It might be hard to imagine, but before that, maps used to be hand-drawn and were based upon travelers' and merchants' stories and descriptions.

Red-letter day for women

Some 139 years ago, on January 26, Russian Tsar Aleksandr II finally signed the document allowing women to work in public and governmental institutions.

The historic document mostly supported women pursuing careers in teaching and medicine, though still keeping them away from any positions in the tsarist government.

Deadly war

On January 26, 1904, 10 Japanese destroyers attacked the Russian squadron near the Port Arthur fortress in the Yellow Sea.

Two days later, Japan officially declared war on Russia.

The war, which was expected to be an easy victory for Russia, lasted more than a year, eventually leaving Russia the loser and boosting revolutionary moods in the country.

City with numerous names

St Petersburg – often referred to as the Northern Venice of Russia – was founded by Tsar Peter the Great, who ordered to build the new city from scratch to turn it into the capital of the emerging empire.

In 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, Tsar Nicholas the Second renamed the city in the Russian manner – Petrograd – to get rid of its German-style name.

However, on this day in 1924, soon after the death of the revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin, the city was given a new, third name – Leningrad.

It was only in 1991 that the historic city got back its historical name, St Petersburg.