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An international team led by Monash University has uncovered evidence of a rare form of exploding star, helping to shed light on one of the most cataclysmic events in the universe. At the end of their lives, most massive stars collapse into black holesobjects with gravity so strong that not even light can escape. But some are completely destroyed in pair-instability supernova explosions. This can explain the so-named "Forbidden Gap" in black hole masses.

Henry Aldridge & SonsThe life jacket worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli during the 1912 sinking of the Titanic.On the night of April 14, 1912, Laura Mabel Francatelli was getting ready for bed aboard the RMS Titanic when she heard a great crash. She soon made her way to the ships deck, where she got into a lifeboat and watched in shock as the Titanic sank into the cold, dark waters of the North Atlantic. Now, the life jacket that Francatelli was wearing on that infamous night more than a century ago has sold at auction for $906,000.Though there were more than 3,000 life jackets on the Titanic that night, most of them have been lost to history, while the handful that survived have made their way into museums. Francatellis is the only life jacket from a Titanic survivor to ever be sold at auction, and it stands as a haunting artifact from one of the most infamous disasters in modern history.The Story Behind Laura Mabel Francatellis Titanic Life JacketLaura Mabel Francatelli was a passenger on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic as it made its way from Southampton, England to New York City. Francatelli was traveling in first class with her employer, the famous fashion designer Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon, and Lucys husband, Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon.Encyclopedia TitanicaTitanic survivor Laura Mabel Francatelli, pictured shortly after her rescue.As Francatelli later wrote in a letter, she felt the Titanic strike the iceberg as she prepared for bed on the night of April 14, 1912. There was a crash, she wrote, which shook me, as well as everything else in my room.Francatelli left her room and was told that the ship had hit an iceberg but that there was no danger. However, the mood on the ship suggested otherwise. People were running up and down the stairs, and, as Francatelli made her way to her employers cabin, she noticed water in the corridors.ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty ImagesThe Titanic at Southampton, shortly before the beginning of its maiden voyage. April 10, 1912.As Lucy Duff-Gordon got dressed, a man came by and instructed them to put on life preservers. According to Henry Aldridge & Son, which oversaw the recent sale of the life jacket, this rare relic comprises of twelve cork-filled pockets of canvas with shoulder rests and side straps. To Francatelli, putting it on drove home the peril of their current situation. I felt myself go like marble, she wrote in her letter, but Madame [Duff-Gordon] and I prayed together for God to look after us and keep us safe, if it was his will.Then the three of them made their way to the ships deck, where many people were already being ordered into lifeboats.I said to Sir Cosmo, I believe we are sinking,' Francatelli recalled in her letter. He said, Nonsense, come away.'How Laura Mabel Francatelli Survived The Sinking Of The TitanicNational ArchivesOne of the Titanic lifeboats, much like the one carried Laura Mabel Francatelli.As Francatelli recounted, she and Lucy Duff-Gordon were offered a spot in the lifeboats, but they refused to leave Cosmo behind. The three of them were ultimately ordered into one of the last lifeboats to leave the ship Lifeboat No. 1 alongside two other American gentlemen and seven crew members. And it was from this perspective, about 200 yards away from the Titanic, that Francatelli watched as the great ship sank into the ocean.We saw the whole thing, and watched that tremendous thing quickly sink, Francatelli recounted in her letter. There was then terrible, terrible explosions, and all darkness. Then followed the awful cries and screams of the 1,600 dear souls, fighting for their lives in the water. Oh, never shall I forget that awful night, floating about the ocean in this little boat, freezing cold, and listening to this terrible suffering.Francatelli and the others in her lifeboat, however, did not row back toward the scene to rescue others, even though their boat could have taken more aboard a decision that later sparked some controversy. Ultimately, some 1,500 people died in the sinking; Francatelli and the other survivors were rescued by the RMS Carpathia a few hours later.Henry Aldridge & SonsLaura Mabel Francatellis life jacket from the Titanic has now sold for $906,000.Aboard that ship, Francatelli