Cuban Missile Crisis (Mastery Quest) By alicelima Jan 20, 1961 JFK in office Jan 24, 1961 Fidel Castro in office Apr 17, 1961 Bay of Pigs US tries to invade Cuba and fails. IMPORTANT Oct 23, 1961 Quarantine imposed IMPORTANT Oct 16, 1962 US spots missiles in Cuba (Crisis starts) IMPORTANT Oct 17, 1962 Confirm presence of missiles IMPORTANT Oct 18, 1962 USSR says weapons are only for defense purposes IMPORTANT Oct 19, 1962 Decide on how US should react Oct 21, 1962 USA decides on naval blockade of Cuba Oct 22, 1962 Blockade imposed IMPORTANT Oct 24, 1962 First Letter from Khrushchev to JFK Oct 25, 1962 UN calls for a period for cooling off -> US rejects it Oct 25, 1962 JFk answers Khrushchev's letter Oct 26, 1962 Castro urges Khrushchev to bomb the USA Oct 27, 1962 Second Letter sent by Khrushchev Oct 28, 1962 Crisis ends IMPORTANT