Pedagogical aspects of the formation of the interdisciplinary category “divergent thinking” are considered. The purpose of the study is to construct the definition of “divergent thinking of university students” on the basis of the essential and specific characteristics of the named phenomenon, taking into account the criteria of necessity and sufficiency. To achieve a goal, the following methods were used: content analysis of scientific literature, methods of categorical-system methodology: “Two-level triadic decoding of categories”, “Formal-logical method of determining the concept”. The essential characteristics and nature of divergent thinking are identified and described, a two-level triadic model of this category is developed. On the basis of the named model, the definition of the concept of “divergent thinking” is constructed, which, in comparison with other definitions found in the literature, most fully and holistically reflects its key essential characteristics. As a result of the application of the formal-logical method, the definition of “divergent thinking of university students” has been developed, which allows interpreting the named concept and its manifestations from the point of view of personal and creative development of students in the conditions of the educational process of the university. The obtained theoretical results of the analysis of the formation of the category “divergent thinking of students” can be used in the development of technology for the formation and development of this type of thinking of students in the educational process of the university.

Only energetic, socially active, competitive specialists will be able to ensure sustainable economic and political development of modern society, since the current reality requires society to find the most successful options for achieving its goals. According to E.S. Sokolova, the Concept for the Modernization of Russian Education for the period up to 2010 implies that a developing society needs modernly educated, moral, enterprising people who can independently make responsible decisions in a situation of choice, predicting their possible consequences, ways to cooperate, are distinguished by mobility, dynamism, constructiveness, have a developed sense of responsibility for the fate of the country. According to this opinion, the upbringing of active professionals by society, who will find themselves in various socially significant activities, is of great importance. Based on the foregoing, it can be assumed that modern youth has the most significant role in the transformation of society. It is she who has all the opportunities to significantly change the life of society for the better. One of the main means of increasing the social activity of young people is project activity, as it develops in a young person such qualities as a creative approach to the implementation of any type of activity, management skills, strategy, independence, etc. It is to the development of project activities that the Government of the Russian Federation pays great attention by holding various gatherings, conferences, competitions, forums.

We present an analysis of the evolution of social and cultural activities as part of the history of Russia in the context of youth participation in the activities of public associations. We analyze the ideas, positions and components of periodization in scientific works describing the evolution of social and cultural activities. The results of the analysis of the concept of socialization and its main components are presented. We reveal the potential of public associations as a means of youth socialization. The functions of a public association as a social and cultural institution are singled out. The analyzed theory of social and cultural activities made it possible to reveal the periodization of the development of social and cultural activities. The change in social and economic conditions is defined as the main factor in the periodization of the history of social and cultural activities. We give the characteristics of each period on the basis of the social demand for the development of society and culture, innovative forms of social and cultural activity are revealed, scientific publications of scientists are analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the ideas, goals and forms of youth participation in socially useful activities based on the context of time. An analysis of the current stage of development of social and cultural activities is given, taking into account modern trends in the development of culture and society, based on pedagogical ideas in the scientific literature corresponding to each period, and legal acts. Emphasis is placed on the socialization of young people within the framework of modern public associations.

The features of the process of development of information and legal competence of a person are considered. The socio-cultural approach is substantiated and updated, the feature of which is the development of leisure self-organization of the individual in the context of a conscious choice of forms of leisure activities that ensure the development of socio-cultural activity, manifested in the initiative to master professional competencies. A review of the leading concepts on socio-cultural activities was carried out, with the emphasis on creating conditions that ensure the development of information and legal competence. With the justification of innovative approaches to self-education and professional development of the individual, emphasis is placed on gamification, which allows the learning process to be carried out not only in classrooms, but also in the process of extracurricular activities. The features of digitalization and informatization technologies are revealed, their role in the transformation of professional activities practices, which allow improving the process of developing educational programs that meet the requirements of modern society, is noted. An analysis of sources on the problems of pedagogical support for the process of personality formation led to the conclusion that the modern education system should be aimed at developing the skills of independent creative thinking, focused on achieving a high level of professionalism, and such opportunities have socio-cultural activities that have in their arsenal technological means, forms and methods of effective training and education.

