Speaking of which...

On this date in 1991 the Commies tried to take over Russia. Or take it back. Or something.

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt (August 19-August 21, 1991), also known as the August Putsch or August Coup, was a three-day period during which a group of members of the Soviet Union's government briefly deposed Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and attempted to take control of the country. The coup leaders were hard-line members of the Communist Party ... who felt that Gorbachev's reform program had gone too far and that a new union treaty that he had negotiated dispersed too much of the central government's power to the republics. Although the coup collapsed in only three days and Gorbachev returned to power, the event undermined the legitimacy of the CPSU and contributed towards the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Gee, sure is a good thing Russia's learned better, huh?