December 25, 1991: Mikhail Gorbachev Resigns, the End of the Soviet Union

December 25, 1991: Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union. The next day, the Supreme Soviet dissolved, its last act being to dissolve the Soviet Union itself after 74 years.

Gorbachev had been named President in 1985, after the death of Konstantin Chernenko, the last of the old-line Communists. Born in 1931, Gorbachev was the 1st Soviet leader who did not remember the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. So he was uniquely poised to lead reforms, which he called "perestroika" (reconstruction) for domestic change, and "glasnost" (openness) for foreign relations.

That gave the West a chance to make peaceful overtures to a changing adversary. Britain's Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, said in an interview, "I like Mr. Gorbachev. We can do business together." The equally conservative American President, Ronald Reagan, met with him in 5 summits: In Geneva, Switzerland in 1985; in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1986; in Washington in 1987, signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty; in Moscow in the Summer of 1988; and in New York toward the end of the year, including President-elect George H.W. Bush.

In 1987, Time magazine named Gorbachev its Man of the Year, recognizing him as the person who had most affected the news during the calendar year. (Remember: It's not an "award" that a person "wins.") In 1989, suggesting that he deserved it again, and then som, Time named him Man of the Decade. In 1990, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

But the hardline Communists of Gorbachev's generation didn't like the changes he was making to what those of their forefathers had done. In August 1991, he was overthrown in a coup. But Boris Yeltsin, already President of the substate the Russian Federation, rallied the country, getting the Red Army on his side. With several of the Soviet "republics" having already declared their independence, the plotters could not expect help from elsewhere, and the coup collapsed. After 4 days, Gorbachev was back in power.

But he had very little support. The country had still rallied around Yeltsin, who was seen as even more of a reformer. Gorbachev become the opposite of "a man without a country": He was, in effect, a one-man country. On Christmas Day, he bowed to the inevitable, and resigned his office.

Gorbachev continued to advocate for social-democratic reform, was a critic of current Russian President Vladimir Putin, and died on August 30, 2022, at the age of 91.

The sad part is, the end of the Soviet Union was not the end of tyranny in its former lands. Putin ruled the Russian Federation with an iron fist from 2000 until 2008, when the country's Constitution term-limited him out. So his Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, became President, while Putin became Prime Minister. Before Medvedev's term ran out in 2012, the Constitution was amended to allow Putin to return in 2012, and to have no limits.

Meanwhile, some of the other former Soviet "republics" had their own dictators: Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan, 1990-2006; Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan, 1991-2016; Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan, 1991-2019; Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus, since 1994; Emomali Rahmon, Tajikistan, since 1994; and Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan, since 2003.

It's as if these countries decided, "We don't want to be a part of the Soviet Union, but we do like what the Soviets do, we just want to do it ourselves."

Following viewer demands for a battle with a Russian, a 2013 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, featured a five-man "battle royale": "Nice" Peter Shukoff played Rasputin, Vladimir Lenin and Vladimir Putin; while "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist played Joseph Stalin and Mikhail Gorbachev.

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December 25, 1991 was a Wednesday. Baseball was in midseason. There was 1 college football game: Georgia Tech beat Stanford, 18-17, in the Aloha Bowl at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The NHL, as usual, did not play on Christmas Day. The NBA usually does, and there were 2 games. The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 121-99 at the Chicago Stadium. Michael Jordan scored 14 points; on his own team, he was outscored by Scottie Pippen (27), B.J. Armstrong (18) and Horace Grant (17). But the Celtics were crumbling, and this would be the last season for Larry Bird.

And the Los Angeles Lakers went back to their 1st home in L.A., the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, and beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 85-75.

October 11, 1986: The Reykjavik Summit

October 11, 1986: President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev meet for a summit in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. Although Iceland was, and remains, a member of NATO, it is the member with the smallest population, and the only one without a standing army, just a lightly armed coast guard. So Gorbachev accepted it as a suitable, if not quite neutral, location.

Discussions were held at Höfði (pronounced HOFF-dee), a coastal house that had previously served as the French Consulate and the British Embassy.

Reagan sought to include discussion of human rights, including the emigration of Soviet Jews and dissidents, and the war caused by the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Gorbachev sought to limit the talks solely to arms control.

