Cold War Timeline By Team Tim Feb 4, 1945 Yalta Conferece begins with Roosevelt as president Apr 12, 1945 President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office Period: Apr 12, 1945 to Jan 20, 1953 Harry S. Truman's presidency Jul 17, 1945 Potsdam Conference Aug 15, 1945 Japan surrenders, otherwise known as V-J Day, to end WWII Mar 5, 1946 Winston Churchill makes "Iron Curtain" speech Mar 12, 1947 Truman Doctrine announced Apr 3, 1948 President Truman signs Marshall Plan Jun 24, 1948 Berlin Airlift Starts Apr 4, 1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization forms May 11, 1949 Berlin Airlift Ends Oct 1, 1949 Mao Zedong gains power in the People's Republic of China Period: Jun 25, 1950 to Jul 27, 1953 Korean War Period: Jan 20, 1953 to Jan 20, 1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidency Apr 7, 1954 President Eisenhower cites "Domino Theory" Apr 26, 1954 Geneva Accords begin Jul 20, 1954 Geneva Accords Conclude May 14, 1955 Warsaw Pact formed Feb 16, 1959 Fidel Castro gains power in Cuba Period: Jan 20, 1961 to Nov 22, 1963 John F. Kennedy's presidency Apr 17, 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion Oct 14, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis Begins Oct 28, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis ends Oct 13, 1963 Berlin Wall is built Period: Nov 22, 1963 to Jan 20, 1969 Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency Aug 10, 1964 Gulf of Tonkin resolution is signed Period: Mar 6, 1965 to Apr 30, 1975 Vietnam War Period: Jan 20, 1969 to Aug 9, 1974 Richard Nixon's presidency Nov 17, 1969 Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (I) begin May 26, 1972 SALT I ends Period: Aug 9, 1974 to Jan 20, 1977 Gerald Ford's presidency Period: Jan 20, 1977 to Jan 20, 1981 James E. Carter's presidency Jan 20, 1980 United States boycotts Moscow Olympics Period: Jan 20, 1981 to Jan 20, 1989 Ronald Reagan's presidency May 8, 1984 USSR and other communist countries boycott 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in response to USA boycott of 1980 Moscow Olympics Jan 1, 1986 Premier Gorbachev announces Glasnost and Perestroika Period: Jan 20, 1989 to Jan 20, 1993 George H.W. Bush's presidency Mar 18, 1990 Germany Reunites Jun 13, 1990 Berlin Wall deconstruction begins Dec 26, 1991 The Soviet Union is dissolved, Cold War ends
