The Cold War
Rockets, missiles, spies and a wall: the forty-year standoff between superpowers that never quite became a war.
- cold war
- 20th century
- history
Some of the stories included
The Fall of the Berlin WallHow a chain of events in 1989, from the Pan-European Picnic and the Leipzig marches to a confused press conference, led to the Berlin Wall opening on 9 November.
The Cuban Missile CrisisThe October 1962 standoff over Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, from the U-2 photographs and naval quarantine to Black Saturday and the secret deal that ended it.
The Korean WarAfter a hasty division at the 38th parallel, the 1950 invasion of South Korea began a brutal war that left the peninsula divided and without a peace treaty.
The Crypto AG ScandalThe CIA and West German intelligence secretly bought Crypto AG in 1970 and read the secrets of more than 120 nations.
The Death of LumumbaThe 1961 overthrow and killing of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the independent Congo, and the foreign powers involved.
The Cuckoo's Egg: Hunting a Hacker From a 75-Cent ErrorAn astronomer chased a 75-cent billing error at Berkeley and uncovered a hacker selling secrets to the KGB.
The Bay of Pigs InvasionThe CIA's disastrous failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro using Cuban exiles.
The Fall of SaigonWhite Christmas on the radio and 105 degrees and rising: the secret signal that began the last helicopter evacuation of Saigon.
Katherine Johnson and the Apollo 11 TrajectoryThe career of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who calculated flight paths for Alan Shepard, checked John Glenn's orbit and worked on Apollo trajectories and backup navigation.
The Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War began after a 1954 partition, escalated with US involvement, and ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975.- The Space RaceFrom Sputnik to the Moon, two superpowers raced into space. The journey included the first human orbit and ended with a handshake in space.
The Banana EmpireHow the United Fruit Company came to dominate Central America, and the part it played in the CIA-backed 1954 coup in Guatemala.
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