A framed fragment of a burgundy curtain with a “100” emblem containing a portrait and a gold plaque naming the Vakhtangov Theatre curtain.

NB! · Moscow · Heritage · Society

Vakhtangov Theatre Marks Centenary by Giving Fragments of Its Historic Curtain

The Vakhtangov Theatre celebrated its centenary on 14 November. In memory of the jubilee, the venerable Vakhtangovites each received a piece of the theatre's historic curtain

NB! · Observations · Society

The Best So Far on the Speed at Which Unreliable Information Travels

Observations · Mores · Society · Humour

American economist Steven Levitt is convinced that the girls' names Angel, Heaven, Misty, Destiny and Tiffany, and the boys' names Billy, Tommy and Ricky, point to very poorly educated white parents

A good education, by contrast, and the influence of literature and art on parents are attested by such names in their children as Beckett, Sasha, Finnegan, Maira, Beatrix and Aviva. First, forgive me, Tiffany. Second, let us recall what the heroes of the highest-grossing Hollywood films of recent decades

London · Mores · Society

Lord Mayor's Show held in the City of London on the second Saturday of November

Today, as on every second Saturday of November since 1215, the Lord Mayor's Show was held in the City of London. One of the oldest civic processions in Europe brings together the most ancient guilds, municipal services, the military, diplomats and ordinary citizens, and is devoted to the

NB! · In the Press · London · Society · Humour

Someone will object that the freedom to talk nonsense is not the same thing as freedom of speech, but according to the newspaper Metro, people refuse to accept that the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is not a nineteenth-century cross-dressing prosti

Archive · Observations · Science · Society

1980 Minutes of a USSR Academy of Sciences Council Banning Citation of Scientists Who Emigrated

Found an interesting document in my home archive: the minutes of a meeting of one of the councils at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. The agenda is extremely topical and perfectly intelligible in our present circumstances. The item in question was a ban on mentioning in dissertations the

Archive · Cinema · Society · Saint Petersburg

On 7 November 1917 the storming of the Winter Palace took place, the seat of the Provisional Government

On 7 November 1917 the storming of the Winter Palace took place, the seat of the Provisional Government. The well-known footage of the storming of the Winter Palace is in fact not documentary: this shot, like many others, comes from Nikolay Evreinov's theatrical production "The Storming

NB! · Faith · Society · Rome

Pope Francis announced that this year the Church has lost 17 cardinals and 191 bishops, some of whom died of coronavirus

Books · Monarchies · Society · People

Valery Tishkov on the title Father of the Fatherland granted to Peter the Great in 1721

"..Notable in this respect is the act of 1721 that bestowed on Peter I the title of Emperor of All Russia. The members of the Senate and the Holy Synod asked the sovereign to take upon himself the title "Father of the Fatherland", since he had done

Moscow · Observations · Society · Humour

Near the Monument to Bulat Okudzhava on the Old Arbat, Poor Mu-Mu Was Slaughtered About Half a Year Ago; Someone Suddenly Bought Up the Premises and Set Up the Election Headquarters of the Party of Growth There

Near the monument to Bulat Okudzhava on the Old Arbat, about half a year ago, poor Mu-Mu was slaughtered; someone suddenly bought up the premises and set up there the election headquarters of the Party of Growth. So what is one to do with such considerable floor space when

The East · Monarchies · Observations · Society

The History of the Golden Horde Is Inseparable from the Chronicle of Modern Kazakh Statehood, Says Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

In short, it is not only in Russia that politicians turn their gaze to the Middle Ages

NB! · Observations · Society · Nature · Humour