While Russia has existed as a state for over a thousand years, the history of post-Soviet Russia is brief, dating back only to the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991. Since gaining its independence, Russia claimed to be the legal successor to Soviet Union on the international stage. However, Russia lost its superpower status amid serious economic and political challenges in the 1990s. Scrapping the socialist central planning and state ownership of property of the Soviet era, Russia attempted to build an economy with elements of market capitalism, with often painful results. The development of post-Soviet political institutions has also produced mixed results. By the early-1990s Russia had a system of multiparty electoral politics, but in recent years the presidency has been increasing its already tight control over parliament, regional officeholders, and civil society.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_post-Soviet_Russia

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1862: Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard completed the first test on pasteurization. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur)

1912: Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts and Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan were opened. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenway_Park)

1914: A fire and a gun battle between the National Guard and striking coal miners in Colorado led to 17 deaths in the Ludlow Massacre. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre)

1968: Pierre Trudeau succeeded Lester B. Pearson as Prime Minister of Canada. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Trudeau)

1999: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 13 people in the Columbine High School massacre. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope, John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble worker in the Lord's vineyard. The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers." -- Pope Benedict XVI (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI)