death in that battle. They remained forever loyal to their oath, to their native land." 🇷🇺Eternal memory to these heroes. #brief_and_interesting 😎RCRussian | Support | Boost

Did you know that the Matryoshka tattoo is popular among people all over the world, despite the fact that it is a traditional Russian doll? 🔻The Matryoshka is not only a symbol of Russian culture, but also a symbol of women, motherhood, family, fertility, and wealth. Photo: Pinterest #brief_and_interesting 😎RCRussian | Support | Boost

The surprising history of семейные трусы (family underwear) 🔻This type of underwear originated in the Soviet Union back in the distant 1930s, and, strangely enough, it owes its emergence to the Soviet people's love for physical education and sports. 🔻At that time, a healthy lifestyle and sports were actively promoted in the country. 🔻Athletes wore uniforms consisting of a t-shirt or tank top and wide, short shorts – the very ones that became the forerunners of the famous "семейные трусы". 🔻Comfortable, not restricting movement, and not constricting the body thanks to the elastic waistband, they provided free ventilation and reliably covered all intimate areas. 🔻Unsurprisingly, what were then called "smooth, simplified shorts" quickly gained popularity not only among athletes. People far removed from sports also began to buy them – to wear at home, in the company of family, as ordinary home wear. Hence the name "семейные трусы". ▶️Check other ideas in the poll! #brief_and_interesting 😎RCRussian | Support | Boost

April 23rd, 1857 marked a key moment in Russian history: Emperor Alexander II officially confirmed the double-headed eagle as the state emblem. 🔻The eagle, with its two heads signifying rule over both East and West, became a powerful visual representation of the empire's vast territories and ambitions. 🔻While the eagle had appeared in various forms under previous Tsars – including Ivan the Terrible, Mikhail Fyodorovich, Peter I, Paul I, Alexander I, and Nicholas I, each making modifications – Alexander II's reign saw a significant heraldic reform, solidifying the eagle's design and its enduring place as a symbol of Imperial Russia. 🔻In 1917 the Bolsheviks, after seizing power in October 1917, completely abolished the imperial symbols, including the double-headed eagle. 🔻It was not officially revived until the adoption of a new coat of arms for the Russian Federation in 1993. However, this version was significantly different from the Imperial coat of arms. 🔻The 1993 version itself was later replaced in 2000 with a slightly modified version which continues to be used to this day. #brief_and_interesting 😎RCRussian | Support | Boost

The Animated Portrait of Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina – a painting by Vladimir Borovikovsky, 1797 🔻The portrait of Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina is not only a masterpiece of art but also the source of numerous legends. 🔻The young Countess was known for her aristocratic beauty. However, her life was cut short: she died of consumption at the age of 24. 🔻There are many versions of the causes of her early death. Some link the tragedy to her father's mystical pursuits, others to the fashion for light muslin dresses that offered no protection from the cold and contributed to illness. 🔻After Maria's death, mystical rumors arose surrounding the portrait. 🔻It was said that the Countess's spirit was trapped within the painting, and that it was dangerous for young women to look at it. 🔻However, the staff of the Tretyakov Gallery, where the portrait is kept, have not recorded any such incidents. #brief_and_interesting 😎RCRussian | Support | Boost

Leo Tolstoy's handwriting was notoriously illegible, and only his wife, Sophia Andreevna, could decipher his scrawl. 🔻Just fancy she had to rewrite 'War and Peace' several times! 🔻Tolstoy's messy handwriting was compounded by his own shorthand symbols, countless corrections, and additions. ❓Did you know that some scientists think illegible handwriting is a mark of high intelligence? ▶️Russian handwriting #brief_and_interesting 😎 Stay with @learnRCRussian

🔻By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, for outstanding service to the Fatherland, significant contribution to the development and implementation of the foreign policy course of the Russian Federation, and many years of fruitful state service, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov has been awarded the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called. 🔻The Imperial Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called is the oldest Russian order, the highest order of the Russian Tsardom and the Russian Empire from 1698 to 1917. 🔻In total, throughout the order's existence, its recipients numbered, according to various sources, between 900 and 1100 people. 🔻In 1917, the awarding of the order was discontinued in Soviet Russia. 🔻In 1998, the order was re-established as one of the highest awards of the Russian Federation. 🔻The motto on the order is: • За Веру и Верность For Faith and Loyalty #brief_and_interesting 😎 Stay with @learnRCRussian

😉I vote for 'gatto'! 🔻Scholars believe the word кот(cat) is a borrowing from Latin, where cattus meant wild cat. 🔻It entered Slavic languages from the southwest, via Vulgar Latin. 🔻The word кот sounds very similar in many languages around the world. Russian🇷🇺: кошка English🇬🇧: cat French🇫🇷: chat Spanish 🇪🇸: gato Italian🇮🇹: gatto German🇩🇪: Katze Portuguese🇵🇹: gato Dutch🇳🇱: kat Swedish 🇸🇪: katt Danish🇩🇰: kat Norwegian🇳🇴: katt Finnish🇫🇮: kissa Polish🇵🇱: kot Czech🇨🇿: kočka Slovak🇸🇰: mačka Hungarian🇭🇺: macska Romanian🇷🇴: pisică Greek🇬🇷: γάτα ❓How does the word кот/кошка sound in your native language? #brief_and_interesting 😎 Stay with @learnRCRussian