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Berlin Wall
Owing to the huge wealth gap between the two sectors of Germany, many West Germans yearned for the riches and prosperity in East Germany. To prevent people from leaving West Germany via Berlin, the USSR built borders separating Eastern and Western Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This was the closest the US have ever been involved in a nuclear war. The Soviets constructed a missile base in Cuba planning to launch bombs in the US. President Kennedy set up a naval blockade and demanded the removal of the missiles. Russians finally agreed to remove the weapons when United States promised not to invade Cuba. -
Vietnam War
When communist leader Ho Chi Minh first emerged as president in Vietnam, the US was afraid that the communist influence would spread through out Vietnam and eventually to the whole Southeast Asia. The US, therefore, established the strongly anti-Communist South Vietnamese government of Ngo Dinh Diem to fight against Ho Chi Minh. -
Space Race
The US launched Apollo 8, the first manned spacecraft to successfully orbit the moon and return to earth. -
Carter
Jimmy Carter became the 39th president of the US. -
Olympic Boycott by USA
In protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a number of countries, including the US, boycotted the summer Olympics held in Moscow.
