On November 10, 1982, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died of a heart attack. He had served as leader of the USSR from October of 1964 until his death. Following his death, the Soviet Union cycled through three more leaders during the 1980's until Mikhail Gorbachev allowed the country to dissolve in 1991.



Read an obituary of Leonid Brezhnev from the New York Times.