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The Bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945, the United States used a massive, atomic weapon against Hiroshima, Japan. This atomic bomb, the equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT, flattened the city, killing tens of thousands of civilians. While Japan was still trying to comprehend this devastation three days later, the United States struck again, this time, on Nagasaki. -
World War II Ends
WWII was a global war. It lasted from 1939 to 1945, though some related conflicts in Asia began before 1939. -
First Satellite Launched into Orbit
Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States when it was sent into space on January 31, 1958. Following the launch of the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. -
Beginning of the Korean War
Armed forces from communist North Korea smash into South Korea, setting off the Korean War. -
Bay of Pigs
A failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on 17 April 1961. -
Beginning of Berlin Wall construction
Construction of the wall caused a short-term crisis in U.S.-Soviet bloc relations, and the wall itself came to symbolize the Cold War. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis—known as the October Crisis—was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other side -
Apollo 11
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Berlin Wall Falls
In the evening of November 9, 1989, East German government official Günter Schabowski stated during a press conference that travel through the border to the West was open. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
In December of 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated into fifteen separate countries.
