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The Imperiia Project

Safety first!

While portraits conventionally allude to the protagonist's prowess in battle and sports, metal football helmets were not introduced until the 1960's, and they were introduced in the United States, not Imperial Russia. American football was certainly not a pastime at Russian Naval Academies in the 1700's; it was adapted from soccer and rugby much later, being first played in 1869, between the teams of Rutgers University and Princeton.

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From his perch in the upper echelon of naval power (he had recently earned the rank of rear admiral), Pavel Vasil'yevich reports on August 10th that a threatening crowd had gathered at the market in Nikolaev, leading to the arrest of six men from a series of naval vessels. Hears reports that similar events had taken place in other southern towns and that local governors were warning their chiefs of police about waves of disturbances coordinated, or maybe even instigated by, foreigners. Pustoshkin believes, however, that these are nothing but the "capers" of local workers - the manifestation of the local obsession with watermelons.