President Nixon was left in a great deal of debt following the Watergate scandal and the loss of his presidency. Despite having secured publishing and consulting positions, Nixon was still in terrible financial straits. He sold his apartment - rather dramatically - in order to support himself and his family.
Russia defeated Napoleon by starving and freezing his army to death. During the invasion, French troops were forced to march through miles of snow in extremely cold weather, without the proper clothing and supplies to survive it. The Russians purposefully burned down their own villages so that the French could not raid them for supplies. By the time Napoleon reached Moscow, his army's morale was extremely low and he had sustained heavy losses, and he was forced to retreat soon afterward. Russia's cold weather that makes it almost impossible to invade is often called 'Russian Winter' or 'General Winter'.
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New York was. Initially, it was called New Netherlands, because the Dutch had control of it first. But, as the latter half of the 17th Century wore on, it gradually came under the control of the British, a force so powerful that the Dutch dared not try to fight back.
