1. Coca-Cola: Contrary to popular myth Coca Cola did not invent the image of the red clad Santa, but it played a major role in popularising it. Indeed Coca-Cola was not even the first soft drinks company to utilize the image of Santa Claus in their advertising, as White Rock Beverages had used it to sell mineral water in 1915 and ginger ale in 1923. There are records of Santa wearing different coloured costumes in the nineteenth century, including green outfits, although the default choice was red. The US magazine Harper's Weekly produced a series of engravings of Santa between 1863 and 1886 which showed him much as he appears today. The artist of these pictures, Thomas Nast, is often credited with having created the modern Santa. In the early 1930s Coca Cola started a 30 year festive advertising campaign featuring drawings by the Swedish artist Haddon Sundblom of a fat Santa in a red coat trimmed with fur and secured with a large belt. Through Coke's magazine advertisements, billboards and store displays these images helped cement today's image of Santa.
2. Russia: Russia is the lowest ranked of these three countries at 133, whilst Estonia's economy is ranked relatively highly (#32). In the EU, the lowest ranked nation is Greece (#94) followed by Italy (#72). Denmark, Finland and New Zealand occupy the top three spots. The bottom three ranked countries globally are Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia.
2. Russia: Russia is the lowest ranked of these three countries at 133, whilst Estonia's economy is ranked relatively highly (#32). In the EU, the lowest ranked nation is Greece (#94) followed by Italy (#72). Denmark, Finland and New Zealand occupy the top three spots. The bottom three ranked countries globally are Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia.
3. Mikhail Gorbachev: The Soviet Union collapsed with dramatic speed in the second half of 1991. Communist rule effectively came to an end in late summer with the suspension of all communist party activity on Soviet territory. In early December the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus declared the end of the Soviet Union and the founding the Commonwealth of Independent States. On 17th December Gorbachev reluctantly agreed to dissolve the Soviet Union. He resigned on 25 December and was replaced by Boris Yeltsin.
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