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launching of Sputnik
-USSR launched first artificial satellite into orbit
-started the space race - US feared we were behind in math and science
-lead to the creation of NASA -
Period: to
Cold War
The Cold War began after WWII and lasted until the early 90s. -
American U2 shot down over USSR
-US had been spying on Soviet nuclear capabilities with high-altitude U2 planes
-Soviets developed missiles capable of reaching the planes
-shot down pilot Francis Gary Powers and took him prisoner
-US tried to deny the Soviet claims that they were being spied on, but the Soviets had evidence and the pilot
-Paris summit days later failed because USSR was convinced the US was untrustworthy
-relationships got worse and tension increased -
Cuba openly aligns with the Soviet Union
-by aligning with the USSR, Cuba made enemies with the US
-US began plots to overthrow Castro's communist government -
Bay of Pigs invasion
-JFK's approved of the CIA's attempt to secretly overthrow Castro by sending an invading force of Cuban exiles to the Bay of Pigs
-American-backed invaders were overwhelmed and the operation was a fiasco
-US tried to avoid war with USSR, but the failed invasion heightened tensions -
Vienna summit
-failed summit between Khrushchev and Kennedy
-Khrushchev took advantage of Kennedy's inexperience and dominated the 2 day conference
-talked about Berlin and Cold War issues like nuclear weapons and national liberations
-tensions only increased between the two powers -
US discovers Soviet missiles in Cuba
-a U2 flying over western Cuba discovered missile sites
-photos taken during the flight proved Soviets had missiles in Cuba -
DEFCON 2
-Soviet ships heading for Cuba with questionable cargo slow down or reverse their course except for one ship
-US military forces go to DEFCON 2 (highest in US history)
-Cuban Missile Crisis (aka October 1962) -
American U2 shot down over Cuba
-new letter from Khrushchev arrives, proposing a public trade of Soviet missiles in Cuba for US missiles in Turkey
-an American U-2 is shot down over Cuba killing the pilot; another U2 accidentally strays into Soviet airspace near Alaska and almost gets shot down
-Dobrynin and Robert Kennedy meet and discuss the price of removing the missiles from Cuba
-Kennedy writes to Khrushchev stating that he will make a statement that the U.S. won't invade Cuba if Khrushchev removes the missiles from Cuba -
Khrushchev announces agreement to remove missiles from Cuba
-announcement made over Radio Moscow -
President Kennedy's speech at the Berlin Wall
-spoke to a large crowd of West Berliners
-spoke against communism (said freedom and democracy never had to wall anyone in)
-famous "I am a Berliner" speech