and seven other survivors from Lifeboat No. 1 all signed her life jacket. Their faded signatures are still visible to this day.The life jacket itself had been kept out of the public eye for decades. It wasnt until 20 years ago that a private collector acquired the life jacket from Francatellis family.Now, this rare life jacket has become yet another remarkable artifact from the sinking of the Titanic to fetch an astonishing price at auction.After reading about the Titanic life jacket that sold at auction for almost $1 million, learn about the wreck of the Titanic. Then, read about Edward Smith, the captain of the Titanic, who some blame for the ships catastrophic sinking.The post A Life Jacket Worn By A Titanic Survivor Just Sold At Auction For Almost $1 Million appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Powerful mobsters proliferated in 20th century America, but their influence didnt remain in the underground world.There were mafiosos believed to have affiliations with the highest rungs of the U.S. government, from Santo Trafficante Jr., who was potentially part of a plot to poison Fidel Castro with a milkshake, to Lucky Luciano, who aided the U.S. in World War II using his connections with organized labor on city waterfronts.But perhaps few criminal figures present as intriguing a conspiratorial connection to the government than Sam Giancana. The Chicago boss went from underling to racketeering royal and finally, CIA cohort, which eventually brought on his own ignominious ending. Maybe more tantalizing still is that his name is inextricably tied to the demise of John F. Kennedy Jr.Its well-known that the mob probably helped to elect JFK, but not everyone knows that Americas favorite playboy was actually pals with Giancana. Kennedy and the mobster likely shared the same women, including Judith Exner, Phyllis McGuire, and even Marilyn Monroe. So how did this friendship end with both mens bloody murder?Sam Giancanas Unhappy Home LifeStephen Hogan/FlickrThe former site of one of Sam Giancanas Chicago hangouts, Patsys Restaurant.Salvatore Giancana was born Gilormo Giancana on June 15, 1908, in Chicago, Illinois. The son of Sicilian immigrants was baptized Momo Salvatore Giancana and grew up in a brutal household in Chicagos Little Italy neighborhood, called The Patch.According to a biography of Giancana titled Double Cross penned by his younger stepbrother, Charles, and his godson Giancana was unruly from the beginning. His father, Antonio, would chain six-year-old Giancana to an oak tree in their backyard when he disobeyed. Then, he would proceed to beat him with a razor strap.When Sam, as he was nicknamed, finally begged for mercy, Antonio would leave him alone for a few hours. Eventually, Antonio would unchain him and allow the boy to sleep the night in the family kitchen. His mother wasnt there to protect him, as she died when he was just a toddler. Perhaps its no wonder then that Sam Giancana grew up full of rage.Giancana remained a disobedient pupil in school and was consequently sent to a reformatory school by the age of ten. His father soon remarried and populated the home with half-siblings besides his full sister, Lena, whom Giancana admired.Quickly, there didnt seem to be much room for him at home. As a result, the truant fell in with rough crowds, namely the so-called 42 Gang.Getty ImagesA younger Sam Momo Giancana when he was the number two leader of the Chicago crime syndicate.The 42 Gang, made up of mostly Italian boys and teenagers, dominated the West Side of the Windy City in the 1920s and 1930s. The gang robbed wealthy women, committed murders, stole cars for parts, and bootlegged liquor during Prohibition. Giancana was arrested the first time at 17 for auto theft, and by age 20, Giancana had racked up several stints in jail and was suspected of having had a hand in three murders (though for these he was never tried).Sam Giancana quickly rose to a position of power in the 42 Gang.As fellow gangster Tony Montana told the Los Angeles Times in 2014:He was into some things with a bunch of guys, including Milwaukee Phil and the English brothers, and they were robbing and shaking down so many joints that Capone took notice of them.With this introduction to Al Capone, Sam Giancanas criminal career reached new heights.Sam Giancanas Meteoric Rise To Power In ChicagoWikimedia CommonsA mugshot of Al Capone in the 1930s.Sam Giancana soon left the 42 Gang behind to become a driver for Al Capones alcohol smuggling operation.He served as a getaway driver for Capone and his associates Machine Gun McGurn and Tony Big Tuna Accardo. According to a 1975 obituary for Giancana in New York Magazine, those two mobsters likely played major roles in Capones infamous St. Valentines Day Massacre.Giancana escaped the World War II draft when a Selective Service psychologist deemed him a constitutional