Events of the Cold War Era By seidsamuel Feb 4, 1945 The Yalta Conference Period: Feb 4, 1945 to Aug 31, 1991 The Cold War Mar 1, 1946 Winston Churchill delivers the "Iron Curtain" Speech Jun 1, 1947 Marshal Plan announced Jun 24, 1948 Berlin Blockade begins Jul 1, 1948 NATO ratified May 12, 1949 Berlin Blockade ends Sep 18, 1949 Mao Tse-Tung takes control of China as a communist leader Sep 25, 1949 Soviet Union explodes first atomic bomb Feb 1, 1950 Joe McCarthy begins his hunts for communists Jun 1, 1950 Korean War begins Jul 30, 1953 Korean War ends Jan 1, 1954 CIA aids in overthrow of regimes in Iran and Guatemala Jul 1, 1954 Vietnam splits at the 17th parallel Oct 4, 1957 Sputnik launched into orbit Jan 1, 1959 Fidel Castro and the communist party take over Cuba May 1, 1960 Soviet Union reveals United States spy plan shot down over Soviet Territory Apr 1, 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion Apr 13, 1961 Berlin border closed Aug 17, 1961 Berlin Wall construction begins Oct 1, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis Aug 1, 1964 Incident at the Gulf of Tonkin Jul 1, 1965 dispatch of 150,000 U.S. troops to Vietnam Jul 20, 1969 Apollo 11 moonlanding Apr 19, 1970 Nixon extends the Vietnam War to Camboia Jul 1, 1972 SALT I signed Sep 1, 1973 United States participates in overthrow of the government in Chile Sep 19, 1973 During Egypt and Syrian attack on Israel, Egypt requests Soviet aid Apr 17, 1975 North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam Jul 1, 1979 SALT II signed Nov 1, 1979 Shah of Iran overthrown Oct 1, 1983 U.S. troops overthrow regime in Grenada Jan 1, 1985 Iran-Contra Affair Jan 1, 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev rises to power in Soviet Union Oct 1, 1987 Reagan and Gorbachev agree sign treaty agreeing to removal of medium and short range nuclear missiles Jan 31, 1989 Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan Jun 1, 1989 Poland becomes independent Sep 1, 1989 Hungary becomes independent Nov 1, 1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall Dec 1, 1989 Commnist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania Mar 1, 1990 Lithuania becomes independent Mar 29, 1990 Boris Yeltsin elected to presidency of Russia Oct 3, 1990 Reunification of Germany Aug 1, 1991 End of Soviet Union
