Soviet Union Facts

The greatest finswimmer alive watched a trolleybus carrying 92 passengers plunge into a reservoir in Yerevan. He dove in 20 times through shattered glass in near-zero visibility, pulling people from the wreck one by one. 20 survived. His lungs were permanently destroyed. He never competed again. The Soviet government suppressed the story for 6 years. He named his shoe company Second Breath.

On September 26, 1983, Soviet Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov was alone at a nuclear command bunker when the early-warning system showed 5 American missiles inbound - confidence level: HIGHEST. Protocol demanded he report up the chain immediately. He decided the computer was wrong and reported a false alarm instead. The USSR reprimanded him for the paperwork.