1987 - Vasilisa Bardina, Russian tennis player is born

1939 - Winter War: Soviet forces invade Finland and reach the Mannerheim Line, starting the war.

 1936 - Dmitri Victorovich Anosov, Russian mathematician is born

1853 - Crimean War: Battle of Sinop — The Imperial Russian Navy under Pavel Nakhimov destroys the Ottoman fleet under Osman Pasha at Sinop, a sea port in northern Turkey.

1920 - Vladimir May-Mayevsky, Russian counter-revolutionary dies (b. 1867)

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1982 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The United Nations General Assembly passes United Nations Resolution 37/37, stating that Soviet Union forces should withdraw from Afghanistan.

1977 - Maria Petrova, Russian figure skater is born

1928 - Tahir Salahov, Azerbaijani painter is born

1910 - Antanas Å kÄ—ma, Lithuanian writer, stage actor and director is born (d. 1961)

1830 - November Uprising: An armed rebellion against Russia’s rule in Poland begins.

1798 - Alexander Brullov, Russian painter is born (d. 1877)

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2006 - Lyubov Polishchuk, Russian actress dies (b. 1949)

2000 - Ukrainian politician Oleksander Moroz begins the Cassette Scandal by publicly accusing President Leonid Kuchma of involvement in the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.

1949 - Alexander Godunov, Russian ballet dancer is born (d. 1995)

1915 - Evald Okas, Estonian painter is born

1880 - Alexander Blok, Russian poet is born (d. 1921)

1829 - Anton Rubinstein, Russian composer is born (d. 1894)

1821 - Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Russian poet is born (d. 1878)

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1960 - Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukrainian prime minister is born

1953 - Boris Grebenshchikov, Russian singer is born (Aquarium)

1944 - Leonid Isaakovich Mandelshtam, Russian physicist dies (b. 1879)

1909 - Anatoly Maltsev, Russian mathematician is born (d. 1967)

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1937 - Boris Yegorov, Soviet cosmonaut is born

1939 - Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates the incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later.

1934 - Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Ukrainian historian and statesman dies (b.1866)

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973 - Laurence Harvey, Lithuanian-born actor dies (b. 1928)

1887 - Nikolai Vavilov, Russian physicist is born (d. 1943)

1667 - A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha, Caucasia, killing 80,000 people.

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1960 - Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia dies (b. 1882)

1934 - Alfred Schnittke, Russian composer is born (d. 1998)

1729 - Alexander Suvorov, Russian general is born (d. 1800)

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2006 - Alexander Litvinenko, Russian spy dies (b. 1962)

2003 - Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections.

1935 - Vladislav Volkov, Soviet cosmonaut is born (d. 1971)

1890 - El Lissitzky, Russian artist and architect is born (d. 1941)

1875 - Anatoly Lunacharsky, Russian literary critic and politician (d. 1933)

1861 - Konstantin Korovin, Russian painter is born (d. 1939)

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2004 - The Orange Revolution begins in Ukraine, resulting from the presidential elections.
2003 - In Tbilisi, Georgia, opponents of President Eduard Shevardnadze seize the parliament building and demand the president’s resignation.

1980 - Yaroslav Rybakov, Russian athlete is born
1942 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - General Friedrich Paulus sent Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th army was surrounded.

1967 - Pavel Korin, Russian painter dies (b. 1892)
1962 - Victor Pelevin, Russian writer is born

1956 - Theodore Kosloff, Russian choreographer dies (b. 1882)
1722 - Hryhori Skovoroda, Ukrainian poet is born (d. 1794)

1318 - Mikhail Yaroslavich, Russian prince dies (b. 1271)

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1943 - Viktor Sidjak, Russian fencer is born
1844 - Ivan Krylov, Russian fabulist dies (b. 1769)

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