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US atomic bombs on japan to end ww2
In an attempt to end the war in the Pacific without a costly invasion of Japan, the US dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945 respectively. A uranium gun-type atomic bomb named Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima. When Emperor Hirohito did not heed President Truman’s call for surrender, the US dropped a plutonium implosion-type bomb named Fat Man on Nagasaki. -
Berlin blockade and airlift
After WWII, control of Germany was divided between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. Berlin was located in the Eastern Soviet sector, but since it was the country’s capital city, its control was also divided between the Western powers and the USSR. In June of 1948, the USSR attempted to gain control of the entire city by cutting off all surface traffic to West Berlin. -
USSR tests first nuclear weapon
The Soviet Union had begun research on its own atomic bomb program in 1943. Aided by information and plans stolen from the Manhattan Project by Soviet spies, the USSR was able to develop its own nuclear weapon within only a few years after the end of World War II. -
US ttets first hydrogen bomb
On November 1, 1952 at 7:15am local time (October 31, 1915 hours GMT), the United States tested its first thermonuclear device (hydrogen bomb) on the island of Elugelab in the Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands about 3,000 miles west of Hawaii. Code named Ivy Mike, the device was detonated remotely from a distance of about 30 miles. -
Korean War
Japan began ruling Korea in 1910, but ceded control of Korea when it surrendered at the end of WWII. The United States and the USSR agreed to split Korea into two occupation zones. The zone north of the 38th parallel was occupied by the USSR and it helped the Koreans living there form a communist government. The US occupied the south and it oversaw elections that resulted in a democratic government. -
The space race begins
The US and the USSR each wanted to achieve technological superiority over the other. Included in that struggle was the race to become the first country to build a rocket capable of launching an object into space. Not only would this be an immense technological achievement, but a rocket that was powerful enough to carry a payload into space could also carry a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the other country. -
vietnam war
Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, was considered an important sphere of influence by both US and Soviet leaders. When nationalist forces created North Vietnam in 1956, the USSR and China recognized and backed the new communist country while the US became committed to stopping the spread of communism in the region and backed South Vietnam. -
ussr tests he largest nuclear weapon ever built
Known as Big Ivan to the Soviets and as Tsar Bomba in the US, RDS-220 was the largest nuclear weapon ever built. Designed as a 100 megaton hydrogen bomb, its yield was reduced by 50% when it was tested. The device was air-dropped from an altitude just above 34,000 feet over the Mityushikha Bay test site on Novaya Zemlya Island on October 30, 1961. -
berlin wall divides germany
By 1961, massive numbers of East Berliners were fleeing through the open border to West Berlin. Late on August 12, in an effort to stem the tide of defectors, Soviet Premier Khrushchev gave the East German government permission to stop the flow of emigrants by closing its border for good. -
cuban missle crisis
On October 16, 1962, President John F. Kennedy was briefed by the CIA that an American U-2 spy plane had taken photographs of Soviet nuclear missile launch sites under construction in Cuba. He formed a group of advisors that would later become the Executive Committee (Ex Comm) to develop the US response. -
titan 2 icbms deployed
The largest land-based missile ever deployed by the US, the Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile was 103 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter. The Titan II could launch from its underground silo in just 58 seconds and it carried the W-53 warhead with a yield of 9 megatons (9,000,000 tons of TNT). -
hot lne established between us and ussr
The Cuban Missile Crisis prompted the US and USSR to set up a direct line of communication between the two countries to enable rapid and direct communication between them in crisis situations which might impact the security of either country (such as the accidental launch of nuclear weapons). -
able archer and the war scare
In early November of 1983 the world may have come closer to nuclear war than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis. NATO was conducting what it considered a routine exercise named Able Archer, a simulation designed to train and test the procedures for shifting from conventional to nuclear war. -
last titan 2 comes off alert
On May 5, 1987, the last active Titan II ICBM came off alert at Launch Complex 373-8, Little Rock AFB, Arkansas. While missile crews would continue to pull custodial alerts at the complex as deactivation progressed, this day marked the end of the operational life of the largest land based missile in the US arsenal.