Lenin was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in Streletskaya Ulitsa, Simbirsk, now Ulyanovsk, on 22 April 1870, and baptised six days later; as a child, he was known as Volodya the common nickname variant of Vladimir.
If you could see the earth illuminated when you were in a place as dark as night, it would look to you more splendid than the moon. Galileo Galilei, Salviati, p. 88