-
launching of Sputnik I
The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite that orbits around the earth in 98 minutes. It becomes a figure for technology advancement and also marks the beginning of the US-USSR space race. -
The U2 incident
The U2 spy plane was flown over the Soviet Union for secret mission by the CIA. one of the planes was shot down by the Soviet Union which the pilot uses a parachute and caught by the Soviet. This cause Eisenhower to promise to stop all flying mission over the Soviet, and the pilot Francis Gary Power was exchanged for a Soviet spy. The pilot was branded as a coward as he did not poison himself with the needle given to use when are held by the Soviets. -
First man in Space - Yuri Gagarin
Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man to fly in space when his flight launched and circled around the earth. He rides on Soviet's Vostok I spacecraft, and his flight lasted for 108 minutes. He becomes a Soviet hero was he return to Earth, his hometown change its name to Gagarin, and his ashes were buried in the Kremlin wall. He was also featured in much Russian space museum with artifacts, busts, and statues. It marked Soviet's victory on the first part of the space race. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
After Fidel Castro overthrew American backed General Fulgencio Batista, the American government wants to push Castro away from power, and the CIA try to overthrow him for the next two years. In April of 1961, 1400 American-trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba, but the invasion failed, and they surrender within 24 hours of combat. -
Vienna Summit
The Vienna Summit is the meeting between United States President John Kennedy and the Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev that discuss numerous issue between the two nation, both directly and indirectly. There was not much done in the summit, but it is the time where the relationship defrosts a little. President Kennedy did not come well prepared and was rather weak compared to Khrushchev. -
Berlin wall construction begin
Due to a large number of East German immigrating to West Germany via West Berlin, a wall was built to stop people emigrating. The wall was built with barbed wire and concrete, and the wall was 12 tall and 4 ft wide to prevent people from climbing through the wall. The wall was finished in two weeks and after that, only officials and diplomats are allowed through specific checkpoints. -
Cuban world war
Castro announces that they will make any attack from the US to Cuba equivalent to starting another war. Cuba was supported by the Soviet Union on weapon and training. -
U2 found missile in Cuba
A U2 flown over Cuba had discovered missile sites, which had taken photographs of the missiles site in Cuba as evidence of Soviets missiles existence in Cuba. The missiles are set by the Soviet Union and this marked the beginning of the Cuban missiles crisis. -
DEFCON 2
stand for DEFennce readiness CONdition, US military forces go to DEFCON 2, highest in history, where the lower number means higher readiness level. This is the highest level in history, meaning the level of readiness of the US military is very well -
Cuban U2 incident
During a secret mission over Cuba, the U2 plane got shot by Soviet's surface-to-air missiles, killing the pilot Rudolf Anderson Jr. The U2 spy plane was shot after it had entered Cuban airspace for over an hour, killing pilot Anderson. Military leader pushes Kennedy to launch an airstrike against Cua, but Kennedy believe it was not Khrushchev's decision to launch the missile and he does not want to give up diplomacy with Cuba just yet -
End of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Over Radio Moscow, Khrushchev announced to remove all the missiles from Cuba, ending the Cuban Missile Crisis. After the removal, Castro accused the Soviet to back down from Americ, and the European nation is also unhappy because they did not have much information over what is happening. -
Kennedy's speech at the Berlin wall
The speech was often called "Ich bin ein Berliner", which mean I am a Berliner. This speech is famous for being ant-Communist and it was the best-known speech of the cold war. the speech was 22 months after the construction of the Berlin wall. This speech was not solely anti-Communist, where Kennedy said "Let them came to Berlin", which state that we could work with the Communist. the speech was Kennedy's best and it boosts the morale for West German, which lives in a walled city.
