Did you know Stalin and Churchill were avid billiards player?
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A replica set of Stalin’s billiard balls. The red cue ball and numbered white object balls are typical of Russian variants of the game.
(Photo: CNN)
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Famous people, even bloody-handed dictators, often have surprisingly down-to-earth hobbies. Stalin, for example, not only liked music, movies (especially Westerns) and chess, but also loved to play billiards, most likely the version called “Russian pyramid.” Some recollections claim he was pretty good at it, and loved to play for peculiar stakes: if his opponent lost, he (the opponent, that is) had to crawl under the pool table, assumably eliciting much mirth from the Soviet dictator. Stalin was a sore loser and allegedly only challenged people he was sure to beat, with Nikita Khrushchev, Stalin’s eventual successor after his death, being one of his frequent victims.
Winston Churchill was another World War II national leader who loved billiards. We don’t know how good he was or what stakes he liked to play for, but an elaborate billiards table once owned by him is still on display at the Main Street Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
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Churchill’s pool table in Las Vegas
(Photo: vegasexperience.com)
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Save $500 per person!
Victory in Europe Day promotion
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Winston Churchill waves to crowds in Whitehall in London as they celebrate V-E Day, May 8, 1945.
(Photo: Imperial War Museum)
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On May 8, we will celebrate the 78th anniversary of V-E Day, standing for Victory in Europe Day, the date of the formal surrender of the German armed forces in World War II on May 8, 1945. On this occasion, you will get a discount of $500 on all our tours if you book and pay in full until May 8, 2023. In addition to the discount, this promotion includes also our available 80th anniversary D-Day tours in 2024. According to statistics, seats for the main D-Day anniversaries get sold out approximately a year before the event. So book your tour as soon as possible because the most popular ones will get fully booked very soon. Note that this offer applies only in case of new bookings, and it cannot be combined with other special promotions. If you have any questions related to this promotion or our tours, feel free to contact our travel consultants.
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