-
The Soviet Union tests an atomic bomb
On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. The explosion of this bomb suprised the United States because they did not expect the Soviets to develop nuclear weapons so soon. -
Communists gain control of China
On October 1, 1949, Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC).The announcement ended the costly full-scale civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), which broke out immediately following World War II and had been preceded by on and off conflict between the two sides since the 1920’s. -
Nelson Mandela is sent to prison in South Africa
Mandela is convicted of leaving the country without a passport and inciting a strike. He begins serving a five-year prison term. The same month, the ANC establishes a "military wing," -
Soviet missiles in Cuba nearly lead to war between the Soviet Union and the United States
On October 25, 1962 The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations confronts the Soviet ambassador, displaying photos of the Soviet missiles after having sent spy planes to photograph missiles at launching sites. -
China tests a nuclear weapon
596 is the codenameof the People's Republic of China's first nuclear weapons test. located in Lop Nur.
It was a uranium-235 implosion fission device and hels a yield of 22 kilotons. With this test, China became the fifth nuclear weapon. -
Protestors overthrow shah of Iran and form an Islamic government
Starting in December 1978 strikes began to take place. On January 16 the following year the Shah left Iran for exile. He was the last Persian monarch, leaving his duties to a regency council. -
The Berlin Wall falls
On November 9, 1989, as the Cold War began to thaw across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West -
The Soviet Union collapses
The Soviet Union disintegrated into fifteen separate countries. Its collapse was hailed by the west as a victory for freedom, a triumph of democracy over totalitarianism, and evidence of the superiority of capitalism over socialism. -
Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated
Rabin was killed at a public function by religious extremists opposed to his Nobel Prize-winning efforts to promote peace in the Middle East. -
The U.S. Led invasion of Iraq begins
The 2003 invasion of Iraq lasted from 20 March to 1 May 2003 and signaled the start of the Iraq War.