The necessity of developing professional foreign language communicative competence of students of the “Linguistics” training direction in the process of academic mobility is substantiated. The methodological basis for the development of professional foreign language communicative competence of students of the “Linguistics” training direction in the process of academic mobility is the interaction of competent, socio-cultural and personal-activity educational approaches to teaching a foreign language. The strategies of development of professional foreign language communicative competence in preparation for academic mobility are analyzed, the principles of selection of content material and requirements for mastering a foreign language, fixed in the Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Education, are characterized. It is determined that the development of professional foreign language communicative competence in the process of academic mobility involves the consistent and phased use of an effective set of exercises and tasks aimed at the formation of skills and abilities of the main types of speech activity.

Various aspects of the problem of distance learning of foreign languages in higher educational institutions in the context of informatization of domestic education are considered. A critical review of the current state of the problem under discussion is presented, the accumulated practical experience is summarized. Special attention is paid to how the distance format affects the change in the nature of communication between students and between a teacher and a student, as well as how the role of reflection increases in the improvement of various aspects of teaching foreign languages. The specifics of the conceptual apparatus and scenarios of interaction of participants in the educational process in the implementation of distance learning technologies are considered, their strengths and weaknesses are highlighted. Based on the reasoning about how electronic educational platforms are changing the modern educational reality in general and teaching foreign languages in particular, important observations related to the competence of this teacher and conclusions about the need to develop a distance education system capable of making the learning process lively and authentic are made.

In modern language education teachers are required to create conditions for professional cognitive-communication activities. It becomes possible, when the process and content are problematized. In order to achieve it, linguo-pedagogical models of problem-based learning should be implemented. These models emphasize variable attributes such as the degree of autonomy, the type of speech activity, the type of thinking and the type of task. The use of Internet resources was proposed as a tool for problematization and regulation of these attributes. The resources were divided into three groups: authentic materials, linguodidactic tools and Internet platforms. Subsequently, it has been identified that Internet platforms possess arranging and controlling tools. Via arranging tools the teacher can organize and problematize the content of learning, and via controlling tools the teacher can regulate autonomy and problematize the process. The methodological properties and functions of these tools were analyzed on the example of Google. After that the direct correlation between the tools used in different stages of problem solving and different models of problem solving was identified. The use of Internet resources allows emphasizing type of speech activity, defining the way the participants communicate with each other, and determining the strategies of problem solving. The results of the analysis of Google showed the high applicability of such resources in teaching foreign languages due to the possibilities of structuring the educational content, regulating speech activity and monitoring the process. Thus, the use of Internet resources gives an opportunity to add new tools that can help develop universal and general professional skills.

The features, problems and prospects of using cognitive linguistics in teaching a foreign language in general and English in particular in a language university are considered. The main features and postulates of cognitive linguistics that are significant in the context of foreign language learning are given. The main promising areas of application of linguocognitive science for teaching such aspects of the English language as its vocabulary and grammar are considered. The features of teaching some linguistic phenomena of the English language, in particular, English prepositions, as well as relevant cognitive mechanisms, such as conceptual metaphor and conceptual metonymy, are described in detail. The functions of these mechanisms and possible examples of their productive use in teaching a foreign language are given. Based on the analysis of a wide range of scientific papers on the research problem, a classification of various formats of the use of cognitive linguistics in teaching a foreign language is proposed. Each of the proposed formats is described in detail, the corresponding strengths and weaknesses are given. The possibility of developing the concept of a linguocognitive approach to teaching English in a language university is explained. The main features of this approach, its strengths, as well as promising directions for the development of the concept of a linguocognitive approach to teaching English in a language university are given.

We consider the issue of interdisciplinary integration in teaching at Master’s Degree Programme of “Economics” and “Management”. It explains the important role of foreign languages and culture as the central element of the model of interdisciplinary integration at universities nowadays. It further proves that culture is a key to interdisciplinary integration in language learning of future Master’s Degree Student. Currently, a graduate of Master’s Degree Programme implies both being able to speak a modern language and use the knowledge of languages in working with up-to-date communication technologies when tackling professional tasks and collaborating with colleagues from other countries. Modern federal state education standard for Economics and Management require that Master’s Degree Programmes graduates are competent in the aspect of intercultural communication and know a foreign language at a high level. We suggest a Model of interdisciplinary integration in language teaching at Master’s Degree Programme, which includes target, content, organizational-methodic and perfomance-assessment components. This model implements the main language, culture, humane, innovation, environmental, axiological, valeological, acmeological, aesthetic and other orientations; principles integration and differentiation, continuity and consistency of education. The main purpose of interdisciplinary integration in foreing language teaching at Master’s Degree Programme is to form a well-founded, culturally fullfledged person able to speak a foreign language and operate modern communication technologies. Implementation of interdisciplinary integration in language teaching at Master’s Degree Programme demands coordinated actions of language teachers as well as major disciplines educators.

