USSR

In the years following World War II, Estonia sank into the shadows of the U.S.S.R., struggling with a failing tourism industry.

In April 1991, just before the U.S.S.R. crumbled, the KGB suddenly abandoned its post at Viru.

Then the U.S. and U.S.S.R. had their own versions of whom to thank for avoiding World War III.

The U.S.S.R. won the contract,” Rushkoff writes, “and many still blame this one episode of jet lag for provoking the Cold War.

In the chill of the Cold War, the 1972 U.S. basketball team went up against the U.S.S.R.—and was cheated out of a gold medal.