Kondraty Ryleyev was the leader of a rebellion meant to overthrow Russia’s Czar, Nicholas I.

The rebellion was quickly stomped out like a discarded cigarette and Nicolas I sentenced Ryleyev to death by hanging.

Later, when the trapdoor opened, Ryleyev dangled from the rope for a split second before it broke and the rebel leader came crashing to the ground.

At this time in Russia, superstition ran rampant and situations, such as a broken rope, weren’t seen as coincidences but as divine intervention.

Believing he was in the clear, Ryleyev climbed to his feet and shouted at the crowd…

“You see, in Russia they don’t know how to do anything properly, not even how to make rope!”

Later, as a disappointed Nicholas I found himself forced to sign the pardon that would make Ryleyev a free man, the messenger shared with the Czar the rebel’s last words.

Nicholas I, dropped the quill, looked at the messenger and said…

“In that case, let us prove the contrary.”

Once you have won, keep mum.

But, I digress.

By Cole Schafer (inspired by Robert Greene).