Growing up, she was a beloved celebrity in her home country. Thousands of girls were named after her. So was a bestselling
perfume. But Josef Stalin's "Little Sparrow," his only daughter, (born Svetlana Stalina) defected to the United States in 1967. Upon arriving in New York, she promptly held a
press conference that surprised the world, denouncing her father's regime.
Svetlana became a naturalized US citizen, moved to Taliesin West, married an American, changed her name to Lana Peters, then returned to the Soviet Union in 1984,
declaring that she had not been free "for one single day" in the U.S., only to once
again return to America in 1986. She lived out her remaining days in a
small town in Wisconsin. Mrs. Peters
passed away from
colon cancer on November 22nd, at the age of 85. [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Nov 28, 2011 -
39 comments
Duck and Cover! There are many aspects of the Civil Defense program that may seem funny today, but the period after World War II was a very scary time. Civil defense officials and volunteers during that time were very serious about their work and I believe they deserve respect for their efforts. They rendered emergency services after natural and man-made disasters and would have had an impossible task had there ever been a nuclear war.
This virtual museum is dedicated to the Civil Defense and emergency workers of the United States who worked to protect the public from nuclear attack.
posted by Ruthless Bunny
on Oct 27, 2009 -
44 comments
A lot of people have nightmares about showing up to school or work naked. But hey, how about
this one?
Brrrrrrrrr. (nsfw)
posted by miss lynnster
on Jan 6, 2009 -
77 comments
With the grounds it was built on having hosted the first demonstration of airplane flight in 1909,
Tempelhof International Airport, the world's second-oldest working commercial airport, was officially opened in 1923. Also known as City Airport, it takes its official name from the Tempelhof neighborhood of Berlin, itself named for the
Knights Templar who owned its land in the Middle Ages.
[more inside]
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks
on Apr 25, 2008 -
36 comments
Living on top of Mt. Washington. 09:50 PM Thu Aug 18, 2005 EDT - ...
In the air this morning there was an undeniable chill and on the ground a touch of frost...Clear air pooling south from Canada opened views to the distant Adirondacks as well as deep into Quebec and all our surrounding states...just six week until snow can be expected.
Just a taste of this daily "blog" kept by observers living on the top of the
tallest peak in the Northeast US. Redux of a
previous post, but the blog is interesting enough to put it forth once again.
posted by Jazznoisehere
on Aug 25, 2005 -
24 comments
Frozen seas. A brief but kind of amazing collection of photos of the deck of a fishing trauler in fridgid conditions, where every exposed surface has layers of frozen saltwater accumulated. This condition can cause the boat to become topheavy and capsize, as well as just plain making life more miserable for those that work on the deck.
posted by jonson
on May 3, 2004 -
12 comments
Cure for the cold? Is this really worth it? If all it does is "make a runny nose completely clear up a day sooner than usual," it hardly seems worth burdening your system with another drug. Seems like a ridiculous waste or research effort to me. But I guess there is money to be made, even from inefficacious drugs.
posted by SteveS
on Dec 18, 2001 -
2 comments
