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The Yalta Conference
The conference was held in Yalta in the Crimea. With Soviet troops in most of Eastern Europe, Stalin was in a strong negotiating position. Roosevelt and Churchill tried hard to restrict post-war influence in this area but the only concession they could obtain was a promise that free elections would be held in these countries. -
The establishment of the United Nations in San Francisco
The Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries. Poland, which was not represented at the Conference, signed it later and became one of the original 51 member states. -
Postdam Conference
The "Big Three" leaders met at Potsdam, Germany, near Berlin. In this, the last of the World War II heads of state conferences, President Truman, Soviet Premier Stalin and British Prime Ministers Churchill and Atlee discussed post-war arrangements in Europe, frequently without agreement. Future moves in the war against Japan were also covered. The meeting concluded early in the morning of 2 August. -
The Army-McCarthy Hearings
The first nationally televised congressional inquiry and a landmark in the emergent nexus between television and American politics. The Army-McCarthy hearings convened to investigate a convoluted series of charges leveled by the junior Republican Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph R. McCarthy, at the U.S. Army and vice versa. In November 1953, a consultant on McCarthy's staff named G. David Schine was drafted into the Army. -
The launch of Sputnik
The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. -
U-2 Incident
The U.S. instituted high altitude reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union because of this aura of mistrust. The U-2 was the plane of choice for the spying missions.