In the West, most of what we know about Russia involves bears, vodka, hockey, and Putin. But there's much more to Russia than stereotypes, and much of it is on a scale with this grand, expansive nation.
Of course, Russia has an absolutely ridiculous side too. That where the fun stuff lies!
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1. Russia didn't consider beer an alcoholic drink until 2011.
Until then, it was classified as a soft drink.
2. While President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin was found drunk in his underwear outside of the White House.
He was trying to hail a cab to get some pizza.
3. One city in Russia is so polluted with heavy metals, you can mine the topsoil.
Norilsk, Russia was founded as a labor camp for political prisoners and became home to a large mining and smelting operation. The smelters release more than four million tons of heavy metals into the air each year, leading to occasional black, yellow, and pink snowfalls, and high rates of cancer, respiratory disease, and skin disorders.
4. In World War I, Russia banned alcohol, which cut its tax revenues by a third.
It also sparked vodka riots during which police opened fire on the rioters.
5. The Soviet Union created a medal to promote higher birth rates.
The Order of Maternal Glory was awarded to mothers who gave birth to at least seven children.
6. Russia has a population of bears that are addicted to jet fuel fumes.
Brown bears living on the Kronotsky Nature Reserve will even gather around helicopters to try to get high off fuel that leaks into the soil below.
7. Prisoners in the Soviet Union commonly got tattoos of Lenin and Stalin on their chests.
They believed that guards weren't allowed to shoot at pictures of their leaders.
8. Three different impostors tried to claim the throne of Tsar of Russia in the 1600s.
They all pretended to be the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible and have come to be called the 'False Dmitrys'. The first actually succeeded and ruled Russia for almost a year.
9. In Soviet Russia, bootleg records were pressed onto X-rays.
Vinyl was expensive and hard to get, so people used discarded X-rays instead and called their bootlegs "music on the bones".
10. Russia has a patron saint of nuclear-armed strategic bombers.
Admiral Fyodor Ushakov is also patron saint of the Russian Navy and has a minor planet named after him.
11. In 1967, Russia and the United States had to sign a treaty agreeing that they wouldn't blow up the moon.
Each nation had drawn up a plan to do so. The U.S. had Project A119, and the Soviets had Project E-4.
The Outer Space Treaty was also signed by the United Kingdom.
The Outer Space Treaty was also signed by the United Kingdom.
12. Tsar Peter the Great tried to Westernize Russia by imposing a tax on beards.
Even if you paid the tax, you had to carry around a token that read, "The beard is a useless burden."
Main image via Paul Heartfield / The Quietus
Collage image via The Atlantic | Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters
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