‘One of the greatest male dancers of the 20th century was born in Kyiv in 1889 to Polish parents. He rose to fame as a member of the Tsarist ballet, and then, under Diaghilev, in ballet productions choreographed by Mikhail Fokine and with sets by Leon Bakst, he became an icon of modernist art.’

‘In Budapest, not only have the Hungarians worked to build and restore buildings beautifully, but also to remove modernist intrusions, reclaiming space for beauty.’

‘The armed conflict started in April 1775 at the Battles of Lexington and Concord—with the aim of reform, not independence—and after more than six years of fighting, it was in October 1781 that the colonists, against all odds, defeated the Royal Forces on the battlefield. In fact, it was on 19 October 1781 that General Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia—exactly 244 years ago today.’

‘There was a circus nearby, and I got a job shoveling after the elephants…My mother was hardworking and resourceful. She always pushed me to go see things. We saw Rome, Pompeii, and the Vatican—we traveled all over Italy, which made time pass faster. Meanwhile, we waited every day for our names to appear on the list—to get a sponsor so we could leave the camp.’

‘In a country aiming for EU membership, the Church chose confrontation over passive acceptance of draconian laws. And it won.’

‘The events in District I during the Hungarian Soviet Republic give a very good account of how fear, miscommunication, and ideological zeal combined to ignite violence and unrest…From armed requisitions to fatal clashes over religious processions, the communist Council Republic’s heavy-handed responses reveal the fragility of order under a revolutionary dictatorship.’