The relevance of the research topic is due to close attention of scientific and pedagogical public to the issues of cognitive education. Over the past years there has been sustainable interest to various methods of cognitive visualization and a search for new forms of work for the formation of cognitive interest and development of reflective mental activity. Purpose: to substantiate the effectiveness of the use of famous paintings as cognitive visual material to enhance students’ learning and cognitive activity at English classes and to present the types of tasks with them. Research methods: research methods are based on an analytical review of scientific sources on issues of cognitive education, the use of visual aids in the educational process and generalization of personal pedagogical experience of using the proposed tasks at English classes in the 1st year of the Faculty of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication of the Odintsovo branch of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation. Results: the article presents examples of tasks which generate interest, stimulate cognitive activity and contribute to the development of all components of communicative competence. It is concluded that within the framework of the communicative and cognitive approach, the use of paintings as visual visualization has great potential in the field of motivation, creation of a positive attitude towards learning and contributes to the effective solution of several educational and pedagogical tasks.

It is proved that the problem of formation of the foundations of intercultural communicative competence of students of secondary vocational education with the use of project and research activities is in the center of attention. On the one hand, this technology helps to increase tolerance, motivation of students to learn a foreign language and is an effective means of forming an educated personality capable of foreign language communication, self-development and selfrealization. On the other hand, the problem of forming the basics of intercultural communicative competence of students is relevant, because nowadays the fact of determining the conditions and factors of the effectiveness of the use of project and research activities during foreign language teaching is insufficiently investigated. It is emphasized that a significant amount of research is devoted to the application of project research activities in teaching foreign languages. Based on the analysis, it is proved that conducting a modern foreign language lesson with the use of project and research activities means creating such comfortable learning conditions in which each student of secondary vocational education will feel his success, intellectual viability, as well as learn to communicate with other people, think critically and be democratic. It is concluded that project and research activities in line with the intercultural aspect of education gives students of secondary vocational education the opportunity to replenish their knowledge both within their native culture and abroad, expand the base of socio-cultural knowledge and broaden their horizons.

The problem of formation of students' intercultural communication skills is investigated. The factors that negatively affect the process of intercultural communication are determined, and algorithms for building productive intercultural communication of students are derived. The importance of the formation of students' skills of intercultural interaction through the development of cultural analysis of the communication situation and the development of strategies for conducting a dialogue of cultures is substantiated. The terms “hindrances” and “barriers” of intercultural communication are considered and it is concluded that they are close in meaning, but their difference is rather in the theoretical than practical sphere, and how in practice each of the communication failures can be considered from the point of view of different fields of knowledge. Special attention is paid to the importance of cognitive and affective components for the course of intercultural communication. It is emphasized that an important condition for teaching productive intercultural communication as a dialogue of cultures is the development and application of various methods and forms of work. The proposed methods of work are built in stages, while an important factor is the practical elaboration of the acquired knowledge, thanks to active and visual teaching methods that positively affect the development of students' personal characteristics necessary for the successful construction of a multicultural dialogue. This approach to solving the stated problem will allow students to realize the value of their own and other cultures, thanks to the penetration into cultural differences and mastering the practical skills of designing and conducting intercultural dialogue. The methods of formation of communicative skills for the successful conduct of intercultural communication are differentiated according to the tasks solved in the learning process in three directions: 1) didactic and empirical; 2) culturological, containing general cultural or culturally specific knowledge; 3) goal-setting (setting communication goals and ways to achieve it). Promising directions for further research are proposed.

The most important feature of education in the information society, according to the laws of which humanity lives today, is lifelong learning, and therefore the ability to learn becomes one of the key competencies. Today, the ability to acquire knowledge on one’s own, without the help of a teacher, is of particular importance, which creates the need to form students’ cognitive interest and self-education skills. This is facilitated by the coaching approach to learning, which is a new step in the methodology of teaching foreign languages, and involves a partnership between the teacher and the student in the educational process, the student’s awareness of the personal need for mastering knowledge and the need to take responsibility for the result. The purpose of the research is to describe the tools of the coaching approach to teaching general English. The research showed that the creation of a relationship of trust and partnership in the educational process is facilitated by: meeting the student’s need for meaningful learning, understanding and recognition of the student’s values, active listening, developing feedback, and effective questions. The use of these technologies is intended to provide students with access to self-education in the future. The study concludes that the use of coaching approach tools in teaching general English contributes to the maximum disclosure of learners’ internal resources and capabilities.

