Russian serfdom and American slavery ended within two years of each other; the defenders of these systems of bondage surprisingly shared many of the same arguments.

Alexander Pushkin is known as the quintessential Russian writer, but he took particular inspiration from his African great-grandfather, General Abraham Petrovitch Gannibal.

Regulations banning performance-enhancing drugs raise as many questions as they answer.

The battle of Stalingrad was the first major defeat of the Nazis in World War II, and presented the Nazis with a propaganda quandary.

It's the 150th anniversary of the Alaska Purchase. Why did the Americans want all that ice and why were the Russians willing to sell?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began on April 4, 1949, creating an alliance promising mutual defense against potential Soviet aggression.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 had two parts. The Bolshevik's October Revolution usually gets all of the attention. But what happened in February?

Russia was the first source of white oil, a Vaseline-like mix of hydrocarbons used in pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and plastics.

On the little-known hippie youth culture of the USSR.

The annual Eurovision contest often serves as a stage on which political tensions play out.