February 22 in Russian history. Antarctic station Bellingshauzen.

1968

The 13th Soviet Antarctic Expedition (SAE) opened the polar station Bellingshausen on the SW end of King George island (62° 11’ 59’’S, 58° 53’ 37’’W), in the bay Guardia Nacional, on Fildes peninsula. The construction began on 29 January. There were some wooden cottages for 20 explorers. In mid-1970s a powerful radio station was built there which serves the Russian fishing fleet, and the wooden cottages were replaced with aluminium ones. This is the northernmost Russian polar station and polar explorers often call this station "the resort". The average annual temperature is 4°C. In winter it may fall to -27°, but may rise even above zero. Now this is the smallest Russian station in Antarctica, there are only eight people in the winter plus five people who come in summer. Since 1968, three other Antarctic stations were built nearby: Chilean Escudero and Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva and Chinese Great Wall.

Now the 52nd and 53rd Russian Antarctic Expeditions are working in Antarctica and, in particular, at Bellingshausen station. Today, on 22 February, the scientific ship Akademik Fyodorov has to arrive to Bellingshausen from Point Island bay. The tractor train SGP-1 is returning from Vostok station to Mirny, moving at speed 57 km per day. The tractor train SGP-2 has arrived from Vostok station to Progress. Their route was 1,500 km. On their way they drilled holes at 77°00'S, 97°51'E. At Mirny station a new aerological locator has been launched. New cottages are being built at Progress station. On 14 February a group of scientists from Germany, Norway, UK and Belgium arrived at Novolazarevskaya station on IL-76 aeroplane. The geological and geophysical research at Druzhnaya-4 and Soyuz stations are being finished. On 10 February the field camp Willing was closed. Joint Russian-Polish group finished working on lake Radok.

1933

Another important anniversary celebrated today at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute is 75 years of the Northern Sea Route. Actually, the administration of the Northern Sea Route was established on 17 December 1932, but the international press conference took place in the Institute on 21 February.

December 14 in Russian history

1958

Soviet polar expedition reaches the Southern Pole of Inaccessability, the point of the Antarctic which is the farthest from the ocean coasts of the continent. The coordinates of the point are 82°06′S, 54°58′E. Actually, various calculations may give slightly different results, but the term Pole of Inaccessability is generally applied to this point, where in 1958 17 people led by Yevgeni Ivanovich Tolstikov.

Tolstikov visited the point a year earlier, in December 1957, but the aeroplane did not land, it was a reconnaissance flight.

After two weeks of the scientific research, the team left the base. The hut where they lived is now covered by thick layer of snow. It was still on the surface in 1965, but the 2007 expedition of Team N2i found only the Lenin's bust seen above the snow. The photos show the difference.

By the way, Wikipedia states that it was the Second SAE (Soviet Antarctic Expedition), but this is wrong, it was the Third SAE.

June 7 in Russian history

1950: USSR issues the memorandum on the Antarctica. Since the beginning of the XX century, a number of countries attempted to claim various parts of the Antarctica. UK, Argentina, Chile, Norway, France, Australia, New Zealand had solid reasons to believe that this continent may be the gold mine. By 1930s, Australia, New Zealand and UK claimed over 60% of the whole territory. In 1938, when Norway also claimed a sector in Antarctica, USSR issued an official protest and proclaimed that the sixth continent must belong to the whole humanity. After the war, in late 1940s, tensions began to form, when countries became very sensitive to the alleged violations of "their" territories by other countries. So, in 1950, USSR had to remind that the Soviet Union has the rights of the discoverer of the Antarctica (discovered in 1820 by Russian ships Vostok and Mirnyi). USSR also said that the Soviet Union may claim the whole continent. However, such claims had to be backed by permanent presence in the area.

