Friday, September 14, 2007

Sphinx in Russia and Random facts you would NEVER need to know


Sphinx in Russia?
random fact: in 1820 Russia bought a couple sphinx from Egypt to decorate the shores of the Neva River in St. Petersburg. funny fact: if u go to Russia and go to the Sphinx in the winter you will be able to see a sphinx covered in snow. Now that doesn't happen in Egypt!
i would elaborate but i couldn't find more informations

Random Russian Facts you would never need nor ask to know
-
Russian card decks have only 36 cards
-russia is the leading producer of Asbestos
-Russians celebrate Christmas 2 times a year on Dec. 25 and Jan 7
- during the reign of Peter the Great, any Russian nobleman who chose to wear a beard had to pay a tax for it
-and finally the Russian Revolution began as a protest march on International Women's day

3 comments:

LiveBreatheMusic said...

How can you play with only 36 cards? What cards DON'T they have? Did they invent entirely new card games? Russians are so random sometimes!

Dr. Michael A. Denner said...

another funny fact: the russians were loathe to cut their beards because, they said, they feared looking "like monkeys or lutherans." (this makes sense when you realize that the only foreigners that most russians encountered were german tradesmen -- lutherans who shaved.)

"An artisan interrogated in 1704 protested that Peter was destroying the Christian faith by forcing people to shave their beards, wear German dress and smoke tobacco. This view was shared by the church. In the words of Patriarch Adrian, latin Jesuits, Dominicans, Bernadines and others not only shave their beards but also their moustaches and look Like apes or monkeys.” (from Peter the Great: A Biography by Lindsey Hughes)

‘Look often at the icon of the Second Coming of Christ, and observe the righteous standing at the right side of Christ, alL with beards. At the left stand the Musclmcn and heretics, Lutherans and Poles and other shavers of their ilk, with just whiskers, such as cats and dogs have. Take heed whom to imitate and which side you will be on.’ In fact, the rule that laymen must be bearded has no basis in scripture and it was not long before pro-rc&rm churchmen composed their own treatises to explain why the wearing of a beard was not essential for salvation.

Unknown said...

Not to sound the know it all but -

Not all Russians celebrate Christmas twice. The official Orthodox Christmas is Jan 7. Those that celebrate on the 25th usually have foreign friends or relatives.

Also, Russian card decks have, it seems, always come with 36 cards, with 6 through ace included. This is common in Eastern Europe (sometimes cards with 32 can be found there - they include 7 through Ace) and these decks can be found even in Western Europe at times. So, yes, they did "invent entirely new games" (like Durak, great fun!) but a long time ago, likely around when we invented ours.