The Great Seal secret steal
On August 4, 1945, a group of Soviet schoolchildren presented a replica of the US Great Seal to US Ambassador W. Averell Harriman as a 'gesture of friendship' to the USSR's World War II ally.
It was a great opportunity for the Soviets to plant a listening device in the ambassador's Moscow office - and that's exactly what they did. It took seven years until the bug was discovered.
Bonus Bubblegum
The Thing, as it was called, was designed by Soviet Russian inventor Léon Theremin.
Theremin is best known for creating 'The Theremin', a creepy electronic musical instrument beloved of B-grade horror movies and The Beach Boys.
Many artists have built their own creative versions of The Theremin, including one crafted from an ex-badger. It's creatively called 'The Badgermin'.
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Watch Léon Theremin playing his own instrument
Image credit: Austin Mills, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