So, in 1955 Soviet Union sent the first Soviet Antarctic Expedition, SAE. The expedition was led by Mikhail Somov. Somov was already a well-known polar explorer. He had been the head of the North Pole-2 drifting station in 1950 (now, an exploratory ship named M.Somov carries the explorers to Antarctica). The 1st SAE arrived in February, 1956 and on 13 February the first Soviet Antarctic station was founded. It was named Mirnyi, after the ship led by Faddey Bellinsgauzen, the discoverer of Antarctica. On the next year, station Vostok was built far from the sea, near the geomagnetic pole. This station was one of the most hostile environments on Earth. The world's lowest temperatures were recorded there in 1983 (-89.2°C, -128.56°F).

In 1959, under the pressure of the USSR and USA, the Antarctic Treaty was signed by 12 countries, who agreed to drop their territorial claims, proclaimed Antarctica the scientific reserve where every country may organize explorations and banned all military activity on the whole continent. Thus, the Antarctic Treaty became the first arms control agreement in the years of the Cold War.

The treaty was soon followed by more important agreements: Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora (1964), The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (1972) and many others.

After the fall of the USSR, the SAE program was cancelled. In 1992, the last, 36th Soviet Antarctic expedition was over. Russia continued to support some polar stations, but the presence plunged. Three stations were closed. However, the explorations continued and a unique 270-km long underglacial lake was discovered near Vostok station. Fortunately, the expeditions never stopped completely and in 1997 Russian government adopted the law defining the minimum financing of the Russian Antarctic Expedition (RAE). Since then, the situation significantly improved. During the International Polar Year (2007-2008) the closed stations will be re-opened.

March 5 in Russian history

1820: After the discovery of the Antarctica, Faddey Bellinsgauzen departs to Australia for repair. After that, he spends the summer of 1820 in the Southern Seas, where he discovers 17 previously unknown islands.

1877: Premiere of Swan Lake, the first ballet written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (other sources give the date March 4). The premiere took place in the Bolshoi Theatre. This ballet is sometimes called the most politicized ballet in the world. In the days of USSR, every time you saw the ballet on all (two) TV channels, you knew something had gone wrong in the country: either the general secretary died, or a coup had happened.

1901: The Russian Orthodox church officially announces that Leo Tolstoy is anathematized. He replies: "I am convinced that the teaching of the church is a harmful lie in the theoretical questions and the collection of the most vulgar superstitions in the practical matters, hiding completely the meaning of the Christian teaching."

1919: A peasants revolt, known as the chapan war, begins in the village Novodevichye in the Samara province (chapan is a peasants upper dress). The main reasons were the prodrazvyorstka (the governmental program of food expropriation, when all peasants were obliged to sell what the government considered a surplus to the government for a fixed, very low price), control over the Soviets established by bolsheviks, the red terror and the persecution of religion. In just a few days, the peasants managed to create a new political, social and military structures. A peasants' army was formed, the Soviets were re-elected and a newspaper was organized. The newspaper wrote that the rebellion is not directed against the Soviets, but against "the power of tyrants, murderers and robbers -- communists, anarchists and others, who kill people, take the last grain and kettle, destroy icons", etc. The revolt was led by the Union of Toiling Peasants, a mix of a trade union and a politicized co-operative, created during the revolution of 1905 and not controlled by any political party. There were about 150,000 people participating in the revolt and it was the largest peasants revolt in Russian history. Unfortunately, the rebels had only some hundred rifles and some machine guns. Others were armed with axes and pikes. And yet, they managed to establish control over Stavropol (modern Togliatti, the city where I was born). The province was located on the borderline between the Red and White armies and the rebellion was very dangerous for the bolsheviks. The revolt was suppressed in March 1919 and thousands were killed.

1942: The Seventh Symphony (also known as Leningradskaya) of Dmitri Shostakovich is performed for the first time in Kuibyshev (Samara). On March 29 it is performed in Moscow, on June 22 -- in London and Tashkent, on July 9 -- in Novosibirsk, on July 19 -- in New York.