IN: Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein (Russian: Anton Grigor'evich Rubinshtein, tr. Anton Grigorevich Rubinshteyn; November 28 [O.S. November 16] 1829 - November 20 [O.S. November 8] 1894) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was the elder brother of Nikolai Rubinstein who founded the Moscow Conservatory. As a pianist, Rubinstein ranks among the great 19th-century keyboard virtuosos.

By 1867, ongoing tensions with the Balakirev camp, along with related matters, led to intense dissension within the Conservatory's faculty. Rubinstein resigned and returned to touring throughout Europe. Unlike his previous tours, he began increasingly featuring the works of other composers. In previous tours, Rubinstein had played primarily his own works.  At the behest of the Steinway & Sons piano company, Rubinstein toured the United States during the 1872-3 season. Steinway's contract with Rubinstein called on him to give 200 concerts at the then unheard-of rate of 200 dollars per concert (payable in gold--Rubinstein distrusted both United States banks and United States paper money), plus all expenses paid. Rubinstein stayed in America 239 days, giving 215 concerts--sometimes two and three a day in as many cities.  Rubinstein wrote of his American experience,  May Heaven preserve us from such slavery! Under these conditions there is no chance for art--one simply grows into an automaton, performing mechanical work; no dignity remains to the artist; he is lost.... The receipts and the success were invariably gratifying, but it was all so tedious that I began to despise myself and my art. So profound was my dissatisfaction that when several years later I was asked to repeat my American tour, I refused pointblank...  Despite his misery, Rubinstein made enough money from his American tour to give him financial security for the rest of his life. Upon his return to Russia, he "hastened to invest in real estate", purchasing a dacha in Peterhof, not far from Saint Petersburg, for himself and his family.
QUESTION: How was is performance received in America?
IN: Zazi was born in a village in Paktia Province, Afghanistan. He has two sisters and two brothers. At the age of 7 in 1992, he and his family moved to the city of Peshawar in Pakistan where they settled as Afghan refugees. In 1999, he and the family left Pakistan and immigrated to New York City.

American authorities also arrested imam Ahmad Wais Afzali, who was charged with and convicted of lying to the FBI about a conversation in which Afzali informed Zazi he was under surveillance. Afzali was formerly a resident of Flushing, Queens, and legal permanent resident of the U.S., born in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was an imam at a Queens mosque, and ran the Islamic Burial Funeral Service, a Queens funeral parlor. He was charged with having told Zazi that he was being watched, and lying to the FBI in a matter involving terrorism. He initially pleaded not guilty, faced up to eight years in prison and deportation if convicted, and was freed on $1.5 million bail.  On March 4, in a plea bargain he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of lying to U.S. federal agents, and said he was sorry. Afzali faced up to six months in prison, and as part of the plea arrangement the government agreed not to request any jail time. Brooklyn federal judge Frederic Block will sentence him on April 8. As part of his plea agreement, Afzali voluntarily left the U.S. in July 2010, within 90 days of his conviction. As a felon and under the terms of his plea bargain Afzali may not return to the U.S. unless given special permission.  Afzali denied any intention of aiding terrorism or misleading authorities, and according to his lawyer he was "caught in a turf war between the NYPD and the FBI." His last words in the United States were "God Bless America," according to his lawyer.
QUESTION: Was he charged for that?
IN: Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California, in a house that was built by his father. His parents were Hannah (Milhous) Nixon and Francis A. Nixon. His mother was a Quaker, and his father converted from Methodism to the Quaker faith. Nixon was a descendant of the early American settler, Thomas Cornell, who was also an ancestor of Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell University, as well as of Jimmy Carter and Bill Gates.

Nixon used the improving international environment to address the topic of nuclear peace. Following the announcement of his visit to China, the Nixon administration concluded negotiations for him to visit the Soviet Union. The President and First Lady arrived in Moscow on May 22, 1972 and met with Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party; Alexei Kosygin, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers; and Nikolai Podgorny, the head of state, among other leading Soviet officials.  Nixon engaged in intense negotiations with Brezhnev. Out of the summit came agreements for increased trade and two landmark arms control treaties: SALT I, the first comprehensive limitation pact signed by the two superpowers, and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which banned the development of systems designed to intercept incoming missiles. Nixon and Brezhnev proclaimed a new era of "peaceful coexistence". A banquet was held that evening at the Kremlin.  Seeking to foster better relations with the United States, both China and the Soviet Union cut back on their diplomatic support for North Vietnam and advised Hanoi to come to terms militarily. Nixon later described his strategy:  I had long believed that an indispensable element of any successful peace initiative in Vietnam was to enlist, if possible, the help of the Soviets and the Chinese. Though rapprochement with China and detente with the Soviet Union were ends in themselves, I also considered them possible means to hasten the end of the war. At worst, Hanoi was bound to feel less confident if Washington was dealing with Moscow and Beijing. At best, if the two major Communist powers decided that they had bigger fish to fry, Hanoi would be pressured into negotiating a settlement we could accept.  Having made considerable progress over the previous two years in U.S.-Soviet relations, Nixon embarked on a second trip to the Soviet Union in 1974. He arrived in Moscow on June 27 to a welcome ceremony, cheering crowds, and a state dinner at the Grand Kremlin Palace that evening. Nixon and Brezhnev met in Yalta, where they discussed a proposed mutual defense pact, detente, and MIRVs. While he considered proposing a comprehensive test-ban treaty, Nixon felt he would not have time as president to complete it. There were no significant breakthroughs in these negotiations.
QUESTION:
Did they have a welcome party for the President and First Lady