Inside the Iron Curtain: 28 Intriguing Facts about the Soviet Union

111974 World Cup

1974 World Cup

In 1973, the USSR missed out on the 1974 World Cup for refusing to play in a Chilean stadium that had been used to detain, torture, and execute political dissidents.


12Museums of Atheism

Museums of Atheism

The Soviet Union closed down many churches and reopened them as Museums of Atheism dedicated to scientific education and anti-religious exhibitions.


13Imprisonment

Imprisonment

In the USSR, when you were sentenced to be "imprisoned without the right of correspondence", it meant you were to be executed.


14NOTA

NOTA

In the Soviet Union during 1991, voting "none of above" led to new elections with new candidates in 200 races. Boris Yeltsin later said the "none of the above" option "helped convince the people they had real power even in a rigged election, and [it] played a role in building true democracy.”


15Lysenkoism

Lysenkoism

The USSR promoted a pseudoscientific form of agriculture that rejected genetic heritability for political reasons. Up to 3000 scientists critical of Lysenkoism were imprisoned or killed for being "bourgeois", fascist or anti-Marxist saboteurs.


16Pepsi

Pepsi

Soviet government officials made a deal with Pepsi to allow Pepsi into the Soviet Union, being the first foreign product sanctioned for sale in the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Coca-Cola was favored because Pepsi was associated with the Soviet Union.


171980 Summer Paralympics

1980 Summer Paralympics

The USSR refused to host the 1980 Summer Paralympics after the Moscow Summer Olympics. An official claimed "there are no invalids in the USSR"; the games were held in The Netherlands instead.


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18Bartini Beriev VVA-14

Bartini Beriev VVA-14

USSR built a prototype amphibious plane (Bartini Beriev VVA-14) to hunt American submarines. It could take off vertically, sail on water, fly at high-altitude, land on runways or water, and would eventually have used 'ground effect' to travel.


19Salyut 3

Salyut 3

In 1974, the Soviet Union launched Salyut 3, a crewed military satellite armed with a 30mm 'self-defense' cannon. It was fired several times and even used to destroy a test satellite in orbit. It remains the only armed, crewed spacecraft ever flown.


20Keyloggers

Keyloggers

In 1976, the Soviet Union developed keyloggers for IBM Selectric typewriters tracking the ball motion and transmitting content from American Embassy typewriters for years.

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