The order to establish the Soviet KGB (Committee for the State Security) was signed on March 13,1954. Although most people could lives their whole lives without ever having to deal with this outfit, there were many who did; this abbreviation was so associated with something evil, secretive and scary that it became one of the few Russian words known to most Americans.
That’s why I was surprised to find out that there is a company out there calling itself KGB -- Knowledge Generation Bureau. Pretty clever, I guess. Gestapo, though, is still up for grabs.
