• the relics of Moscow's founder, Yuri Dolgoruki, were buried beneath the baptistery of the Church of the Saviour at Berestove (pictured)?
• the Russian architect Afanasy Grigoriev is best known for his refined Empire style mansions in Moscow (Khrushyov House pictured)?
• the tornado that struck Moscow on June 29, 1904 was the first ever recorded in Central Russia?
• the 2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade (logo pictured) to be held today (9 May), will be the first Victory Day Parade to include foreign troops marching on Moscow's Red Square?
• the Moscow Pantheon (proposal pictured) was a Soviet project to construct a monumental memorial tomb for prominent Communist figures?
• the International Olympic Committee has shortlisted five cities — Athens, Bangkok, Moscow, Singapore and Turin — out of nine bids to host the first Youth Olympic Games in 2010?
• it took thirty railway cars to move the Fersman Mineralogical Museum collections from Saint Petersburg to Moscow in 1934?
• more than 30 km² of the Losiny Ostrov National Park forest fall within the boundaries of Moscow?
• the dachas of the Russian poets Boris Pasternak, Korney Chukovsky, and Bulat Okudzhava in the village of Peredelkino near Moscow are open to the public as memorial houses?
• the Don Cossack rebel Stenka Razin was quartered alive at the Lobnoye Mesto in Moscow on June 6, 1671?
• the Bulldozer Exhibition has got its name because the Soviet authorities actually used bulldozers to disperse the spectators and destroy the paintings of the participating Moscow nonconformist artists?
• the Iberian Gate and Chapel in Moscow were destroyed on behest of Stalin in order to make room for heavy armored vehicles driving through Red Square during military parades?
• the first hull loss of a Tupolev Tu-204 occurred when Aviastar-TU Flight 1906 crashed on approach to Domodedovo International Airport, Moscow, Russia, on 22 March 2010?
• the first legitimate flea market in downtown Moscow was held in Shkolnaya Street in 2007?
• the historical medical campus Maiden's Field (clinic pictured) in Moscow started as a court garden for medicinal herbs?
• the tower of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Moscow was used as a machine gun post by Bolsheviks in a battle against troops of the Russian Provisional Government?
• the career of pianist Lincoln Mayorga has ranged from hit rock and roll instrumentals to Gershwin recitals in Moscow, by way of Lumpy Gravy and Pete's Dragon?
• the architect of Communal House of the Textile Institute in Moscow, a student dormitory completed in 1931, proposed centralized sedation of students at night?
• the Preobrazhenka Cemetery in Moscow originated in 1771 as an Old Believer monastery under the guise of a plague quarantine?
• the State Historical Museum in Moscow, Russia has 1.7 million coins in its collection?
• the Soviet dramatist Nikolai Erdman was awarded the Stalin Prize at the period when he was not allowed to live in Moscow owing to his "criminal record"?
• it took half a century to construct Bolshoi Kamennyi Bridge, which was the first stone bridge in the city of Moscow?
• four-time Moscow chess champion Nikolay Grigoriev won ten awards in an endgame study composing tourney in 1935?
• Endel Puusepp became a Hero of the Soviet Union after flying a Soviet delegation over the front line from Moscow to Washington and back to negotiate the opening of the Western Front?
• Fyodor Schechtel, the architect of Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal in Moscow, Russia, was expelled from his classes at Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1878 for "bad attendance"?
• Inteco, a Russian company owned by Yelena Baturina, controlled 20% of the construction in Moscow?
• Jacob Bruce, a Russian nobleman of Scottish descent and one of the most educated people in Russia at the time, was famous among the 18th-century Muscovites as an alchemist and mage?
• Emil Stang was a delegate to the Founding Congress of Comintern in Moscow in 1919?
• Bogdan Saltanov, the court artist of Tsar Alexis I of Russia, was born in Persia and granted Russian nobility eight years after arrival to Moscow?
• Russian architect Lev Kekushev built Art Nouveau buildings in Moscow, Russia, in the 1890s and early 1900s, "signed" with a lion (Lev) ornament or sculpture?
• American Jesuit priest Walter Ciszek was imprisioned by the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1963, and sentenced to 15 years hard labor, six of which were spent in Moscow's infamous Lubyanka prison?
• American communist Dennis E. Batt took part in the founding of the Red International of Labour Unions in Moscow in 1921?
• Archangel Gospel, the fourth oldest Eastern Slavic manuscript, was brought by a peasant from Arkhangelsk to Moscow in 1876?
• Manege Square (pictured) replaced a maze of tippling houses and taverns, traditionally known as "the belly of Moscow"?
• Mikhail Roshchin's play Valentin and Valentina was written in 1971 and performed the same year by theatre director Valery Fokin in Moscow?
• after Moscow mayor Nikolay Alekseyev was mortally wounded by an insane gunman, he bequeathed 300,000 rubles of his personal money to a psychiatric hospital he had built?
• after being sent to the GULAG, Ukrainian writer Hryhorii Epik continued to write and sent one of his works to the NKVD in Moscow before his execution during the Great Purge in 1937?
• at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, basketballer Danny Morseu was the first Torres Strait Islander to represent Australia at the Olympic games?
• four EU-Russia Common Spaces were articulated during the Moscow EU-Russia summit in May 2005?
• according to legend, Joseph Stalin remained in Moscow during World War II partly due to a prophecy from Matryona Nikonova, who he covertly visited while she was hiding from his government?
• William Bergsma wrote an opera about a dog who turned into a man in 1920s Moscow as the result of a crazy experiment?
• Quirinus Kuhlmann, a German poet who called himself "son of the Son of God", was denounced as theologically and politically dangerous, and burnt at the stake for heresy in Moscow in 1689?
• Raisa Gorbacheva is buried in Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow's third-most popular tourist destination?
• Viktor Nogin, mayor of Moscow during the Bolshevik Revolution, is buried in the Kremlin in Red Square, Moscow?
• Moscow is home to an estimated 35,000 stray dogs, about 500 of which live in the metro stations?