psychopath. Giancana joined the war effort in his own way by manufacturing fake ration stamps and selling them for exorbitant prices.Also in the early 1940s, Giancana found himself in prison yet again. While locked up, he met a man revered by fellow inmates: an African-American named Eddie Jones. Giancana befriended Jones, who told him all about the illegal gambling rackets he ran in the African-American community. They were called policy rackets and were lotteries for Chicagos lower classes, described in a 2013 Chicago Tribune article as the Monte Carlo of the working class, the Las Vegas of the down and out.Naturally, Sam Giancana wanted in and so, upon his 1942 release, he enlisted Accardo in helping him to take the rackets over that raked in tens of millions of dollars annually. In doing so, Giancana terrorized the black community on Chicagos South Side.He started out by abducting his former pal Eddie Jones in 1946. Giancana seized Jones in plain daylight in fact, in front of his wife and secretary and shoved him into a van. The cops chased Giancana, whose cohorts fired and even wounded an officer.Francis Miller/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty ImagesAnthony Accardo during a trial for tax evasion.In exchange for a $100,000 ransom, Jones and his brother agreed to leave the policy racket to their partner, Teddy Roe, and Giancana. Later that same year, an attempt to kidnap Roe failed, but Roe refused to back down to the Italian organized crime outfit. In 1952, Giancana and his thugs murdered Roe, the last major opposition to running Chicagos policy rackets.By the middle of the decade, Giancana had become the head of the Chicago outfit, especially since Al Capone had died five years earlier and his close associate Accardo stepped down. He was now at the top of his game.An Unlikely FriendshipThough he had married and fathered three girls, Sam Giancana would become to be known as a womanizer. His wife died in 1954, leaving him to care for their children on his own. The mobster would never remarry, but he did take many a lover.Through his friendship with none other than Frank Sinatra and his extramarital mistress Judith Exner, Giancana was introduced to another American playboy: John F. Kennedy Jr.LA TimesFrank Sinatra, on the right, with Sam Giancana.In fact, stunner Exner was rumored to be JFKs inbetween with organized crime. In 1988, she recounted a meeting between the two to People one that she set up. Exner said:It was a short meeting early in the evening. Sam arrived first and then Jack, who put his arms around me and said, Im sorry I cant stay and see you for the evening. He was in town to address a Democratic party dinner. He then went over and shook Sams hand. Sam said hello; he called him Jack, not Mr. President. I asked them if they would like me to leave. Jack said, No, Id rather you didnt. I guess he didnt want me to be seen leaving the room. To give them privacy, I then went into the bathroom, sat on the edge of the tub and waited until they were finished.But Giancanas meeting with JFK seemed fated anyway. The Chicago Outfit and other organized crime syndicates allegedly worked to get JFK elected in 1960. Additionally, one of Giancanas long-term girlfriends was singer Phyllis McGuire, who later told national publications all about the intimate relationship between Kennedy and Giancana that developed over the years. As McGuire told the Sun-Sentinel, both men allegedly slept with starlet Marilyn Monroe.Exner added that after Senate reports emerged in the 1970s, it finally dawned on me that I was probably helping Jack orchestrate the attempted assassination of Fidel Castro with the help of the Mafia.Sam Giancana was also allegedly tied to Marilyn Monroe, with whom he allegedly had an affair with up until her 1962 death. The night before she died, the last time I saw her, was in Lake Tahoe at the Cal-Neva Lodge. She was there with Sam Giancana, who was the head of the Mafia, said Monroes hair-stylist to his son in a recording upon his death.The sex symbol was reportedly prepared to reveal her affairs with the Kennedys. I really think the FBI did it, her hairstylist continued.A Web Of Cuba, Castro, And The KennedysSam Giancanas assassination expertise and connection to the Kennedy family came in handy for the United States government in the 1960s. LA TimesThe alleged mistress of both Sam Giancana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., Judith Exner.At that point, the CIA was trying to take down Cuban dictator Fidel Castro through a medley of covert albeit bizarre tactics.To eliminate him, they enlisted their own enemies, namely, the Mafia. Giancana was interested in the mission, considering that with Castros ascension also came the demise of Cuban casinos, from which Giancana and other mobsters profited. If Castro was ousted, Giancana could resume the