Jan. 12-13, 1959: Protests force the plane carrying Deputy Soviet Premier Anastas Mikoyan to divert to Burbank!

Mikoyan did a grip and grin with L.A. Mayor Norris Poulson, but Norrie would not be so friendly during Nikita Khrushchev’s time in Los Angeles. Later in the year, Poulson created an incident with Khrushchev that was apparently intended to put Poulson on the national stage, like Richard Nixon in the “kitchen debate.” Instead, it ended any further political ambitions he might have had.

The post originally appeared on latimes.com in 2009 and is available via Archive.org.