Facts on topics related to Moscow

London

• "Carolina in My Mind", James Taylor's nostalgic 1968 song about growing up in North Carolina, was written in London and on the Mediterranean islands of Formentera and Ibiza?
• 16 tunnels, many for tube lines, run beneath London's River Thames?
• 19th century London song-writer Helen, Lady Dufferin was admired by Disraeli, compared with Helen of Troy in a poem by Browning, and had a village named after her?
• 17th century London printer Nicholas Okes printed the first quartos of Shakespeare's King Lear and Othello?
• Admiral Sir Francis Geary was a noted bellringer at St Bride's Church, London?
• Albert Bridge in London (pictured) is the only significant surviving example of a bridge built using the 1858 Ordish–Lefeuvre Principle design?
• Alfred the Great's taking of London in 886 was followed by his treaty with Guthrum, the Viking ruler of East Anglia?
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington helped popularize the Portuguese wine Bucelas in London after he discovered it while fighting in the Peninsular War?
• Byron recorded seeing the "tigers sup" at the Exeter Exchange menagerie in central London owned by Edward Cross?
• charcoal merchant Thomas Britton (pictured) ran a series of concerts in his loft at which the most famous musicians in London performed?

Paris

• 16th-century English diplomat Francis Bryan disgraced himself by throwing eggs and stones at the common people during a mission to Paris?
• French anarchist Theodule Meunier, responsible for several bombings in Paris in 1902, was featured as a Sherlock Holmes antagonist in René Réouven's L'Assassin du Boulevard?
• Bandung in Indonesia was dubbed the "Paris of Java" (Parijs van Java) in the 1920s due to the European ambience of Braga Street?
• Honoré de Balzac once observed that "the heart of Paris today beats between rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin and rue du Faubourg Montmartre"?
• Mexican cuisine celebrity chef and author Marcela Valladolid has also been classically trained as a pastry chef in Paris?
• Paris currently has more than 360 working fountains, including one, the Fontaine des Innocents (pictured), in use since the 16th century?
• Paris has held six BIE-sanctioned world's expositions, but the most recent was in 1937?
• Paris-based Naye Prese was the sole Yiddish-language communist daily newspaper in Europe during the interbellum period?
• Peter Paul Rubens produced a series of paintings depicting episodes from Marie de' Medici's life for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris?
• Philippe Égalité's Château du Raincy near Paris contained an outcrop of houses scored to resemble traditional Russian log huts?

