Category Archives: Cold War

Guns of war fall silent in Korea 60 years ago this hour (1953)


Video: 'Korean War - PART 28, End of the War, 6.25' (truce takes effect at 9:14)

(Monday, July 27, 1953, 10:00 p.m. local time; during the Korean War, part of the Cold War) — The guns of the Korean War fell silent tonight as a truce ended 37 months of conflict on the Korean Peninsula. The last reported Allied barrage halted at 9:43 p.m. and then it was quiet. Continue reading Guns of war fall silent in Korea 60 years ago this hour (1953)

Castro launches Cuban Revolution with failed attack on army barracks 60 years ago today (1953)


Video: 'M-26-7 - The 26th of July Movement (Cuba)'

(Sunday, July 26, 1953; during the Cuban Revolution, part of the Cold War) — Fidel Castro, 26, began his revolt against Fulgencio Batista today with an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, an army facility in the city of Santiago de Cuba in eastern Cuba. Castro would oust Batista in 1959.

Brezhnev expresses hope in television address to American 40 years ago this hour (1973)

(Sunday, June 24, 1973, 6 p.m. EDT; during the Cold War) — U.S. President Richard Nixon concluded his summit with the visiting leader of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, who hailed the talks in an address on American television.

Washington, Moscow agree on ‘hotline’ to improve communication during a crisis 50 years ago today (1963)


Video: 'Dr. Strangelove phone conversation U.S President'

(Thursday, June 20, 1963) — The Moscow–Washington hotline (officially, the Direct Communications Link or DCL) was authorized today by the signing of a “Memorandum of Understanding Regarding the Establishment of a Direct Communications Line” in Geneva, Switzerland, by representatives of the Soviet Union and the United States. The agreement resulted from the Cuban Missile Crisis, which made it clear that reliable, direct communications between the two nuclear powers were a necessity.

Rhee makes bold bid to block Korean truce 60 years ago this hour (1953)


Video: 'Korean War - PART 28, End of the War, 6.25' (June 18, 1953, at 6:25)

(Thursday, June 18, 1953, by 5 a.m. local time; during the Korean War, part of the Cold War) — With an armistice agreement was all but complete, South Korea President Syngman Rhee unilaterally ordered the release of 25,000 anti-communist North Korean prisoners of war today in protest of the proposed settlement.

Kissinger and Le Duc Tho sign pact ‘consolidating’ Vietnam peace 40 years ago today (1973)


Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 11' (June 13, 1973, at 12:19)

(Wednesday, June 13, 1973; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — U.S. National Security Advisor Henry A. Kissinger signed an “amplification and consolidation” of the Vietnam peace agreement today in Paris and said it meets all major points of concern over peace violations.

The new accord, termed “satisfactory” by Kissinger, was also signed by Hanoi Politboro member Le Duc Tho and representiatives of the Saigon government and the Viet Cong’s Provisional Revolutionary Government.

Nixon hosts Vietnam POWs at White House 40 years ago this hour (1973)


Video: 'President Nixon Addresses Vietnam POWs at the White House'

(Thursday, May 24, 1973, 6:30 p.m.-2:00 a.m. EDT; during the Vietnam War) — President Richard Nixon honored some 600 former American prisoners of the Vietnam war and their guests tonight at a gala homecoming party held in a giant tent on the South Lawn of the White House. Continue reading Nixon hosts Vietnam POWs at White House 40 years ago this hour (1973)

‘Time to quit making heroes’ out of secrets thieves, Nixon says 40 years ago today (1973)


Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 11' (May 24, 1973, at 10:23)

(Thursday, May 24, 1973; during the Watergate Scandal and the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — Defending the government’s right to keep secrets in the national interest, U.S. President Richard Nixon told nearly 600 returned Vietnam prisoners of war today that it is time “to quit making national heroes out of those who steal secrets and publish them in the newspapers.” Continue reading ‘Time to quit making heroes’ out of secrets thieves, Nixon says 40 years ago today (1973)

Czechs relesae AP correspondent William N. Oatis 60 years ago today (1953)


(Saturday, May 16, 1953; during the Cold War) — Associated Press correspondent William N. Oatis was released today by communist authorities in Czechoslovakia, where he’d been imprisoned for two years after being forced to confess to espionage while working as the AP’s Prague bureau chief.