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'Little Boy' is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.
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'Fat Man', the second atomic bomb, is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.
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Churchill makes an historic speech regarding the power of US democracy in the face of the impending communist threat.
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The USSR blocked supply routes so that the US and the allied forces were forced to airlift necessities into West Germany. The blockade lasted over a year.
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The USSR detonate their own atomic bomb.
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Senator Joseph McCarthy begins his assault on suspected subversive activities by communists and communist sympathisers within the US. His largely unsubstantiated claims led to him being censured by the Senate.
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The Korean War begins, with North Korea supported by USSR and China and South Korea supported by the US and the Allied forces. The conflict resulted in a demarcation which exists along the 38th Parallel to this day.
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Resulting in a North Vietnam victory, the Vietnam War was fought between South and North Vietnam - the former supported by the US and her allies, with the North supported by the USSR, China, North Korea and other Communist allies.
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Egypt takes over the Suez Canal from rule by the British as a protectorate.
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USSR launches the first space craft into orbit.
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Castro, a communist with the support of the USSR, comes to power in Cuba, a nation very close to the United States.
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The Soviet Union admits that a US spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory.
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The charismatic Kennedy is elected President, and is a fervent believer in anti-Communist activities. He was assassinated while in office in 1963.
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A paramilitary group trained by the CIA attempted to invade Cuba. They were defeated in 3 days by Cuban armed forces in an embarrassing incident for the US, and one which strengthened Castro's socialist leanings in Cuba.
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Construction of the Berlin Wall begins. It will become a foremost symbol in the Cold War, separating East and West Berlin.
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The USSR proposed to keep missiles in Cuba to avoid any further invasion attempts from the US. The situation escalated, getting close to MAD - mutually assured destruction.
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Apollo 11, carrying Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong becomes the first spaceship to land on the moon. "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind..."
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Embroiled in the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigns his Presidency. This was a turning point in the Cold War.
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The North Vietnamese army defeats the South. US troops are forced to withdraw.
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Mikhail Gorbachev becomes a leader best known for his efforts in dissolving Soviet-US tensions through his policies of detente and perestroika, or the easing of tensions. The USSR was also dismantled under his control.
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Both leaders discuss moving the missiles from within Europe.
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East and West Berlin and East and West Germany by extension were reunified after the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. Another symbolic turning point in the Cold War.
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With many countries in the former Communist Bloc becoming independent, the USSR dissolved. Many of the former bloc countries did not retain communism, electing to move towards democracy. With this, the communist threat also diminished.
