Cold War Timeline By aliciaroe Feb 4, 1945 Yalta Conference/Agreement to temporarily divide Germany Aug 6, 1945 United States first used atomic bomb in war Aug 14, 1945 Japanese Surrender (V-J Day) Mar 5, 1946 Winston Churchill delivers "Iron Curtain" speech Jun 5, 1947 Marshall Plan is announced Jun 24, 1948 Berlin Blockade Begins Jul 21, 1949 NATO is ratified Sep 3, 1949 USSR explodes first atomic bomb Oct 1, 1949 Mao Zedong takes control of China Feb 9, 1950 Joseph McCarthy begins Communist with-hunt Jun 25, 1950 Korean War begins Jun 19, 1953 Rosenburg executions Jul 27, 1953 Korean War ends Jul 21, 1954 Vietnam splits at 17th parallel May 14, 1955 Warsaw Pact formed Oct 4, 1957 Sputnik launched Jan 9, 1959 Fidel Castro takes over Cuba Jan 2, 1960 John F. Kennedy elected president May 1, 1960 U-2 Spy plane shot down over USSR Apr 17, 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion Nov 20, 1961 Construction of Berlkin Wall begins Oct 22, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis Apr 27, 1975 Saigon, South Vietnam falls to communism Nov 9, 1989 Berlin Wall falls Dec 8, 1989 Soviet Empire falls Aug 23, 1990 Germany reunited Aug 15, 1991 U.S. and Russia sign formal end to the Cold War
