On this day: Gorbachev resigns

The Soviet Union was crumbling in the late 1980s, but Mother Russia was hanging by a thread. On Christmas, 1991, that ended. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned on that day, recognizing the republics which split off, and ended communist rule in Russia.

Gorbachev rose to prominence in the mid-1980s and was only mentioned more and more as the country crumbled. His relevancy came to a head in 1991, fell quickly, and has been low since. I'll bet, however, when he dies, there'll be a bit of a spike.

(We'll look in to many newsworthy Soviet Union topics in the future.)