20 December
Dates in History
1938Work-books are introduced in the USSR to keep the record of one’s working experience.
1935The Moscow Hotel is opened. | The Moscow Hotel is one of the biggest and well-known hotels in Moscow. Its image is featured on the Stolichnaya vodka. In 2003 the hotel is taken down.
1917The Soviet government passed a resolution creating the All-Russian Special Commission for Fighting Counterrevolution and Sabotag | Stalin later defines the essence of the VChk as “the main Soviet punitive agency… It mainly punishes spies, conspirators, terrorists, bandits, speculators, counterfeiters. It is a kind of military-political tribunal, which aims at protecting the interests of the Revolution from the counterrevolutionary bourgeoisie and its agents”.
1699Peter the Great issues an edict “On celebrating the New Year”. | The edict introduces the new year numeration starting from the birth of Christ. Hitherto the years are numerated starting from the Creation of the World. On January 1, 7208, according to the old year numeration system, the New Year 1700 started. |