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NATO is formed
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a defensive military alliance that was formed to protect its members from the spread and influence of communism. -
President Truman Approved the Construction of the Hydrogen Bomb
The construction and sucessful detonation of the world's first hydrogen bomb served to intensify the arms race that was already begining to develop between the US and USSR. -
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Korean War
The first actual conflict during the Cold War, it pitted the North and their communist backers against the South and the United Nations. -
Treaty of San Fransisco is signed
The peace treaty signed with Japan which officially World War II. It ended the American occupation of Japan as well. -
Joseph Stalin dies
The death of the Soviet Union's leader led to a short power struggle which Nikita Krushchev won. He adopted a policy of "de-stalinization". -
End of the Suex Crisis
Following Egypt's closing of the Suez Canal, Isreal mounted an invasion. They were quickly joined by France and Britain. The three powers were warned against agression by both the US and the USSR. The war ended after the countries had opened another path to Isreal, when the US threatened to place them under an oil embargo and devalue their currency. -
Hungarian Revolution fails
Citizens of Hungaria rebeled against their communist-backed government in 1950. The revolution failed, but it still proved that the eastern European countries did not necessarily want to submit to Soviet rule. -
The USSR launches Sputnik 1
The USSR's launch of the world's first artificial satellite triggered the space race, a competition between the US and the USSR to be the first to preform various activities in space. -
Fidel Castro becomes the dictator of Cuba
When the democratic, US backed, president of Cuba was ousted from power by Castro, a known communist, it threw the US into a panic, as there was now a communist power that was close enough to fire on them. -
Antartica is declared a scientific preserve
An international agreement, called the Antarctic Treaty, went into effect on this day. It designated Antarctica as an area of scientific interest, assigned several countries piece of land, and forbade fighting over aquirring more of this land.