Russia

• 17th century Russian diplomat Pyotr Ivanovich Potemkin (pictured) is reputed to have insisted on lying in bed during an audience with the King of Denmark, who was himself confined to his bed, to demonstrate equality between Russia and Denmark?
• Abkhaz writer Fazil Iskander publishes articles for the Russian newspaper Kultura?
• aluminium alloys developed by Russian metallurgist Igor Gorynin are claimed to have the highest specific strength of all known weldable metallic materials?
• Armenian composer and musician Ara Gevorgyan composed the music for Russian prima ballerina Anastasia Volochkova's "Golden cage" ballet dedicated to the Bolshoi Theater?
• aviation historian Randy Acord was awarded the Alaska–Siberian Lend Lease Award for his role in improving Russian–North American relations during World War II?
• Chechen military commander Said-Magomed Kakiev has been declared a Hero of the Russian Federation four times, making him one of the most decorated Russian citizens?
• Chinese immigration to the Russian Far East has led to fears of Chinese irredentism in Russia, even though there are less than 35,000 Chinese in all of Russia?
• Count Orlov's Marble Palace, decorated with 32 shades of Russian marbles, currently houses the largest exhibition of Pop Art in Saint Petersburg?
• Emperor Paul of Russia ordered the name of his mistress Anna Lopukhina to be given to warships and to be inscribed on the standards of his Leib Guard?
• England brokered the 1617 Treaty of Stolbova between Sweden and Russia?

Athens

• Brigadier Ronnie Tod was awarded the freedom of Athens by Archbishop Damaskinos in 1944?
• American statesman John Milledge named Athens, Georgia, the city surrounding the University of Georgia, after Athens, Greece, the city of Plato's Academy?
• Epimachus of Athens, an ancient Athenian engineer, constructed the Helepolis, which remains the largest siege machine ever built, at over 60 feet in width and 125 feet in height?
• after previously competing at the 2004 games in Athens, Brooklyn-bred Erinn Smart and her brother Keeth are again part of the U. S. Olympic fencing team at Beijing?
• during World War II, the SS-run Haidari concentration camp near Athens was so infamous that it became known as the "Bastille of Greece"?
• the 1st century Greek historian Nicolaus of Damascus reported the embassy of holy men from India to the Levant, Athens and Rome during the time of Jesus?
• the International Olympic Committee has shortlisted five cities — Athens, Bangkok, Moscow, Singapore and Turin — out of nine bids to host the first Youth Olympic Games in 2010?
• the Athenian coup of 411 BC temporarily replaced the democratic government of Athens with a narrow oligarchy?
• the Panhellenic Union of Fighting Youths, a Greek Resistance organization, set a bomb that destroyed the headquarters of the pro-Nazi ESPO organization in the very centre of occupied Athens?
• the Plague of Athens devastated ancient Athens in 430 BC, perhaps leading ultimately to the city's defeat in the Peloponnesian War?

Kiev

• Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny enrolled his entire Cossack army as students to prevent a Kievan school's conversion to a Jesuit Collegium?
• Kiev's Museum of Western and Oriental Art houses the largest collection of foreign art in Ukraine?
• Agatha, mother of Saint Margaret of Scotland, could have been either a daughter of Yaroslav the Wise of Kiev or a daughter of the Bulgarian Tsar?
• Bykivnia, a former village, now part of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, was the burial site of thousands of enemies of the Soviet power?
• Kyiv Arsenal is one of the oldest and most famous industrial companies of the Ukrainian capital Kiev?
  
• Lysa Hora hill in the Ukrainian capital Kiev is both a historical fortress and a mystical "bold mountain" where witches are believed to gather for their sabbaths?
• Obolon CJSC, the largest Ukrainian brewer based in Kiev, was the first private company of the independent Ukraine?
• St. Cyril's Monastery in Kiev, Ukraine was closed by the Tsarist Government and its living quarters were converted into a hospital and later an insane asylum, which lasted until the mid-late 20th century?
• St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kiev may have been the first Russian and Ukrainian church to have a golden dome?
• among many historic landmarks at the Andrew's Descent in Kiev, there is a medieval Gothic style castle that locals call the "Castle of Richard the Lion Heart" due to the legend the 12th century King of England had visited the building?

Rome

• Kermit Roosevelt's co-brother-in-law Mervyn Herbert played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club and died in the British Embassy in Rome, Italy?
• British athlete Don Thompson was nicknamed "Il Topolino" (Italian for "Little Mouse") when he raced to victory in the 50km walk at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome while wearing a képi and sunglasses ?
• Alan de St Edmund, while in Rome as chaplain to Cardinal Hugh of Evesham, was made Bishop of Caithness after its previous bishop-elect died there while seeking consecration?
• Eddisbury hill fort, the largest and most complex Iron Age hill fort in Cheshire, was destroyed by the Romans to prevent it being used against them?
• Ethelbert of York's 8th century library was probably the largest book collection of its day outside of Rome?
• Flaithbertach Ua Néill, king of Ailech in Ireland, was called Flaithbertach an Trostáin, Flaithbertach of the Pilgrim's staff, as a result of his pilgrimage to Rome in 1030?
• Jakub Uchański, a 16th-century primate of Poland, was suspected of heresy and summoned to appear before the inquisition in Rome?
• John Devitt was awarded a gold medal in the 100m freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome despite all three timekeepers awarding a faster time to the silver medallist?
• Michael Stern was one of two journalists to enter Rome on June 3, 1944, one day ahead of American forces?
• Monte Testaccio (pictured) in Rome is an artificial hill, 35 m (115 ft) high and 1 km (3,300 ft) in circumference, consisting entirely of the fragments of 53 million ancient Roman amphorae?

Berlin

• B-17 Flying Fortress tailgunner "Babe" Broyhill set a record by destroying two Messerschmitt ME-262 jet fighters in a mission over Berlin in March 1945?
• Edvard Munch was invited to Berlin by fellow Norwegian Adelsteen Normann who also painted?
• Alexander Buturlin, who was in charge of the Russian army when it took Berlin in 1760, was better known for his tall stature and good looks than for military talents?
• Berlinka (pictured) was a partially constructed highway built by Nazi Germany that was intended to span the Polish Corridor from Berlin to Königsberg, Prussia?
• David Bergelson was a Yiddish language writer, who believed that the future of Yiddish literature lay in the Soviet Union and that he moved there from Berlin when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, but was ultimately executed during Josef Stalin's anti-semitic campaign against "rootless cosmopolitans"?
• Ernst Reuter, after having not been approved by the Soviets as the elected mayor of post-war Berlin, became the first mayor of the non-Soviet controlled part of the city, West Berlin?
• Ignatz Urban's type collections of Caribbean plants were largely destroyed in the 1943 bombing of the Berlin Herbarium?
• Matthew Robinson, older brother of Baseball Hall of Fame member Jackie Robinson, was a world-class sprinter and won a silver medal in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin?
• Volkspark Friedrichshain (pictured) is the oldest and second largest urban park in Berlin?
• William Thomas Pecora, who headed the United States Geological Survey from 1965 to 1971, was a member of the U.S. fencing team at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin?

Helsinki

• a British submarine flotilla dominated the Baltic Sea for a major part of WWI, but the loss of the Socialists in the Finnish Civil War forced the crews to scuttle the fleet outside Helsinki?
• the People's Republic of China made its Olympic debut at the 1952 Summer Games, but the team arrived in Helsinki too late to compete except for one race by a single swimmer?
• the Russian Empire built the Krepost Sveaborg fortress around Helsinki, Finland, during the First World War?
• triple quartets from Finland's oldest choir Akademiska Sångföreningen helped raise funds to build the Old Student House in Helsinki?

Moscow Oblast

• Moscow Oblast hosts the Russian Mission Control Centers for spacecraft and military satellites?
• the town of Yubileyny in Moscow Oblast, Russia, annexed a small strip of land to avoid being completely surrounded by the city of Korolyov?