Gorbachev had proposed banning all ballistic missiles, but Reagan wanted to continue research on the missile-defense system called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, mocked by its opponents as "Star Wars"), which involved the militarization of outer space. Yet Soviet suspicion of SDI continued, and relations between the countries were strained.

Despite getting unexpectedly close to the potential elimination of all nuclear weapons, the meeting adjourned with no agreement. But both sides discovered the extent of the concessions the other side was willing to make. Observers have referred to the summit as an enormous breakthrough, which eventually facilitated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty that was signed at the Washington Summit on December 8, 1987.

Some time later, Gorbachev was asked by a journalist when he knew "the Cold War was lost." He said, "Reykjavik." In other words, when he knew that Reagan wouldn't give up SDI. Except SDI was far from ready. Reagan believed (incorrectly) it would be ready by the time he left office on January 20, 1989, presuming.(correctly) that Gorbachev would still be in office.

Reagan was too ignorant to realize that he was bluffing, but Gorbachev was too timid to call his bluff. If he had, things might have been different.

Gorbachev died on August 30, 2022. By that point, Reagan had been dead for 18 years, the Soviet Union had been dead for 31 years, Vladimir Putin had been in charge of Russia for nearly 23 years, and SDI was still not operational.

*

October 11, 1986 was a Saturday. Game 3 of the National League Championship Series was played at Shea Stadium. The Houston Astros took a 4-0 lead in the 2nd inning, but the New York Mets tied it in the 6th. The Astros scored in the 7th. In the bottom of the 9th, Lenny Dykstra hit a 2-run home run off Dave Smith, giving the Mets a 6-5 win. It was the 1st time a Met had hit what would later become known as a "walkoff home run" in a postseason game.

And that might not have been the best game of that day. Game 4 of the American League Championship Series was played at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). The Boston Red Sox led 3-0 going into the bottom of the 9th, but the Angels tied it. Bobby Grich singled Jerry Narron home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning, and the Angels won, 4-3. And that might not have been the best game of that series. Game 5 turned out to be the Dave Henderson Game.

Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 University of Miami beat West Virginia, 58-14 at the new Mountaineer Field (now Milan Puskar Stadium) in Morgantown, West Virginia. As an independent, Miami didn't have a Conference Championship to win, but finished the regular season undefeated and ranked Number 1, setting up a de facto National Championship Game.

* Number 2 Alabama beat Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis), 37-0 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They advanced to 7-0 by beating Tennessee the next week, but lost 3 of their next 5 games to blow their chances at the Southeastern Conference and National Championships.

* Number 3 Nebraska beat Oklahoma State, 30-10 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Rivalry: Number 4 Michigan beat Michigan State, 27-6 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Michigan went on to win the Big Ten Conference Championship.

* Number 5 Penn State beat the University of Cincinnati, 23-17 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. As an independent, Penn State didn't have a Conference Championship to win, but finished the regular season undefeated and ranked Number 2, setting up a de facto National Championship Game. It was the Fiesta Bowl, one of those games that gets billed as "The Game of the Century," and Penn State beat Miami to win the National Championship.

* Rivalry: Number 6 Oklahoma beat Texas, 47-12 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Oklahoma had blown its shot at the National Championship 2 weeks earlier, losing a Number 1 vs. Number 2 game against Miami. But that would be their only loss, and they went on to beat Nebraska for the Big Eight Conference Championship.

* Number 7 Auburn beat Vanderbilt, 31-9 at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville. Auburn advanced to 7-0 the next 2 weeks, but lost 2 of their next 3 games to blow their chances at the SEC and National Championships.

* Number 8 Arkansas were upset by Texas Tech, 17-7 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. They ended up finishing 2nd in the Southwest Conference, and were invited to the Orange Bowl, where they lost to Oklahoma.

* Number 9 University of Southern California were upset by Washington State, 34-14 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington.

* Number 10 Iowa beat Wisconsin, 17-6 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa were now 5-0, but lost 3 of their next 4 games to blow their chances at the Big 10 and National Championships.

* Number 11 Arizona were upset by UCLA, 32-2 at the Rose Bowl outside Los Angeles in Pasadena, California.

