Winter Solstice December 21 is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun above the horizon at true noon is at the minimum altitude. The height of the midday Sun above the horizon will hardly change for several days — it will seem to “stand still”. Hence the name of this astronomical phenomenon – the winter solstice. The first issue of Ogonyok magazine December 21 , 1899 in The first issue of the legendary Ogonek magazine was published in Russia. Initially, it was a weekly illustrated literary and artistic supplement to the newspaper “Birzhevye Vedomosti”. In 1918, the issue of the magazine ceased, but was resumed 5 years later. Until the mid-1980s, the magazine was a typical Soviet publication with ideological commentary and propaganda. In 1986, Vitaly Korotich was appointed editor-in-chief of Ogonyok, and the editorial policy changed dramatically. Ogonyok began to print facts, documents and analytics
