October 23, 1956: A rebellion starts in Hungary, against the Communist government and, by extension, the Soviet Union’s dominion over the nation. Two days later, the government is toppled, and reformers are put in power.

November 1, 1956: The Soviet Union, having decided to intervene, sends tanks into Hungary from the east. On November 4, they penetrate Budapest; by November 10, the Soviets have killed more than 2,500 Hungarians and crushed the reformist government. Many of the movement’s leaders would later be executed, and over 13,000 are imprisoned.

November 22, 1956: The Summer Olympics open in Melbourne.

December 6, 1956: In the finals of the water-polo competition, defending gold-medalists (and all-around water-polo bad-asses) Hungary face…the Soviet Union. You can probably guess why this match is remembered as the “Blood in the Water” match.

You probably couldn’t guess, unless you’re a sharper man than I, that a documentary about the match would be executive produced by Quentin Tarantino and Lucy Liu. Seriously.

29 November 2007

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