On September 11th 1971 Nikita Khrushchev died.

In 1953, following the death of Stalin, a power struggle occurred in the Soviet Union, from which Khrushchev eventually emerged victorious in 1955. Khrushchev denounced many of Stalin's policies, and in general his reign was less oppressive. Notably, he was Premier during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In 1964, Khrushchev was removed from power by a conspiracy led by Brezhnev and "retired," although he was allowed to continue breathing, given a small pension and his house and dacha. During his retirement, he dictated his memoirs, copies of which were smuggle to and published in the West.

Image: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-B0628-0015-035 / Heinz Junge / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons