Prior to World War I, Gretzky's paternal grandfather Anton ( Tony ) Gretzky immigrated along with his family to Canada via the United States from the Russian Empire ( what is now Grodno, Belarus ).

Prior to Belarus gaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the language was known in English as Byelorussian or Belorussian, transliterating the Russian name,, or alternatively as White Ruthenian or White Russian.

Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin had been elected President of Russia in June 1991 in the first direct presidential election in Russian history.

Prior to this, a lack of numbers of Russian Blues led to cross breeding with the Siamese.

Prior to the First World War, Belarusian lands were part of the Russian Empire, which it gained from the Partitions of Poland more than a century earlier.

Prior to 1827 Jews did not serve in the Russian army, but they were subject to double taxation in lieu of military service.

Prior to the departure of Sykes to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Sazonov in Petrograd on 27 February 1916, Sykes was approached with a plan by Herbert Samuel, who had a seat in the Cabinet as President of the Local Government Board and was strongly sympathetic to Zionism.

Prior to World War II, Arisakas were used by the British Navy and Russian Army, in Finland and Albania.

Prior to 2002, students typically found housing on their own with some guidance from the institution, though at one time SFAI owned a small number of apartment units near its Russian Hill campus.

* Alex Prior ( b. 1992 ), Russian child prodigy composer

Prior to 1919, it was part of the Russian Empire.

Prior to the match some skeptics questioned the state of the pitch and also the ability of Russian authorities to keep order amongst the traveling British fans, however the match passed incident free and a British Embassy in Moscow spokesman said, " The security and logistical arrangements put in place by the Russian authorities have been first-rate, as has been their cooperation with their visiting counterparts from the UK.

Prior to April 23, 1906, the Russian Empire had been an absolute monarchy, ruled by an autocratic emperor, who was commonly referred to by his pre-imperial title of " Tsar ".

Prior to late September 2008, only a few flights between the cities of Vladivostok and Khabarovsk were available on Vladivostok Air, but when the Russian government decided to close Dalavia, due to high debt levels, Vladivostok Air soon announced the start of 7 additional domestic routes and 4 new international routes from Khabarovsk.

Prior to the Russian Revolution, " Lezgin " was a term applied to all ethnic groups inhabiting the present-day Russian Republic of Dagestan.

Prior to that in April-May 1828, the Russian commander-in-chief, Prince Peter Wittgenstein, had moved into Rumanian Principates Wallachia and Moldavia and occupied them.

Prior to Struve, the Kharkiv Observatory was not registered within the Russian leveling network and the altitude of Kharkiv was based on rather inaccurate trigonometric leveling conducted by local triangulation.

Prior to this, the flag was red with the gold hammer and sickle in the top-left corner, above the gold Cyrillic characters РСС Тоҷикистон ( RSS Tojikiston )-country's name in Tajik and Таджикская ССР ( Tadzhikskaya SSR )-country's name in Russian in a sans-serif font.

Prior to this, the flag was red with the country's name in both Uzbek ( Ўзбекистон ССР-Ozbekiston SSR ) and Russian ( Узбекская ССР-Uzbekskaya SSR ) languages in gold in the top-left corner.

Prior to the Russian Revolution, Quercus petraea oak from the Baltic states was the most highly sought after wood for French winemaking.

Prior to Ermac ’ s agreement with the Strogonovs, Russian attitude towards the Siberian expanse had been one preoccupied primarily with defense, not aggression.

Prior to the Revolution, New Englanders consumed large quantities of rum and beer, as maritime trade provided them relatively easy access to the goods needed to produce these items: Rum was the distilled spirit of choice, as the main ingredient, molasses, was readily available from trade with the West Indies.

Prior to the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, Cuba maintained strong economic and political ties to the United States.

Prior to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, English judges were seen as " lions under the throne ", servile creatures of the King.

Prior to the Jasmine Revolution, Tunisia practiced internet censorship against popular websites such as YouTube.

Prior to the disbanding of The Revolution, Prince was working on two separate projects, The Revolution album Dream Factory and a solo effort, Camille.

Prior to the dissolution of the Sainte-Chapelle in 1803, following the French Revolution, the term " la Sainte-Chapelle royale " also referred not only to the building but to the chapelle itself, the Sainte-Chapelle ( choir ).

Prior to the French Revolution Saumur was the capital of the Sénéchaussée de Saumur, a bailiwick, that existed until 1793.

Prior to the French Revolution in 1789, it had been a royal town and the Château de Saint-Germain the residence of numerous French monarchs.

* French Fleur-De-Lis: Prior to the French Revolution, there was no national flag which represented France.

Prior to the American Revolution, this area was part of the territory of the Onondaga ( tribe ).

Prior to the industrial revolution, most iron was obtained from widely available goethite or bog ore, for example during the American Revolution and the Napoleonic wars.

Prior to the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979, Ferdowsi University had taken for its ally Georgetown University of Washington, D. C., USA.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, coal and limestone were worked only on a modest scale for local consumption, but during the Industrial Revolution by the opening of canals, such as the Birmingham Canal Navigations, Stourbridge Canal and the Dudley Canal ( the Dudley Canal Line No 1 and the Dudley Tunnel ) opened up the mineral wealth of the area to exploitation.

Prior to its engagement in World War I, the Empire of Japan fought in two significant wars after its establishment following the Meiji Revolution.

Prior to the Quiet Revolution, the province's natural resources were mainly developed by foreign investors.

Prior to the American Revolution, Chew was friends with both George Washington and John Adams, and was a strong advocate for the colonies.

Prior to the American Revolution, some people had concerns about Methodist evangelism in the colonies that took no heed of established Anglican parishes.

Prior to the extensive division of labor and mechanization resulting from the Industrial Revolution, it was possible for workers to control the quality of their own products.

Prior to the American Revolution, in 1772, during a political meeting at the Warren's home, they formed the Committees of Correspondence along with Samuel Adams.

Prior to the war, France had been outraged over US trade with Britain and the refusal to repay war debts from the Revolution on grounds that they were owed to the French crown, not Revolutionary France.

Prior to the Islamic Revolution many political organizations including but not limited to Fadaian Khalg and People's Mujahedin of Iran active members and supporters were among students of the Sharif University.

Prior to the American Revolution, all of the British North American colonies had slavery, but the Revolutionary War gave impetus to a general anti-slavery sentiment.