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Vaknin, Sam, 1961-

"The First Book of Factoids"

factmonster.com/spot/popcorn1.html
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PopcornHistory.htm
http://okok.essortment.com/whatisthehist_rsdt.htm

Potemkin Village

Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin (1739-1791) attained the rank of Count
and Field Marshall at an early age. He was involved in a palace coup
against Peter III, husband of Catherine the Great, whose
lover Potemkin was rumored to have been between 1774-6. He was
appointed by her, long after their two year affair ended, to be
governor of the new province of "New Russia" (southern Ukraine and
Crimea).

The apocryphal (untrue) story is that, in 1787 , anxious to prove his
administrative skills, Potemkin organized a lavish royal tour of
southern Russia for Catherine the Great. The tour took 4 years to
prepare and covered 1000 miles along the river Dnepr. Throngs of
peasants welcomed the queen. Yet, all the villages - and villagers -
were fake. The houses consisted only of facades. The crowds were
transported from one scenery to another ahead of the visiting monarch.

Hence the expression "Potemkin village" - a false political facade
aimed to disguise unsavory facts.


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