expansion of his criminal empire in the Latin American market.Recently declassified files from August 1960 to February 1963 reveal that the CIA enlisted private investigator Robert Maheu, a frequent federal collaborator, to reach out to the underworld for assistance. Maheu met smooth-talking mobster Johnny Roselli, who introduced him to his cohort, Sam Gold. Eventually, it was revealed Sam Gold was Sam Giancana. Rumor has it that the CIA indirectly offered Giancana hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for his services, but Giancana refused on the grounds that he just doing his patriotic duty. But Giancana likely hoped that in exchange for killing Castro, the newly-elected President John F. Kennedy would get his brother the future Attorney General Bobby Kennedy to lay off the Mob.Indeed, in 1962, Robert Kennedy had agreed to stop investigating Giancana and his associates temporarily, but was annoyed that the CIA had agreed to deal with the underworld without his approval.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty ImagesCuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro criticizes the United States on their naval blockade of Cuba in a public speech in Havana. Oct. 22., 1962.Giancana and Roselli engaged in numerous efforts to off Castro. The more they tried, however, the more spectacularly they failed. Miami mob boss Santo Trafficante, Jr. offered them a man who could get inside Castros kitchens. On their orders, this man poisoned Castro, but the poison didnt take and the dictator survived. Another effort was to contaminate Castros food with poison hidden inside a pencil. This also failed.Eventually, Giancana grew furious with Robert Kennedys attempts to take down the Mafia. Accounts differ, but its suggested he and his organized crime brethren were behind John Kennedys 1963 assassination in retaliation for RFKs efforts against the mob.By this time, Sam Giancana and his family lived lavishly. After he died, Giancanas daughter, Antoinette Toni Giancana, spoke out about the way she grew up, even publishing a memoir. In 1978, she told People that Dad would always take me around to show me off to his friends when I was a little girl. I always wore a white bonnet, white gloves, little white patent leather shoes. I was always, his little princess.' Denise Truscello/WireImageSecond from left is Cynthia Duncan, the grand-daughter of Meyer Lansky, and behind her in orange is Antoinette Giancana, the daughter of Sam Giancana.But by the mid-1960s, Sam Giancanas fate would take a distinct downturn. Sam Giancana Goes From Assassin To AssassinatedIn 1965, Sam Giancana was jailed for refusing to testify on organized crime before the Senate. Silence between mafiosos and the outside world is required by all its members under the practice of omerta. But Giancanas colleagues nonetheless decided to oust him from the outfit in 1967.Without his power base and worried that the FBI was on his tail for his participation in Castros attempted assassination, Giancana fled to Mexico and then to Argentina in a self-imposed exile of sorts.In 1974, Giancana returned to the U.S. By the following year, word had gotten out publicly that the CIA had used underworld connections to try to kill Castro. The Senate convened official hearings on the subject and called Roselli and Giancana as witnesses. Giancana would never testify. On June 19, 1975, Sam Giancana was visited by an unknown party in the basement kitchen of his Oak Park, Illinois, home. While cooking sausage and peppers, Giancana was mortally wounded in the head and neck as the assailant fled.The identity of the assassin likely a mob cohort who did not want Giancana to testify before the Senate remains officially unknown, but theories abound. Former Chicago mobster Frank Calabrese Jr. told MSN that he knows who did it, but will never spill the beans. Windy City Mafia historian John Binder alleged that Giancanas chauffeur, Dominic Butch Blasi, pulled the trigger. Binder told ABC7 Chicago: He was there that night. A car registered to him or to his family returned there that evening after everyone else had gone home. Not long thereafter they found Giancana dead on the floor of his basement.But both Sam Giancanas namesake nephew and a Chicago cop claimed that another close pal, Tony the Ant Spilotro, did the deed.Either way, its not surprising that the following year, Giancanas best pal and former partner in crime, Johnny Roselli, was also snuffed out.The story of one of Americas deadliest gangsters doesnt end there, though, as the extent to his involvement in the assassination of JFK remains an enduring mystery and fodder for conspiracy theorists to come.If you enjoyed Sam Giancanas story, learn about the real-life mobsters who inspired Goodfellas. Then, dive into the scandalous tale of another criminal from days past, Wild West outlaw Big Nose George.The