The relevance of the research is due to the necessity to form and develop the speaking skills of Faculty of Foreign Languages students with a blended form of education and insufficient development of theoretical and technological tools for the effective implementation of this process. Blended learning is considered as a special type of educational activity, in which there is an alternation of traditional and distance learning technologies. We believe that blended learning has a significant potential for organizing the process of foreign language education in general and teaching speaking to students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages in particular. The specifics and advantages of the blended form of education for foreign language education are highlighted, as well as specific methods, techniques and tasks that can be successfully implemented in the process of teaching speaking in a blended format of education are given. The purpose of the study is to present the technological aspects of teaching speaking to students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages in a blended format of training and the development of educational and methodical support aimed at the implementation of this process. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that it analyzes digital resources that can be effectively used in the process of teaching speaking in a blended educational format, and also provides examples of specially designed exercises for the development of speaking skills that can be used in the process of training future specialists in foreign language education with a combination of traditional and online forms of education.

The method of mutual assessment is one of the methods of problem teaching of a foreign language. It consists in the mutual study of each other’s written works by students with the aim of commenting and evaluating them for further refinement. The implementation of this method in conditions of blended learning, when some of the stages of project activities are carried out by students in the classroom, and some – individually or collectively outside the classroom on the platform of one of the Internet services, seems quite promising from the standpoint of linguodidactics. At the same time, the successful implementation of this method in practice requires taking into account a number of psychological and pedagogical conditions. Among them, the we include the following: a) the motivation of students to participate in the mutual assessment of written works based on the implementation of a blended learning form through information and communication technologies; b) the use of cooperative learning technology; c) teaching students the format of writing reviews on the written work of classmates; d) the presence of a phased learning technology, which will define a clear sequence of learning stages and spell out the functions of a student – the author of a written work, classmates – reviewers and a teacher; e) monitoring of project work of students by a teacher with constant feedback. We describe in detail and justify each of the conditions.

In contemporary conditions of globalization, there is a general informatization in all spheres of society. Informatization of the learning process has become the dominant direction in the modernization of the national system of higher education. The introduction of new information and communication technologies in the educational process leads to the emergence of completely new types of information threats and risks, ignoring which leads to destabilization of the learning process and students’ mental and physical health disorders. In this regard, ensuring information security is one of the main conditions for an effective educational process. Ensuring information security is based on the identification of real and potential threats in the information space. The classification of the main types of information threats is given. The identified threats, in conjunction with the provisions of the regulatory documents of the Russian Federation, provide for the development of a teacher’s competence in the field of information security. The content aspects of competence are revealed, which reflect the features of information threats and risks that are relevant at each stage of teaching. Based on the content aspects of competence, recommendations are formulated for teachers and students on ensuring information security as part of the process of foreign language teaching.

The problem of development and improvement of physical qualities, increasing the level of physical fitness, achieving high working capacity of students is considered. The relevance of the study is obvious, since increasing the level of physical fitness of student youth and improving health are among the priority areas of state policy. According to the analysis of literary sources, data are given on the low level of physical fitness of modern student youth. One of the factors of the insufficient level of development of the physical qualities of girls and boys is the lack of motor activity, caused, among other things, by students' dependence on the Internet. An assessment of the initial level of development of physical fitness of first-year students is given and the nature of the development of individual physical qualities of those involved is considered. It was revealed that girls have a lower level of physical fitness than boys. High values in girls were noted when performing a test for the flexibility of the spinal column. The worst results were shown by girls when assessing endurance, strength and speed-strength abilities. Male students demonstrated high results in tests that reflect the strength of the abdominal muscles, the strength of the muscles of the arms and upper shoulder girdle. Low test scores were noted when young men performed endurance running, standing long jump.

