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Stalin speech
Stalin delivers a speech to voters in Moscow which blames the two world wars on capitalism, and puts forth the idea the capitalism and communism will never exist in harmony.' -
Berlin Airlift begins
British pilots begin delivering food and supplies by airplane to Berlin after the city is isolated by a Soviet Union blockade. -
End of the Berlin blockade
early crisis of the Cold War comes to an end when the Soviet Union lifts its 11-month blockade against West Berlin. The blockade had been broken by a massive U.S.-British airlift of vital supplies to West Berlin's two million citizens. -
German Democratic Republic
after World War II. It was formed from the parts of Germany occupied by the USSR, including part of the city of Berlin. It is no longer a nation by itself since the two parts of Germany, East Germany and West Germany, got back together in 1990. -
Sputnik launched
launched to correspond with the International Geophysical Year, a solar period that the International Council of Scientific Unions declared would be ideal for the launching of artificial satellites to study Earth and the solar system -
a bomb Dwelled
The A-bomb that was detonated atop a 305-ft. tower on February 13, 1960 was a complete success, yielding the fully-designed 70-kt power. -
Bay of Pigs invasion
It was an unsuccessful attempt by a U.S.-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba with support from U.S. government armed forces to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The main landing at the Bay of Pigs specifically took place at the beach called Playa Girón. -
Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate was closed at 1:00 pm by East Berlin police, after a crowd of 5,000 West Berlin protesters threw rocks at East German soldiers, who responded with tear gas and water cannons. It would not be reopened until 1989 -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, piloted by Richard Heyser, reveals several SS-4 nuclear missiles in Cuba. -
Apollo 11
first manned mission to land on the moon. The mission also fulfilled President Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960's. -
Cease fire in Vietnam
The peace talks in Paris dragged on for years without achieving anything. By 1972 the communists felt strong enough to launch another all-out attack on the cities of the South, similar to the Tet Offensive. This attack was more successful than the Tet Offensive but the communists were still not able to conquer the main centers of population. After the offensive of the summer of 1972, neither side could see any hope of victory and the peace talks started to make some progress. At last in Janu -
Hungarian government opens the border for East German refugees
the Hungarian government opens the border to Austria for East German citizens. In the following days and weeks, tens of thousands of GDR citizens travel to West Germany via Austria. -
Berlin Wall is Built
The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier completely encircling Wesr Berlin, separating it from the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (East Germany), including East Berlin. The longer inner German Border demarcated the border between East and West Germany. Both borders came to symbolize the Iron Curtain between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc. -
“Monday demonstration
5,000 to 8,000 demonstrators call for democratic reforms and official recognition of the Neues Forum movement. Those wanting to leave the GDR have now become a minority among the demonstrators. -
Germany is reunited
West Germany and East Germany ended 45 years of division that began in the aftermath of World War II by reuniting to become one nation