* Number 12 Washington beat Number 18 Stanford, 24-14 at the original Stanford Stadium outside San Francisco in Palo Alto, California.

* Number 13 Baylor were upset by Southern Methodist University (SMU), 27-21 at Baylor Stadium (later Floyd Casey Stadium) in Waco, Texas.

* Number 14 Texas A&M beat the University of Houston, 19-7 at the Astrodome in Houston. A&M won the SWC Championship.

* Number 15 Arizona State beat Oregon, 37-17 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. ASU went on to win the Pacific-Ten Conference Championship, despite losing to arch-rival Arizona, and beat Michigan to win the Rose Bowl.

* Number 16 Louisiana State University beat Georgia, 23-14 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU went on to win the SEC Championship, but lost to Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 17 North Carolina State were upset by Georgia Tech, 59-21 at Grant Field in Atlanta.

* Ohio State, unranked at this point, beat Indiana, 24-22 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana. Ohio State went on to beat Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Tennessee, 25-21 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee; and Air Force beat Navy, 40-6 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* The University of Pittsburgh beat Notre Dame, 10-9 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* And New Jersey's team, Rutgers, had the week off.

The NBA was in its preseason. There were 10 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-5 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. Doug Bodger scored the winning goal, 50 seconds into overtime.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 5-4 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Boston Bruins, 5-4 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Minnesota North Stars and the Quebec Nordiques played to a tie, 4-4 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-4 at the Montreal Forum. Jari Kurri scored the winning goal with just 11 seconds left in overtime.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Calgary Flames, 6-5 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Washington Capitals, 6-1 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres played to a tie, 5-5 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Detroit Red Wings beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Denver.

* And the Winnipeg Jets were not scheduled.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Hertfordshire team Watford, 3-1 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.

May 28, 1987: The Landing of Mathias Rust

May 28, 1987: West German pilot Mathias Rust, just 18 years old, evades Soviet air defenses, and lands a private plane on Red Square in Moscow. He is immediately detained, and is released on August 3, 1988.

This flight irreparably damaged the reputation of the Soviet military. This enabled President Mikhail Gorbachev to remove many of the strongest opponents to his reforms. It was the biggest turnover in the Soviet military since Josef Stalin's purges 50 years earlier, except nobody was executed.

Needing cash, the Russians eventually sold the plane to a Japanese museum, and they gave it back to its homeland. It is now in the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin.

Rust's life since has not befitted a hero. In 1989, he worked in a hospital, and, when a female coworker rejected his advances, he stabbed her. She survived, and he ended up serving 15 months in prison -- longer than he did in Russia. He would later be convicted of shoplifting, and again of fraud.

After getting out of prison, he worked for an investment bank, opened a yoga school in Hamburg, and returned to the role of a peace activist that made him famous 30 years ago.

*

May 28, 1987 was a Thursday. The NBA Playoffs were underway. Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals was played at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. The Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics, 113-105. But the Celtics won Game 7. They were then defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals was played. Jean-Jacques Daigneault scored with 5:32 left in regulation to give the Philadelphia Flyers a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers, and send the series to a Game 7. It became known in Philadelphia as "The Night The Spectrum Shook." But the Oilers won the Cup 3 days later.

Football was out of season. These 6 Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-2 at Yankee Stadium. Rick Rhoden outpitched Mike Moore. Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson and Gary Ward hit home runs. Don Mattingly went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 12-8 at Fenway Park in Boston. Steve Carlton, running out the string, started for the Indians, and didn't get out of the 5th inning. Dwight Evans went 3-for-4 with a home run and 6 RBIs.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the California Angels, 8-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Angels scored a run in the top of the 12th inning. But, Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. DeWayne Buice walked Lee Lacy to start the bottom of the 12th, and then Mike Young won the game with a home run. Larry Sheets and Mike Young each hit 2 home runs for the O's. Eddie Murray went 2-for-5. So did Cal Ripken, and he added an RBI.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Reggie Jackson, in his final season, went 2-for-5 for the A's.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the team that was then their arch-rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, 13-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Robin Yount went 0-for-3. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4.

* And in the only game played in the National League that day, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 11-5 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.