Khrushchev Born: The Soviet Leader Who Defied Stalin's Ghost
Nikita Khrushchev was a miner's son from a village near the Ukrainian border who joined the Bolsheviks at 24 and survived Stalin's purges partly by being useful and partly by luck. In 1956 he gave the 'Secret Speech' — four hours denouncing Stalin's crimes before a closed session of the Communist Party. The speech leaked immediately. It shook the Eastern bloc. He spent the Cuban Missile Crisis exchanging letters with Kennedy and backed down, which his own party never forgave him for. They ousted him in 1964. Born April 17, 1894.
April 17, 1894
132 years ago
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