Documents of the domestic law enforcement system from the time of Kievan Rus to 1917 are considered for turning to God – the source of immutable moral values from the standpoint of the Orthodox religious tradition. The study of this topic is of particular importance for understanding Russian history, taking into account the factor that Orthodoxy occupied in the life of the state and the individual. It is noted that the origins of the Russian law enforcement sphere coincide with the emergence of Christianity and statehood in Russia. On the basis of the anthology, published on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Russian police, and through the study of documents from the 10th to the 19th centuries, the nature of such appeals is investigated, and their comparative analysis is carried out. Three periods are distinguished: the first – from the first treaty between Russia and the Greeks until the introduction of the post of St. Petersburg General Police Chief; the second – from the introduction of the post of St. Petersburg General Police Chief to the establishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; the third is from the establishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the disbandment of the Gendarme Corps in 1917. The documents of each of the periods analyze the forms and context of appeals to God, which made it possible to identify the trend of changes taking place in society in relation to the highest value for the Orthodox faith – the Triune God. The conclusion is made about the period of preservation of the traditional for the Orthodox faith concepts of God in the documents of the law enforcement system of Russia, as well as the time of the beginning of the loss of such concepts. A hypothesis has been put forward about the possibility of reviving the highest traditional religious values in Russia at the present stage.

On the basis of a written document from the early 19th century, the boundary line of the dacha of the village Rasskazovo was reconstructed. The purpose of this research is to decipher the Boundary Book of 1811, present its text in electronic form, and reconstruct the boundary line of the dacha of village Rasskazovo with country-sides on a modern map based on data obtained during decoding. In the process of deciphering the document, the use of Excel spreadsheets made it possible to reduce the need for manual text entry from the keyboard and thereby greatly speed up and facilitate the process of processing the document. The initial experience of drawing a boundary line on a modern map led to the conclusion that the magnetic declination was not taken into account when surveying and compiling the Boundary Book. Later, as part of this study, a VBA Excel macro was developed that allows you to automatically build a boundary line according to the data of the Boundary Book, organized accordingly in an electronic table, against the background of a map inserted into the worksheet of the Excel book. The conclusion about the absence of corrections for magnetic declination during surveying and compiling the Boundary Book, as well as the VBA Excel macro developed in the framework of this work, can be applied in similar studies of other similar documents.

We discuss the negative impact of the raw material problem on the development of the cottage industry in the late imperial period, military communism time and the New Economic Policy in Tambov Governorate. The availability of the raw material base was of great importance for craft activities, since in the absence of the required materials, the craftsmen would not be able to start their work. Craftsmen could obtain the raw materials necessary for their work either on the personal, communal lands or in local markets. In the first situation, dependence on natural and climatic conditions increased. In the second, everything depended on the buyers, who understood the demand and sought to extract the maximum profit from trade, therefore put the craftsmen at unfavourable conditions. The state authorities of both late imperial and the Soviet Union tried to solve the raw material problem in their own way. In Tambov Governorate of the late imperial period, craft storage houses were organized to help the craftsmen. Also, the government offered large credits. The Soviet Union leadership hoped for mass cooperation of the craftsmen. The article provides the examples of the fact that the difficulties faced by craftsmen have not disappeared despite the actions of the authorities. The cottage industry gave way to the manufactured goods after industrialization.

The ideas of the Neo-Narodism’s intelligentsia about the socio-political moods and psychology of the Russian peasantry and building on the basis of these ideas and the basic provisions of the classical populism of agrarian utopia are studied. The relevance of the study lies in the creation of a theoretical base for studying in the field of generational (generation of “revolutionary turning point”) and intellectual (phenomenon of agrarianism in Russian thought) history. The purpose of this research is to study the problem of the historical role of the peasantry and the fate of the Russian village in the ideology of Neo-Narodism. During the study, analytical and historicalcomparative methods were used. As a result of the analysis of historical sources, it is concluded that the Neo-Narodism’s ideas about the Russian peasantry, despite the sharply changing sociocultural and revolutionary political circumstances, remained mainly in line with the ideas of classical populism. Adepts of folk studies turned to the problem of the growth of protest moods in the peasant sphere and found out that it was caused by the problem of land shortage that worsened during the revolutionary turning point. Neo-Narodnik V.G. Bogoraz notes the conservatism of a significant part of rural residents who were distrustful of revolutionary ideas. A.V. Chayanov’s utopian project went beyond the boundaries of purely populist thought, entered into an alliance with scientific agrarianism and took into account the political circumstances that developed after the establishment of Bolshevik power and the domination of Marxist ideology.