post Sam Giancana: Chicago Godfather, CIA Collaborator, And The Man Who May Have Put JFK In The White House appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Wikimedia CommonsA portrait of 15-year-old Nicole van den Hurk in 1995, the year she was murdered.Nicole van den Hurk disappeared from Eindhoven, Netherlands at the age of just 15 on October 6, 1995 and her body was found in the woods nearby on November 22. For 16 years, police made little progress in solving this horrifying case, until her stepbrother, Andy van den Hurk, suddenly confessed via a Facebook post in 2011.This shocking admission did soon close the case but only because it led police to the real killer. Andy van den Hurks confession was just a ploy to get the dormant case reopened. His plan soon proved successful when police arrested Nicole van den Hurks killer, a man known only as Jos de G.This is the haunting story of Nicole van den Hurks murder and the long road to finally solving it.The Sudden Disappearance Of 15-Year-Old Nicole van den Hurk In 1995In 1995, Nicole van den Hurk was a 15-year-old student who was staying with her grandmother inEindhoven, Netherlands. On October 6, she left her grandmothers home in the early morning to bike to her job at a nearbyshopping center.But she never arrived.Police quickly snapped into action and began to search for her. Later that evening, authorities discovered her bicycle by a nearby river. The search continued over the next several weeks but the next clue didnt appear until October 19, when her backpack was found at the Eindhoven canal. Police continued to search the river, canal, and nearby forests multiple times over the next three weeks, but to no avail.Personal PhotoNicole van den Hurk was supposed to show up for work in Eindhoven, Netherlands on the morning of October 6, 1995, but she never arrived.On November 22, seven weeks after Nicole van den Hurk first disappeared, a passerby stumbled uponher body in the woods between the towns ofMierlo and Lierop, not far from her grandmothers home.She had been raped and murdered. Police determined that the cause of death was most likely internal bleeding due to a stab wound.The van den Hurk Investigation Takes A Few Wrong Turns Before The Case Goes ColdThe police had few suspects. However, a local woman namedCeline Hartogs soon claimed to know who was involved in Nicole van den Hurks murder. She had been detained in Miami for drug trafficking and alleged that the men she had been working for were the ones that were responsible for the murder.Nicole van den Hurks stepfather first supported Hartogs story, but upon further investigation, the police determined that her claims were flawed and not worth pursuing.In the summer of 1996, the authorities briefly arrested the victims stepfather and stepbrother,Ad and Andy van den Hurk, but there was no evidence that linked them to the crime. Both were released and ultimately cleared of all involvement.Andy van den Hurk/Twitter Andy van den Hurk, Nicoles stepbrother whose false confession eventually helped bring her case to a close.A reward was offered for any information related to the Nicole van den Hurk murder, but that produced no helpful leads. To make matters worse, the number of detectives on the investigative team was cut. Over the next few years, all the leads dried up and the case went cold. In 2004, a cold case team briefly reopened the case, but once again, failed to make any progress.With nearly a decade having passed, it was beginning to seem as though Nicole van den Hurks killer would never be caught.Andy van den Hurks Shocking Facebook ConfessionBy 2011, with no resolution and the investigation stalled, Andy van den Hurk had had enough.So, in a Facebook post he made on March 8th of that year, Andy van den Hurk confessed to killing his stepsister:I will be arrested today at the murder of my sister, I confessed will get in contact soon.Policepromptly arrested Andy van den Hurk, but found again that there was no evidence other than his own confession that linked him to Nicole van den Hurks murder. He was subsequently released after only five days in custody.Personal PhotoNicole van den Hurk disappeared from Eindhoven, Netherlands at the age of just 15 on October 6, 1995.Shortly afterward, he retracted his confession and said that he only confessed in order to draw attention back to his stepsisters case:I wanted to get her exhumed and get DNA off her. I kind of set myself up and it could have gone horribly wrong.To get her exhumed I had to put steps in place to get her exhumed. I went to the police and said I did it. She is my sister, absolutely. I miss her every day.Andy van den Hurks plan did work, however. In September 2011, police dug up Nicole van den Hurks body for DNA testing.Nicole van den Hurks Killer Is Finally Identified As Jos de G.After they exhumed the body, policefound