Lava erupts from the Piton de la Fournaise “Peak of the Furnace” volcano, on the southeastern corner of the Indian Ocean island of Reunion Saturday, August 1, 2015. Spewing red-hot lava, one of the most active volcanoes in the world is currently erupting on this Indian Ocean island, where the world's attention has been focused since a wing fragment believed to be from the missing Malaysian jet was discovered washed up on a beach. The lava fountains are shooting as high as 40 meters (44 yards) and are creating cones that are about 20 meters high after only one day of eruption, said Peltier. The volcano is in the Reunion National Park – a world heritage site. The volcano is not seen as dangerous because the lava flows down the east side of the mountain through an uninhabited area called the Grand Brule, or the Big Burned, toward the sea. The last times the volcano threatened the population was in 1977 and 1986. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Photo: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870 – 1924) lying in state in the Kremlin. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1924

Important! For the same article in Russian language click here.

Something quite intriguing is happening within Russian-speaking internet during the last few – should you type a fully academic inquiry (at least, according to Russian academic requirements) in national search engines for "Lenin's mausoleum" – the first thing you get (even in top 10 searches) is website pages talking about black magic and occult. Website authors view this construction differently, but unconditionally agree on one thing: the mausoleum of the "leader of the world proletariat” – the essence of a magical artifact, a sort of “energy vampire”. It was built with a certain purpose: to drain the energy out of miserable Soviet citizens on one hand; and to poison the anthroposphere of one-sixth part of the earth with its vibes (the exact territory that was occupied by the former Soviet Union), depriving the Russian people of will to resist on the other hand. Complete nonsense? No doubt. Nevertheless, an intriguing one. Well, probably because some oddities do exist in mausoleum's history. These oddities are the thing we are going to discuss this time. First, let me refresh you memory on the subject.

In this March, 2015 photo, a person sits at an upright piano that had been hauled up to Topanga Lookout in the Santa Monica Mountains in Calabasas, Calif. For a couple of days last week, a Southern California hilltop was alive with the sound of mystery. Hikers venturing to Topanga Lookout found a battered upright piano sitting on a graffiti-scrawled concrete slab with a panoramic view over the mountains between Calabasas and the Pacific Ocean. Turns out, the piano was used for a music video by Seattle-based artist Rachel Wong. The cinematographer, Michael Flotron, says he and four others used a dolly and rope to haul the 350-pound instrument a mile up the trail on Tuesday. After the shoot, it was too dark to get the piano back down. Flotron says people seem happy to leave it there. But if necessary, he'll haul the piano back down. (Photo by Michael Flotron/AP Photo)

Photographer Pol Kurucz’s vivid collection of photos explores issues faced by black Brazilian women, from political misrepresentation to unrealistic beauty standards. Kolor Collective is a Rio de Janeiro-based creative group that challenges the struggle faced by black women in Brazil through theatrical and provocative art. It was founded in 2015 by Franco-Hungarian photographer Pol Kurucz, who often touches on his own experiences of discrimination to call out sensitive social problems. (Photo by Kolor Art Collective/The Guardian)

Danny Santos started photography as a hobby a few years ago, shooting strangers in the streets of Singapore every weekends. He still does that from time to time. Now he juggles between his day job as a graphic designer, and his part-time work as a freelance photographer. (Photo by Danny Santos)

Families and children play at Brimham Rocks during their half term break in North Yorkshire, UK on February 18, 2025. (Photo by James Glossop/The Times & Sunday Times)

Bottles of vintage cognac, with a royal warrant stamp, are seen in storage inside Berry Bros and Rudd wine merchants in central London, Britain, August 21, 2015. Berry Bros. & Rudd, which started as grocers over 300 years ago in St. James's, central London, has two royal warrants. Every year Queen Elizabeth grants about 20 royal warrants, the gold emblem of the British monarchy, in a practice dating back to medieval times. The warrant holders can display the certificate and use the royal coat of arms in their marketing. The warrants lasting five years can help businesses break into new markets overseas, using their role as supplier to the royal family as a gauge of quality. On September 9, Queen Elizabeth will overtake Queen Victoria as Britain's longest-serving monarch. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

Latin dancing featured on the opening day of the 98th Blackpool Dance Festival in the Empress Ballroom in the city’s Winter Gardens on May 28, 2024. (Photo by James Glossop/ The Times & Sunday Times)