Calendar Items in Brief

April 7, 1899

The first tram appeared on the streets of Moscow.

April 11, 1919

The Astrakhan State zapovednik (national reserve), the first in Russia, was founded. 

April 12, 1919

Workers at the Moskva-Sortirovochnaya Locomotive Depot spent their weekend repairing three steam locomotives. Such unpaid, voluntary workdays for the greater good of the country soon became very popular and were called “subbotniks” – the term derived from “Subbota,” Saturday.

April 21, 1894

The future Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna (then Princess Alix of Hesse) were engaged.

April 23, 1889

In a letter to his brother, Anton Chekhov used an expression that later became a familiar quotation: 

“Brevity is the sister of talent.”

April 25, 1964

A Belorussian cow set a world record, giving birth to seven calves.

April 28, 1969

Premiere of Diamond Arm, the celebrated comedy by Leonid Gaidai.

March 31

Nikolai Przhevalsky, Russian traveler, geographer and author was born on this day. He made five major expeditions – one to the Ussuri region in the Russian Far East (1867–68) and four to Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet (1870–85). On his expeditions, he collected plant and animal samples of inestimable value, including nearly 20,000 zoological and 16,000 botanical specimens. Among other outstanding discoveries were the wild camel, ancestor of the domesticated species, and the early horse later named for him (Equus prjewalski). Today, this breed of horse is almost extinct in the wild and can only be found in zoos.