Cuban Missile Crisis

Flight piloted by Major Richard Heyser took 928 pictures

Oct 14, 1962

The US first obtained photographic evidence of the missiles. The U.S. captured images of what turned out to be an SS-4 construction site at San Cristóbal, Pinar del Río Province, in western Cuba.

CIA's National Photographic Intelligence Center reviewed the U-2 photographs and identified objects that they interpreted as medium range ballistic missiles

Oct 15, 1962

That evening, the CIA notified the Department of State and at 8:30 pm EDT, National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy elected to wait until morning to tell the President. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara was briefed at midnight. The next morning, Bundy met with Kennedy and showed him the U-2 photographs and briefed him on the CIA's analysis of the images. At 6:30 pm EDT, Kennedy convened a meeting of the nine members of the National Security Council and five other key advisers.

President Kennedy met with Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Gromyko

Oct 18, 1962

Andrei Gromyko claimed the weapons were for defensive purposes only. Not wanting to expose what he already knew, and wanting to avoid panicking the American public,[32] the President did not reveal that he was already aware of the missile build-up.

Frequent U-2 spy flights showed four operational sites

Oct 19, 1962

As part of the blockade, the US military was put on high alert to enforce the blockade and to be ready to invade Cuba at a moment's notice.

Kennedy meets with members of EXCOMM and other top advisers

Oct 21, 1962

Considered two remaining options: an air strike primarily against the Cuban missile bases, or a naval blockade of Cuba.

a cable drafted by George Ball to the US Ambassador in Turkey and the US Ambassador to NATO

Oct 23, 1962

George Ball notified them that they were considering making an offer to withdraw what the U.S knew to be nearly obsolete missiles from Italy and Turkey in exchange for the Soviet withdrawal from Cuba

United States requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council

Oct 25, 1962

In a loud, demanding tone, US Ambassador to the UN Adlai Stevenson confronted Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin in an emergency meeting of the SC challenging him to admit the existence of the missiles.

New message from Khrushchev was broadcast on Radio Moscow

Oct 27, 1962

Khrushchev stated that, "the Soviet government, in addition to previously issued instructions on the cessation of further work at the building sites for the weapons, has issued a new order on the dismantling of the weapons which you describe as 'offensive' and their crating and return to the Soviet Union."