traces of DNA relating to three different men: her stepbrother, her boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, and a 46-year-old former psychiatric patient and convicted rapist known only as Jos de G.Charges were officially brought against Jos de G. for the rape and murder of Nicole van den Hurk in April 2014.Jos De G./FacebookIn 2018, Jos De G. was convicted of both rape and manslaughter in the killing of Nicole van den Hurk.However, the defense immediately called the DNA evidence into question and pointed out that there was DNA from two other men on the body as well. The defense also suggested that it was possible that Jos de G. and Andy van den Hurk had engaged in consensual sex with Nicole van den Hurk prior to her murder. All of this ultimatelyled to a lessening of the charges against Jos de G. from homicide to manslaughter.Justice For The van den Hurk Family After Two DecadesThe trial of Jos de G. dragged on for more than two years. Scientists re-analyzed the results to confirm that DNA from the body belonged to Jos de G. beyond a reasonable doubt, but there was no way to prove for sure from this DNA alone that he had been involved in the murder. And though a witness said that Jos de G. had told him that he once killed a young girl, the defendants questionable mental stability cast doubt on these statements. In the end, after 21 years of on-and-off investigation and almost two years in court, Jos de G. was acquitted of the murder charge on November 21, 2016. Instead, he was found guilty of rape and sentenced to five years in prison.Shortly afterward, the prosecution appealed the manslaughter verdict. On August 28, 2018, the case went back to trial on appeal, and about two months later, the state got their conviction.On October 9, the manslaughter acquittal was overturned and Jos de G. was sentenced to 12 years in prison, a decision that was upheld by the countrys supreme court in 2020. With that, a quarter-century after Nicole van den Hurks murder, the man found to be responsible would indisputably have to serve time for this heinous crime.After this look at the Nicole van den Hurk case, read up on the chilling disappearances of Jennifer Kesse and Maura Murray.The post The Story Of Nicole van den Hurks Murder And Her Stepbrothers False Confession That Led To The Real Killers Capture appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Click here to view slideshowThe fall of the Soviet Union didn't happen overnight. The U.S.S.R. and its Communist Party suffered a slow and prolonged death, undergoing an entire decade of economic collapse, political revolts, and military failures that slowly ate away at one of the most powerful empires in human history.The nation had lasted just 74 years. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Vladimir Lenin rose to power and helped establish the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. After Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin seized control and ruled with an iron fist, eliminating anyone who disagreed with him.As the Cold War began in the 1940s, the Soviet Union pitted itself against the United States in a global struggle for power and nuclear dominance. But by the 1980s, it was clear that something needed to change.Mikhail Gorbachev began leading the U.S.S.R. in 1985 and implemented policies that allowed more freedoms to Soviet citizens, but it was too late to save the country. The economy was falling apart, and people were growing restless. Several territories started declaring independence, and a failed coup attempt in August 1991 was the spark that was needed to bring about the total collapse of the Soviet Union.The Beginning Of The End Of The Soviet UnionRatushenko/RIA Novosti Archive/Wikimedia CommonsThe fall of the U.S.S.R. was preceded by revolts in Soviet republics like Tajikistan. February 1990.In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. And in March 1990, he was named president of the U.S.S.R. He recognized that the authoritarian rule of his predecessors was no longer serving the nation, and he introduced several policies of his own to appease the citizens who had been worn down by Communism for generations.Gorbachev implemented glasnost, or political openness, which put an end to most book bans, weakened the hold of the secret police, and allowed newspapers to criticize the government. Meanwhile, the perestroika reform program restructured the economy. Individuals were able to own businesses for the first time in decades, and workers were permitted to go on strike for higher wages. Gorbachev believed that perestroika would allow for innovation and ultimately revive the crumbling economy, but some of his measures were half-hearted. The state still owned the means of production, so a true market economy wasn't established. This made the policies slow to show any progress, and