The infamous “Siege of Sidney Street” of January 1911, in which a pair of armed Latvian anarchists held off British police and soldiers until they perished in a fire, left an enduring mystery: Who was Peter the Painter?

Anarchist historian Philip Ruff (Filips Rufs) has finally answered that question in the new book, Pa stāvu liesmu debesīs, published this week by Rīga-based Dienas Grāmata.

Peter the Painter was assumed to be the leader of a Latvian anarchist cell operating in London’s East End, but questions about his identity and whereabouts dogged British authorities and authors for decades, leading to both fiction and non-fiction accounts of his exploits. But as Ruff tells it, he was the first one to travel to Latvia to seek a definitive answer.

Peter the Painter was in fact Jānis Žākle, a well-known anarchist leader in Rīga who fled the city with his compatriots after a number of terroristic attacks in 1906 made them the focus of Czarist authorities.

In London, he was in charge of a small band of Latvians who in December 1910 attempted to break into a jewelry shop. Their effort failed when police were alerted to loud noises coming from the building next door. Rather than surrendering, the Latvians opened fire and killed three officers. One of their own also was fatally wounded.

The manhunt that ensued led to the Jan. 3, 1911, siege of 100 Sidney Street, where two of the gang were holed up. The gunfight lasted several hours until the house caught fire and the two men died. Among those on the scene was Winston Churchill, who at the time was Britain’s home secretary.

However, Peter the Painter remained at large. Ruff’s research into Žākle’s true identity as well as the social history of the Latvian anarchists began in the 1980s. It has taken him to various sources in Britain and Latvia. Ruff even learned the Latvian language so that he could perform his research, but his Latvian-born wife, Irēne Huls, has helped, too.

Ruff wrote the book in English. It was translated to Latvian by Lauris Gundars. The 288-page book is illustrated with photographs from British, Latvian and personal archives.

The north side of the Empire State Building in New York City will be illuminated with the colors of Latvia’s flag the night of Aug. 7, according to the structure’s official website.

The tribute is part of the building management’s celebration of the 2012 London Olympics. Sharing the spotlights will be Colombia on the west side, Uzbekistan on the south and Ethiopia on the east.

The other two Baltic nations will be highlighted Aug. 10, with Lithuania’s flag colors viewable on the north side and Estonia’s on the south.

The building, which opened in 1931, is owned by investor Peter L. Malkin.

Whatever else might happen to the Latvian team of Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Jānis Šmēdiņš as they proceed into the semi-finals of beach volleyball competition in the 2012 Summer Olympics, it appears clear they have left an impression—especially on the Americans.

It was in California, after all, that the sport was born. And just like four years ago in Beijing, when Māris Strombergs took the gold in the all-American sport of BMX cycling, the small Baltic nation is making sports fans take notice in London.

Journalists working for American media seemed just as stunned as the American team of Jake Gibbs and Sean Rosenthal, who lost Aug. 6 to the Latvians two sets to one.

Yahoo! Sports blogger Greg Wyshynski offered a sobering fact for fans:

For only the second time in the event’s Olympic history, the U.S. men’s beach volleyball teams won’t win a medal in the tournament.

David Wharton, writing in the Los Angeles Times, found meaning in the slight turn in the weather during the match:

As night descended on center court at Horse Guards Parade, a gentle rain began to fall. In that moment, you could see it and feel it, the gloom that had settled over the American men in beach volleyball.

Michael C. Lewis, writing in the Salt Lake Tribune, started his story with an observation of Utah native Gibb:

Jake Gibb stood slump-shouldered and shell-shocked, staring blankly at the spot where the volleyball had just landed in the sand and ended his gold-medal dreams at the London Olympics.

For Gibb, the defeat was “most disappointing loss of my career,” according to a story posted on Team USA’s official website.

Over at NBC Olympics, Jon Ackerman summed up the “stunning end” for the American beach volleyball team and the meaning of these Olympics: “It’s a cruel place for a hot streak to come to an end.”

The Latvians now are guaranteed at least a fourth-place finish as they head into the Aug. 7 semi-finals, facing Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego.