Interesting Facts - Page 75

371

Think soccer hooligans are bad? Chariot-racing fans in the Byzantine empire were miles worse. In one incident in the year 501, supporters of the "Greens" ambushed the "Blues" in an amphitheater and killed 3,000 of them.

372

The 1930s were a dangerous time to be alive in the Soviet Union. During the Great Purge of 1936-1938, about a million people were killed on suspicion of treason. In particular danger was anyone exposed to foreign influences, including pen pals, language teachers, and even stamp collectors.

373

The Soviet Union eliminated the week in 1929. It was replaced with a 5-day cycle, where 20% of the population was given the day off on any given day. People hated it and the system was eventually scrapped in 1940.

374

During the Great Depression, thousands of Americans emigrated to the Soviet Union in search of a better life. They didn't find it. As paranoia built during the Great Purge, the immigrants were suspected of being spies by the Soviet government. Many were tortured, sent to the Gulag, or killed.

375

There are French, German, Italian, and even Chinese versions of the fairy tale "Cinderella". But the oldest version comes from ancient Greece.

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Level 24

Mar 3, 2020

# 371 is a vaguely accurate assessment of Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Michigan State Wolverines football fans.

Level 57

Oct 13, 2020

For anyone interested, there is a book I'm reading called The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia which explains the full story behind fact #372 and #374.

Level 41

Aug 18, 2021

Re No. 374: Similar fate met even many European Communist politicians who went to the USSR fleeing persecution in their home countries. Prime example is the Hungarian Bolshevist Béla Kun, once leader of the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919), who fled to Russia in 1920 and during the Great Terror was accused of Trotskyism and executed in 1938 (it probably did not help that he was Jewish, like many of the other prominent victims).

Level 59

Dec 30, 2021

Im fascinated by #374.

Interesting!