NHD: Cold War By cward19 1945 World War II ends 1947 The Cold War begins 1947 The Truman Doctrine 1948 The Marshall Plan took effect 1949 Russia tested its first atomic bomb 1957 Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union 1958 NASA was established 1958 Sputnik II was launched by the Soviet Union 1961 The Berlin Wall was built 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis 1968 USA established the Apollo Moon program and the Gemini program 1969 Apollo 11 was launched The USA was the first country to land humans on the moon. They won the Space Race! 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Russia and USA first joint space mission. 1989 The Berlin Wall came down 1991 The end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War