November 7 is an interesting day as it commemorates the October Revolution of the Bolsheviks. It was officially observed in the USSR from 1927 to 1990 and was the main holiday of the year during Stalin’s reign.

It was observed in Kyrgyzstan until 2017 when it was replaced by Days of Ancestral History and Memory and it is still an official holiday in Belarus.

The day has been repurposed several times. In 1995, President Yeltsin reestablished November 7 as a holiday to commemorate the liberation of Moscow from the Polish army in 1612. The next year, it was renamed Day of Accord and Reconciliation. Since 2004, November 7 became one of serval Days of Military Honor and ceased to be a day off.

This photograph of the Red guard unit of the Vulkan factory in Petrograd is in the public domain.