Category Archives: Cold War

United States explodes first hydrogen bomb at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands 70 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 1 1952)


Video: 'Operation IVY MIKE 1952'

(Saturday, November 1, 1952, 7:15 a.m. local time/Friday, October 31, 1952, at 7:15 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time; during the Cold War) — The United States exploded the world’s first hydrogen bomb, code-named “Ivy Mike,” the first full-scale test of a thermonuclear device, today on the island of Elugelab in Enewetak Atoll in the now independent island nation of the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific. Continue reading United States explodes first hydrogen bomb at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands 70 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 1 1952)

Soviets agree to remove nuclear missiles in Cuba after America pledges not to invade Caribbean island, effectively ending Cuban Missile Crisis 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 28 1962)


Video: 'To Save the World Takes Only One Good Man | The Cuban Missile Crisis | Day 13'

(Sunday, October 28, 1962, 9:00 a.m. EST/5:00 p.m. Moscow Standard Time; the thirteenth and final day of the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — Radio Moscow announced today that the Soviet Union had accepted a proposed solution to end the Cuban Missile Crisis, releasing the text of a letter from Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev affirming that the missiles will be removed in exchange for a non-invasion pledge from the United States. Continue reading Soviets agree to remove nuclear missiles in Cuba after America pledges not to invade Caribbean island, effectively ending Cuban Missile Crisis 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 28 1962)

American U-2 pilot shot down over Cuba by Soviet surface-to-air missile in only combatant fatality of Cuban Missile Crisis 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 27 1962)


Video: 'Black Saturday, Nuclear War on Autopilot | The Cuban Missile Crisis | Day 12'

(Saturday, October 27, 1962, around noon EDT, day twelve of the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — U.S. Air Force Maj. Rudolf Anderson Jr. became the first and only combatant fatality of the Cuban Missile Crisis today when his U-2F Dragon Lady (the third CIA U-2A, modified for air-to-air refueling) reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by one of two Soviet-supplied S-75 Dvina (NATO designation SA-2 Guideline) surface-to-air missiles that were fired at his aircraft high over Banes, Cuba. Continue reading American U-2 pilot shot down over Cuba by Soviet surface-to-air missile in only combatant fatality of Cuban Missile Crisis 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 27 1962)

U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson dares Russian ambassador to deny existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 25 1962)


Video: 'CUBA - ROCKET PHOTO'S SHOWN TO UNITED NATIONS - SOUND'

(Thursday, October 25, 1962, evening EST; day ten of the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — In a dramatic confrontation today before the United Nations Security Council in New York City, U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II demanded that Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin confirm or deny the existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba. Continue reading U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson dares Russian ambassador to deny existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 25 1962)

‘The Manchurian Candidate’ opens in New York City 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 24 1962)


Video: 'The Manchurian Candidate' trailer

(Wednesday, October 24, 1962; during the Cuban Missile Crisis, part of the Cold War)The Manchurian Candidate, an American neo-noir psychological political thriller film about the son of a prominent, right-wing political family who has been brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international communist conspiracy, opened today at the Astor Theatre, 1537 Broadway in the Manhattan borough of New York City. Continue reading ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ opens in New York City 60 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 24 1962)

U.S. Navy ‘quarantine’ against Soviet ships headed to Cuba goes into effect during Cuban Missile Crisis 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 24 1962)


Video: 'Killer Submarines Sneaking Through the Blockade | The Cuban Missile Crisis | Day 09'

(Wednesday, October 24, 1962, 10:00 a.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. in Moscow Standard Time; during the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — The U.S. Navy “quarantine” against Soviet ships headed to Cuba as ordered by President John F. Kennedy went into effect this morning. Continue reading U.S. Navy ‘quarantine’ against Soviet ships headed to Cuba goes into effect during Cuban Missile Crisis 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 24 1962)

President John F. Kennedy reveals U.S. spy planes have been discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 22 1962)


Video: 'Oval Office Address on the Cuban Missile Crisis - John F. Kennedy - Oct. 22, 1962'

(Monday, October 22, 1962, 7:00 p.m. EDT; day seven of the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced tonight in a nationally broadcast address that “unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites” had been established in Cuba by the Soviet Union “to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere.” Continue reading President John F. Kennedy reveals U.S. spy planes have been discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 22 1962)

Cuban Missile Crisis begins as U.S. President John F. Kennedy is informed that reconnaissance photographs reveal the presence of nuclear missile bases in Cuba 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 16 1962)


Video: 'Shall we wipe Cuba off the Map? | The Cuban Missile Crisis I Day 01' (October 16, 1962 at 0:23)

(Tuesday, October 16, 1962, 8:45 a.m. EDT; during the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — The Cuban Missile Crisis, a confrontation between between the United States and the Soviet Union that is often considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war, began this morning when National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy informed U.S. President John F. Kennedy that a U-2 mission flown over western Cuba two days before had taken photographs of (not yet operational) Soviet nuclear missile sites. Continue reading Cuban Missile Crisis begins as U.S. President John F. Kennedy is informed that reconnaissance photographs reveal the presence of nuclear missile bases in Cuba 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 16 1962)

South Vietnamese forces recapture Quang Tri from North Vietnamese 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 15 1972)


Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - Vietnamizing the War [7/11]' (Sept. 15, 1972, at 47:22)

(Friday, September 15, 1972, 5:00 p.m. Saigon Standard Time; during the Vietnam War, the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — South Vietnam’s Army of the Republic of Vietnam defeated the People’s Army of Vietnam today at the ancient citadel of Quang Tri, ending North Vietnam’s three-plus month occupation of South Vietnam’s northernmost provincial capital and the Second Battle of Quang Tri. Continue reading South Vietnamese forces recapture Quang Tri from North Vietnamese 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 15 1972)

American Bobby Fischer dethrones Soviet champ Boris Spassky to give U.S. first world chess title 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 1 1972)


Video: 'The moment when Bobby Fischer was declared the World Champion (1972)'

(Friday, September 1, 1972, 12:50 p.m. GMT; during the World Chess Championship 1972) — American Bobby Fischer single-handedly ended the 24-year Soviet Union’s winning streak in the world of chess today at the Laugardalshöll arena in Reykjavík, Iceland, as he defeated defending world champ Boris Spassky, who resigned before the resumption of Game 21. Continue reading American Bobby Fischer dethrones Soviet champ Boris Spassky to give U.S. first world chess title 50 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 1 1972)