«Is it possible to allow this sinful dream? Would not man, created in the image and likeness of God, humiliate himself by descending into the underworld? And what is there, only God knows, and sinful man should not know». What did one Moscow bishop speak against a little more than a hundred years ago?
On January 29, 1889, Crown Prince Rudolf arrived at Mayerling at 3:30 pm. A little later, a lady arrives to visit him by hired fiacre. Her name is Baroness Maria Alexandrina von Vechera, and she is 18 without a month and a half of age. The servants easily recognize her; it is not the first time she has been here – of course, with the crown prince. In the morning, neither the crown prince nor his guest left the bedchamber. It was not until 9 o’clock that the valet broke down the door with an axe. What he saw drove him into panic-stricken terror…
A plane from Frankfurt am Main, which could not land in Novosibirsk due to weather conditions, was driven all the way to Omsk to the limit of its range — it had to land without fuel, purely on aerodynamics. Meanwhile, there were many airports on the way and closer. What was not in them?
I wonder how events would have developed if they had continued to love each other as they did at the beginning of their marriage and had not fought but acted together. If Henry hadn’t started chasing skirts, hadn’t gotten involved in taking his bride from his own son, hadn’t had more illegitimate children than legitimate ones, of which, let’s agree, there were quite a few? It seems that love is a jealous and vengeful creature
The rapid brain stimulation common to epileptics had this name back in the twentieth century. But since 1937, a valuable technique for solving complex problems has been called this name. How exactly?
Catherine de’ Medici, a petite Italian lady with a significant political appetite, was queen of France through her marriage to Henry II and mom to a whole trio of kings — Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III
The great Faberge himself ordered the closure of his firm’s branch in Kyiv, saying that two bears in the same den are cramped. Who in Kyiv was able to make such a solid competition for such a jewelry monster? It is worth learning more about this person
The famous physician Grigory Zakharyin, upon entering a patient’s room, ordered that the birdcages with birds be immediately taken out of it and that the pendulums at the clock be stopped. Only then would he take out this newly-fashioned device. Which one?
Today is a truly significant date — the centenary of the birth of the Ukrainian film director, screenwriter, and artist Sergei Parajanov (1924–1990). His work had a significant impact on the world of cinema art
Kyiv composer Petro Shchurovsky wrote the melody of the anthem of the royal family of Siam, which was that country’s national anthem until 1932. But an even more romantic note than the national anthem was introduced into the history of Thailand (then still Siam) by a woman from Kyiv…
Alexander Genis, in his book «The American Alphabet», called THIS a phenomenon that weaves together space, time, and money. In New York City, there are now roughly 13,000 of these phenomena. So what is THIS?
The tragic love story of Pedro I, heir to the Portuguese throne, and his beloved Inês de Castro. This legend remains one of the most romantic and tragic in Portuguese history and culture, symbolizing eternal and sacrificial love