The Soviet Union launches the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I
Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. It orbited for three weeks before its batteries died, then silently for two more months before falling back into the atmosphere.
Russia
The Soviet Union becomes the first modern state in the world to formally legalize abortion
In October 1920, the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin made abortion legal within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic with their “Decree on Women’s Healthcare”. After the RSFSR, the law was introduced in Ukraine in July 1921 and then the remainder of the Soviet Union. The government saw legalization as a temporary necessity, as after the economic crisis and nearly a decade of unrest, war, revolution, and civil war, many women would be seeking abortions due to not being able to take care of their child.
Fyodor Dostoevsky publishes Crime & Punishment
Crime and Punishment focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in Saint Petersburg who formulates a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her money.
Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, granting serfs the full rights of free citizens
The Emancipation Reform of 1861 in Russia was the first and most important of the liberal reforms enacted during the reign of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. he reform effectively abolished serfdom throughout the Russian Empire.
Russian explorers Bellingshausen and Lazarev are first confirmed to sight Antarctica
The first confirmed sighting of mainland Antarctica is attributed to a Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, discovering an ice shelf at Princess Martha Coast..
Finland gains autonomy from the Russian Empire
The Grand Duchy of Finland or, more accurately, the Grand Principality of Finland, was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed between 1809 and 1917 as an autonomous part of the Russian Empire.
The first settlement appears at the site of modern-day Moscow
The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a meeting place of Yuri Dolgoruky and Sviatoslav Olgovich. At the time it was a minor town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality.
The Early East Slavs settle in modern-day western Russia
The Early East Slavs gradually settled Western Russia in two waves: one moving from Kiev towards present-day Suzdal and Murom and another from Polotsk towards Novgorod and Rostov.
The Bosporan Kingdom thrives in modern-day Russia and Ukraine
The Bosporan Kingdom was an ancient Greco-Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus.
The first Scythian kingdom comes to power in Central Eurasia
The early Scythian kingdoms were dominated by inter-ethnic forms of dependency based on subjugation of agricultural populations in eastern South Caucasia, plunder and taxes regular tribute, tribute disguised as gifts, and possibly also payments for military support.