Cold War By downeytori Period: Feb 1, 1945 to Aug 27, 1991 The Cold War Feb 4, 1945 Yalta Conference / Agreement to temporarily divide Germany Aug 6, 1945 U.S. first uses Atomic Bomb in war Aug 14, 1945 Japanese surrender (V-J Day) Mar 5, 1946 Winston's "Iron Curtain" speech Jun 5, 1947 Marshall Plan is announced Jun 24, 1948 Berlin Blockade begins Jul 25, 1949 NATO ratified Sep 1, 1949 Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China Sep 9, 1949 USSR explodes first Atomic Bomb Feb 16, 1950 Joesph McCarthy begins Communist witch-hunt Jul 25, 1950 Korean War begins Jun 19, 1953 Rosenburg executions Jul 27, 1953 Korean War ends Jul 12, 1954 Vietnam split at 17th parallel May 14, 1955 Warsaw Pact formed Oct 4, 1957 Sputnik Launched Jan 1, 1959 Cuba taken over by communist Fidel Castro May 1, 1960 U-2 spy plane shot down over USSR Nov 7, 1960 John F. Kennedy elected president Apr 19, 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion Aug 13, 1961 Construction of Berlin Wall begins Oct 3, 1962 Cuban Missle Crisis Apr 16, 1975 Saigon, South Vietnam falls to communism Nov 10, 1989 Berlin Wall falls Dec 12, 1989 Soviet Empire falls Oct 9, 1990 Germay Reunited Aug 5, 1991 U.S. and Russia sign formal to end the Cold War
