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US Creates and tests first hydrogen bomb
This bomb was 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. Many opponents to it said that it wouldn't matter because the Soviet Union would construct one too, which they did the following year, This was a bigger part of the arms race between the two countries during the Cold War. They were just trying to see who had the most power. -
Soviet Launch Sputnik
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik which shocked and frightened many Americans.The satellite orbited the earth. Americans could not believe that they had better technology. It was visible with binoculars and could transmit signals back to Earth strong enough to be picked up by radio operators. It was 10 times the size of the 1st planned US satellite which was not scheduled to launch until the following year. They thought the Soviets had the upper hand in the arms race for the Cold War. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
This was a full invasion of Cuba by 1400 American-trained Cubans who fled Cuba when Castro took over. The goal was to contain communism because Americans were scared of it being so close to their homeland. They wanted to overthrow Castro and establish a non-communist government friendly to the US. It did not go well because less than 24 hours later almost 1200 of them surrendered, and more than 100 were killed by Castro's troops. -
The Berlin Wall Goes Up
The wall cut off West Berlin from the surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin in order to try to contain communism. There were guard towers along the large concrete walls which wrapped around the anti-vehicle trenches. It was an "anti-fascist protective wall" which meant that NATO countries and West Germany were fascists. The iron curtain separated Eastern and Western Europe during the Cold War. -
US Sends man to the moon
Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon. President Kennedy wanted this to happen since the Soviets launched Sputnik first and did not want to fall behind in the arms race. The Soviet Union and US were trying to see who was the most superior, and who was the greatest power.
