February 21 in Russian history

1784: A fortress was founded near the Tatar village Aqyar, named Sevastopol, from the Greek words σεβαστóς and πóλις, literally meaning "the venerable town", but the connotation being "the imperial town". This town has a special place in Russian history. In some way, it is a legend.

Sevastopol is locate on the South of Crimea, on the Heraclean peninsula. Its northernmost point also has a classically sounding name -- cape Lucullus. In antiquity, a Greek colony Chersonesos was located on this place. It was built by inhabitants of Heraclea in V century BC. In 705, the citizens of Chersonesos revolted against the emperor Justinian II. In 711, a new revolt happened, led by Bardanes Philippicus, who had been exiled to Chersonesos some years earlier. Bardanes succeeded and became the new emperor of the Roman Empire. In 988, knyaz Vladimir the Saint (aka the Red Sun) attacked and seized Chersonesos. In 1804 Sevastopol was proclaimed the main naval port of the Russian Empire. In 1830, a large revolt started in the city, known as the "plague revolt". It was caused by the oppressions during the epidemics of cholera in 1829-1830. During the Crimean war of 1853-1856, the joint forces of Britain, France and Turkey sieged Sevastopol. After 11 months of heroic defense, Russian army left a part of the town and evacuated to the northern bank of the bay. In 1905, a large group of sailors and soldiers revolted and demanded for the call of the Constituent Assembly, republican government, 8-hour long working day, etc. The revolt was quelled and four leaders, including lieutenant Schmidt, were executed. During the World War II, in 1941-1942, the Second Siege of Sevastopol took place, when the city survived 250 days of bombardment. It was liberated on May 9, 1944. In 1954, the city along with the whole Crimean peninsula was transferred under the authority of the Ukrainian SSR to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the re-unification of Ukraine and Russia. Now, while remaining a Ukrainian city, Sevastopol hosts a Russian naval base and the HQ of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

February 19 in Russian history

1861: Emperor Alexander II signs the decree on the abolition of serfdom. The serfdom became a heavy burden in Russia in XVIII century, when the peasants lost the last remains of freedom they still had. Since then, many Russian rulers attempted to abolish the serfdom. Catherine II, being a friend of Voltaire, of course, planned to liberalize the Russian legislation, but she was not too consistent, under the stress from her advisors. The same may be said about Alexander I. The reform of Alexander II was only partial. Moreover, the peasants did not understand the new laws and the rumors were spreading that the "real" law which gives them full freedom, was stolen by the landlords. Mutinies followed. Anyway, however partial, the reforms became the basis for the next steps, including the formation of the elected bodies of local self-government, educational, military and legal reforms.

1938: The drifting polar research station "Severny Polyus-1", the first drifting polar station in the world, finishes its odyssey. The station was founded in 1937 by Ivan Papanin (head of the expedition and cook, Pyotr Shirshov (hydrobiologist), Evgeny Fyodorov (astronomer) and Ernest Krenkel (radio engineer). The exploration of the Arctic Ocean was necessary to provide the reliability of the Northern Sea Route. To make it possible, a state organization was founded and, as one author put it, "the people who came to the North after reading too many Jack London stories, became a part of a huge state machine." The possibility of life on the drifting ice was proven by the crew of steamship Chelyuskin 13 years earlier. So, on May 21, 1937, the four expedition members landed on ice near the Northern Pole. The expedition became yet another "victory of communism" and the life of the station was heavily politicized. All four expedition members were elected members of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR while working on the station. In spite of this ideological burden, the scientific input of the expedition was also immense. They made meteorological observations, measured the polar currents, magnetic fields and so on. See the photographs from "Severny Polyus-1" here.

1954: On the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Rada and the re-unification of Ukraine and Russia, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopts the decree on the transfer of Crimea from Russian Federation to Ukraine. Khrushchev spent many years in Ukraine and the transfer of Crimea was his gift to the republic he loved. Nobody knew, of course, that 40 years later Ukraine will be a separate country.