The study of the history of the Soviet militia provides instructive material for conclusions and generalizations that are relevant to modern reality. On the basis of documentary sources, both published and archival, an attempt was made to comprehend the processes of revolutionary transformations of the state apparatus in the problem-chronological perspective using the example of the police. The purpose of the study is to identify new facets in the formation and activities of the Soviet police at the regional level, which will determine new areas of research in Soviet state building. It is proved that the activities of the police, as well as the selection of personnel, cannot be carried out in a short period of time on a fundamentally new basis, out of touch with past historical experience, and its complete disregard leads only to negative consequences. The relationship between the living conditions of ordinary citizens and the elements of crimes is shown. The conclusion is substantiated that a complete break with the pre-Soviet experience in the activities of law enforcement agencies led the country to chaos and arbitrariness in society. The elements of using the experience of the provisional government at the turn of 1920 are revealed both in the specific methods of work of the militia and in personnel work. It is established that until the mid1920s in the selection of personnel, more attention was paid to diligence and professionalism, but in subsequent years - party membership, social class position, unconditional diligence in the implementation of party communist directives.

We consider the role of religion and religious leaders in the Soviet foreign policy towards Greece. The reasons for the conflict between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Greek Church were not rooted in religion, the cultural divide between the two autocephalous churches was transferred into the sphere of political regulation. On the issue of Russian monasteries on Mount Athos, we considered the Soviet-Greek church relations from 1946 to 1953. The events described took place during the Greek Civil War – 1944–1949, and the first years after it. Based on the documents of the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the letters of Patriarch Alexy I to the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, which are stored in it, the nature of the actions of Soviet representatives on the issue of Russian monasteries on Athos, we analyze and made an assessment of the actions of church representatives of the USSR in the line of external church relations. Based on the analysis of the source documentary material, we concluded that the USSR projected ideological dogmas on its foreign policy in the Orthodox world as well. Greek Civil War 1944–1949 showed the dependence of the confessional sector of Greek society on the political component. The political confrontation between the USSR and the USA turned out to be decisive in the adoption of the pro-Western state course of Greece, including in the religious society. It is shown that the peculiarities of the Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches, as participants in international relations, are the close coordination of their international activities with the work of the relevant state political institutions. The role of church diplomacy for establishing communications between the two states regarding the deplorable situation of Russian monasteries on Mount Athos is shown, and we make a conclusion about the peacekeeping potential of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is emphasized that based on the centuries-old experience of cooperation between politics and religion, we can talk about the existence of similar positions in the field of regulation of social activity.

Personal documents are an invaluable source of historical research, in connection with which one of the main tasks of state archives is to identify significant personal archives and include them in the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation in the form of funds of personal origin or as part of archival collections. A comparative analysis of technologies for working with funds of personal origin and funds formed by legal entities made it possible to identify the specifics at each stage of work with documents of personal origin. The most difficult are the stages of acquisition and examination of the value of documents, which determine which documents and funds are of the greatest historical significance and should be permanently stored. It was found that the general rules for organizing documents can also be applied to funds of personal origin only partially. The variety of types of documents and media on which they can be presented impose special requirements both on the description and on ensuring the safety of documents. It was also found that the use of documents of personal origin was subject to legal restrictions. It is concluded that it is necessary to take into account existing legal acts, to involve the opinion of experts and the experience of state archives in working with these funds.

The history of a relatively little-studied sub-sector of aircraft manufacturing is described: the development and production of general purpose airplanes. Data on 2690 aircraft models and their production are collected by the author. It is shown that the USA share in the production in the 20th century exceeds 80 %, although in 1930–1945 European countries were the leaders. Assumptions are made about the reasons for the change of leaders. The definition of “general purpose airplane” is given with references to the regulatory documents of the USA, European Union and Russia. It is shown that the most popular subclass of such airplanes is four-seaters, its share in the total production of aircraft with the number of seats from 3 to 11 exceeds 50 %. For the first time, the year-by-year dynamics of the development and production of general purpose airplanes in the 20th century in the world is published. Strong declines in production are mentioned during the Great Depression and in the first half of the 1980s. It is shown that the demand for general purpose airplanes decreased significantly during the aggravation of the political situation, which correlates with the confidence of potential buyers in their future. Probably, such dependence should be observed for other long-time used consumer goods. The development of new models of general-purpose aircraft was also studied. It is shown that the peak of its intensity falls on 1929, and the post-war decline in the number of developments began even during the period of growth in production – in the mid-1960s. A very strong geographic concentration has been found: almost half of all general purpose airplanes in the world are built in one town (Wichita, Kansas), where more than a dozen airplane manufacturers have located their enterprises.