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CollDoll's avatar

Solzhenitsynen wrote about a clapping incident with Stalin in The Gulag Archipelago. Here's a version of it https://historyinsights.com/11-minute-applause/

After Joseph Stalin gave his speech at a conference for the Communist Party in 1937, the audience exploded into applause. Everyone in the room leaped to their feet and began to clap wildly. Some seemed to be in a contest of who could stand and clap the fastest.

Yet, the big question soon came: who would have the nerve to stop clapping first? After a few minutes, nobody showed the courage to stop, and so the applause went on. The clapping continued nonstop for eleven minutes.

Finally, one man had enough and stopped clapping. As soon as he sat down, the frenzied audience also quieted down. Soon, the room was completely silent.

Later that night, the man who stopped clapping first was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison. Authorities reportedly told him “don’t ever be the first one to stop clapping!“

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Peter Solinski's avatar

You know what I really hate? LOL. Damnit, I was LOLing myself silly but I doubt I'll make it three months. Hilarious.

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