USSR
A Century Ago, a Mob Brutally Attacked an American Diplomat in Persia. His Death Shaped U.S.-Iran Relations for Decades
The July 1924 killing of Robert Imbrie fueled the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty and set the stage for both a CIA-backed 1953 coup and the 1979 Iran hostage crisis
At the 1960 Olympics, American Athletes Recruited by the CIA Tried to Convince Their Soviet Peers to Defect
Al Cantello, a star of the U.S. track and field team, arranged a covert meeting between a government agent and a Ukrainian long jumper
The Man Who Pierced the Iron Curtain in a Flying Go-Kart—and Left Civilization Forever
Escaping communism in a DIY aircraft wasn’t enough for Ivo Zdarsky. So he invented his own way of life in a Utah desert ghost town
Inside JFK's Secret Doomsday Bunker
The president's Nantucket nuclear fallout shelter could become a National Historic Landmark—but efforts to preserve its history have stalled
When the Muppets Moved to Moscow
A new book details the tangled tale of "Ulitsa Sezam," a "Sesame Street" spinoff that aired until visions of Russia's democratic future faltered
The Contradictory Legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev
The Soviet leader, who died on August 30 at age 91, attempted to enact "revolution from above"
Footage Shows How Daily Life Didn't Change After Chernobyl—and the Cover-Up's Toxic Aftermath
A new documentary shows how the disaster transformed—and endangered—those who lived near the nuclear plant
At a Former Concentration Camp, Holocaust Survivors Draw Parallels Between Nazi and Russian Rhetoric
Speakers at a ceremony marking the liberation of Flossenbürg condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims of demilitarizing and de-Nazifying Ukraine
The 1983 Military Drill That Nearly Sparked Nuclear War With the Soviets
Fearful that the Able Archer 83 exercise was a cover for a NATO nuclear strike, the U.S.S.R. readied its own weapons for launch
Digging Up the History of the Nuclear Fallout Shelter
For 75 years, images of bunker life have reflected the shifting optimism, anxieties and cynicism of the Atomic Age
Vladimir Putin's Rewriting of History Draws on a Long Tradition of Soviet Myth-Making
Much like Joseph Stalin, the Russian president has used propaganda, the media and government-sanctioned books to present an ahistorical narrative
What Happened at Babi Yar, the Ukrainian Holocaust Site Reportedly Struck by a Russian Missile?
During WWII, the Nazis murdered 33,000 Jews at the ravine over just two days. Last week, a strike near the massacre site drew widespread condemnation
The 20th-Century History Behind Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
During WWII, Ukrainian nationalists saw the Nazis as liberators from Soviet oppression. Now, Russia is using that chapter to paint Ukraine as a Nazi nation
How the 1943 Khatyn Massacre Became a Symbol of Nazi Atrocities on the Eastern Front
Decades after the murder of 149 residents of a Belarusian village, the tragedy has taken on layers of meaning far removed from the attack itself
You Could Own a Lipstick Gun, a Poison-Tipped Umbrella and Other KGB Spy Tools
Next February, Julien's Auctions will sell some 3,000 items from the shuttered KGB Espionage Museum's collection
Imagining a World Where Soviets and Americans Joined Hands on the Moon
Before he was assassinated, JFK spoke of a cooperative effort in space
The Incomplete History Told by New York's K.G.B. Museum
Designed to be apolitical, the attraction offers whiz-bang tech without the agency's brutal past
These Places Are Actually The Middle of Nowhere
These "poles of inaccessibility" are among the world's most remote places
How Boris Pasternak Won and Lost the Nobel Prize
Today in 1958, the "Doctor Zhivago" author won the Nobel Prize, but the Soviets made sure he never got it
JFK Faked a Cold to Get Back to Washington During the Cuban Missile Crisis
The president was in Chicago when he got the news that he needed to make a decision
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