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11
votes
2answers
457 views
Was the 2010 Polish presidential Tu-154 plane crash set up?
In 2010, a plane crash killed many top Polish officials. It occurred over Russian soil, and involved an aircraft carrying many politicians and military officials with a strong opposition towards the ...
15
votes
1answer
433 views
Did medieval Russia reject islam because of its prohibition against alcohol?
Since a long time, I am aware of a historical anecdote about the attempt to convert Russia to islam. I don't know where I first heard the anecdote, I'm pretty sure it was oral, so I had to dig a bit ...
13
votes
3answers
2k views
Is this graph of life expectancy pre and post Chernobyl accurate?
Is the following graph of male life expectancy of ex-Soviet states spanning Chernobyl accurate?
The source of the graph is a blog post (チェルノブイリ事故後の平均寿命), which according to google translate means ...
85
votes
1answer
9k views
Did NASA invest a million dollars in the research of a space pen, when the USSR simply used a pencil?
I encountered this picture of the "Russian space pen" from the MIT Museum gift shop
When NASA first started sending astronauts into space, they realized that the ball-point pen would not work ...
4
votes
1answer
244 views
Did Governor of Moscow train bears to serve Vodka?
The Governor of Moscow trained a large bear to serve pepper Vodka to' his guests. If anyone showed reluctance in accepting the drink, the bear would remove the guest's clothes, an article at a ...
10
votes
2answers
3k views
Is it dangerous to mix boiled and unboiled water?
There is a popular belief in Russia that mixing boiled and unboiled water (say, adding cold unboiled water to a cup of tea to cool it) can be dangerous for one's health, even if it is safe to drink ...
