Category Archives: Cold War

U.S. submarine test fires atomic warhead in Pacific 50 years ago this hour (1962)

(Sunday, May 6, 1962, 6:45 p.m. EDT) — The first nuclear explosion to be caused by an American ballistic missile, rather than by a bomb dropped from an aircraft or at a fixed site, was accomplished today at Christmas Island, 1,200 miles from its launch site as the USS Ethan Allen fired the armed Polaris missile from underwater to its target.

Nixons depart China, ending historic visit 40 years ago this hour (1972)


Video: Shanghai Communique comes together (at 3:44)

(Sunday, February 27, 1972, 9:12 p.m. EST) — U.S. President Richard M. Nixon departed China this morning (10:12 a.m. local time, Feb. 28, 1972) with a goodbye wave from a solemn Premier Chou En-lai in his gray tunic. Nixon and his wife Pat spent a week in China, an important step in formally normalizing relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).