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Brigade 2506, a group of Anti-Castro rebels sponsored and armed by the United Sates launches its ill fated invasion of
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A U-2 reconnaissance aircraft reveals several SS-4 nuclear missiles in Cuba
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Crisis begins: President Kennedy convenes his Executive Committee to consider America's options.
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President Kennedy meets with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrie Gromyko and advises him that America will not tolerate Soviet missiles in Cuba. Gromyko denies the presence of any Soviet weaponry in Cuba.
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President Kennedy decides on a Naval Blockade of Cuba Link text
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In a dramatic, prime time television address, President John F. Kennedy informs the public of the presence of Soviet Missiles in Cuba and the subsequent Naval Quarantine.
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Soviet ships reach the quarantine line, but receive radio orders from Moscow to hold their positions.
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U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson confronts the Soviets at the U.N. but they refuse to answer. American military forces are instructed to set DEFCON 2 - the highest ever in U.S. history.
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EX-COMM receives a letter from Khrushchev stating that the Soviets would remove their missiles if President Kennedy publicly guarantees the U.S. won't invade Cuba. The CIA reports construction is continuing and accelerating. RFK meets secretly with Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin and states removal of US missiles from Turkey is negotiable as part of a settlement. Khrushchev receives a cable from Castro urging a nuclear first strike against the US in the event of an invasion of Cuba.
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A U2 spy plane is shot down over Cuba. EX-COMM receives a second letter from Khrushchev stating that, in addition to a public promise not to invade Cuba, the U.S. remove its missiles from Turkey.
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The crisis is over. In a speech aired on Radio Moscow, Khrushchev announces the dismantling of Soviet missiles in Cuba and does not insist on his demands concerning the removal of U.S. missiles from Turkey.
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John F. Kennedy is assassinated during a campaign stop in Dallas Texas
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Nikita Khrushchev is removed from power and replace by Leonoid Brezhnev
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Fidel Castro dies in Havana, Cuba.
