Cold War

  • Yalta Conference

    Yalta Conference
  • United States first used atomic bomb in war

    United States first used atomic bomb in war
    Dropped bomb on Japan
  • Japanese surrender

  • Winston Churchill delivers "Iron Curtain" speech

    Winston Churchill delivers "Iron Curtain" speech
  • Marshall Plan is announced

  • Berlin Blockade begins

    Berlin Blockade begins
  • NATO ratified

  • USSR explodes first atomic bomb

  • Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China

    Communist Mao Zedong takes control of China
  • Joseph McCarthy begins Communist witch-hunt

  • Korean War begins

    Korean War begins
  • Rosenberg executions

    Rosenberg executions
  • Korean War ends

  • Vietnam split at the 17th parallel

  • Warsaw Pact formed

    Warsaw Pact formed
  • Sputnik launched

    Sputnik launched
  • Cuba taken over by Communist Fidel Castro

    Cuba taken over by Communist Fidel Castro
  • U-2 spy plane shot down over USSR

    U-2 spy plane shot down over USSR
  • John F. Kennedy elected for President

    John F. Kennedy elected for President
  • Bay of Pigs invasion

    Bay of Pigs invasion
  • Construction of the Berlin Wall begins

    Construction of the Berlin Wall begins
  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    Cuban Missile Crisis
  • Saigon, South Vietnam falls to Comminism

  • Berlin Wall falls

    Berlin Wall falls
  • Soviet Empire falls

  • Germany reunited

  • U.S. and Russia sign formal end to the Cold War