the U.S.S.R. continued to struggle financially.Food and supplies were so scarce that Soviet citizens had to spend hours lined up outside their local stores, patiently waiting for their turn to scavenge what little was left on the shelves before they were completely stripped bare. The people became restless and territories on the fringe of the empire started making moves to break free.In 1988, Estonia declared sovereignty. And in 1990, Lithuania became the first state to officially leave the U.S.S.R. It was quickly followed by Latvia and Georgia.Yuryi Abramochkin/RIA Novosti Archive/Wikimedia CommonsMikhail Gorbachev speaking at a news conference in 1986.That same year, riots broke out in Dushanbe, the capital of Soviet Tajikistan. The arrival of Armenian refugees in the area heightened the tensions caused by the ongoing reforms, and the Soviet government imposed martial law in an effort to keep things under control. The fall of the Soviet Union had been set in motion.The Coup That Collapsed An EmpireOn August 18, 1991, Communist leaders and KGB agents detained Mikhail Gorbachev at his vacation home in Crimea. They were upset about his new policies and the loss of control in Eastern European countries like Poland, East Germany, Hungary, and Romania. They wanted to reassert the Communist Party's grip on the region, and they knew they had to overthrow Gorbachev to make that happen.One of the coup leaders was Gennady Yanayev, Gorbachev's vice president. Once Gorbachev was placed under house arrest, Yanayev issued a decree naming himself acting president, claiming that Gorbachev was suffering from an illness and unable to carry out his duties.However, Gorbachev was able to send out word to Moscow that Yanayev was lying. So, when tanks rolled into the city to seize control, they were met by hordes of protesters.Ivan Simochkin/Wikimedia CommonsProtesters marching through Moscow on Aug. 19, 1991.Soviet citizens barricaded Moscow's White House, the main government building, and tried to convince troops not to follow their orders. Boris Yeltsin, the president of Russia, delivered a rousing speech from atop a tank in front of the White House."Regardless of the reasons given for [Gorbachev's] removal," Yeltsin said, "we are dealing with a rightist, reactionary, anti-constitutional coup... The peoples of Russia are becoming masters of their destiny."Yeltsin went on to denounce the putschists, or coup leaders, stating, "We are absolutely confident that our countrymen will not permit the sanctioning of the tyranny and lawlessness of the putschists, who have lost all shame and conscience. We address an appeal to servicemen to manifest lofty civic duty and not take part in the reactionary coup. Until these demands are met, we appeal for a universal unlimited strike."Within three days, it was clear that the coup had failed. The total collapse of the Soviet Union was inevitable.Inside The Official Fall Of The Soviet UnionIn the weeks following the failed coup, countries began leaving the U.S.S.R. at a rapid pace. Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan had declared their independence by the end of August, and by November, just three Soviet states remained: Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. Yuriy Kuydin/RIA Novosti Archive/Wikimedia CommonsThe heads of 11 former Soviet republics meet to formally establish the Commonwealth of Independent States. Dec. 19, 1991.On Dec. 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned his presidency. In a televised speech, the leader declared to the world:"The process of renovating the country and radical changes in the world community turned out to be far more complicated than could be expected. However, what has been done ought to be given its due. This society acquired freedom, liberated itself politically and spiritually, and this is the foremost achievement which we have not yet understood completely, because we have not yet learned to use freedom."Gorbachev ended his address, "Some mistakes could surely have been avoided, many things could have been done better, but I am convinced that sooner or later our common efforts will bear fruit, our nations will live in a prosperous and democratic society. I wish the best to all of you."The fall of the Soviet Union led to the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the once mighty empire split into 15 separate countries. Just after Gorbachev's resignation speech, the Soviet hammer and sickle flag atop the Kremlin was lowered for the final time, and the Russian tricolor banner was raised in its place.After reading about the fall of the Soviet Union, check out some of the most incredible images from the Soviet-Afghan War. Then, look through these photos of Soviet youth in the 1960s.The post The Fall Of The Soviet Union In 36 Rarely-Seen Photographs appeared first on All That's Interesting.