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At A Glance
Cold War
1945–1991
Event
Date
Significance
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was held in the resort town. The “Big Three”, Truman, Stalin, and
February 4-11,
Churchill, were the representatives. The goal of this conference was to discuss the plans of the
1945
Allies for the postwar world. This is the official start of the Cold War.
Hiroshima Atomic
Bomb
August 6, 1945
Russia enters WW II
August 8, 1945
Against Japan
United States first used the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
The USSR honors its agreement to declare war on Japan within three months of the victory in
Europe, and in Operation August Storm to invade Manchuria. These actions were in
accordance with the Yalta Conference agreements.
Japan Surrenders
August 9, 1945
President Harry Truman gives permission for the world’s second and last military use of an
atomic weapon against the Japanese city of Nagasaki in order to try and secure a swift
Japanese surrender in the end of the Second World War.
Iron Curtain
March 5, 1946
Winston Churchill warns the descent of an Iron Curtain across Europe.
Greek Civil War
March 1946
The Greek Civil War reignites between communists and the conservative Greek government.
Marshall Plan
June 1947
Secretary of State George Marshall outlines plans for a comprehensive program of economic
assistance for the war-ravaged countries of Western-Europe.
Communist
Takeover in
Czechoslovakia
February 26,
1948
Communist Party takes control in Czechoslovakia, after President Edvard Beneš accepts
resignation of all non-communist ministers.
Berlin Blockade
Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin orders blockade of all land routes from West Germany to Berlin,
June 24, 1948 in an attempt to starve out the French, British, and American forces from the city. In response,
the three Western powers launch the Berlin Airlift to relieve the civilians of Berlin by air.
NATO
April 4, 1949
The North American Treaty Organization (NATO) is founded by Belgium, Canada,
Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United
Kingdom, and the United States, in order to resist communist expansion.
The Red Scare
June 8, 1949
The Red Scare reaches its peak, with the naming of numerous American celebrities as
members of the communist party.
Soviet’s First
Atomic Bomb
August 29,
1949
The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb. The test, known to Americans as Joe 1,
succeeds, as the Soviet Union becomes the world’s second nuclear power.
McCarthyism
February 1950
Senator Joseph McCarthy begins his Communist witch hunt.
Korean War
June 25, 1950
North Korea invades South Korea, sparking the Korean War.
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At A Glance
Event
Date
Significance
U.S. Presidential
Election of 1952
January 20,
1953
Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the President of the United States.
Death of Joseph
Stalin
March 5, 1953
The death of Stalin sets off a power struggle to succeed him.
Rosenberg
Executions
June 19, 1953
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were American communists who received international attention
when they were executed, having been found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage in
relation to passing information on the American atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.
The End of the
Korean War
July 27, 1953
Cease-fire officially ends the Korean War.
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact is founded in Eastern Europe and included East Germany, Czechoslovakia,
May 14, 1955 Poland, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union. It acts as the communist
military counterpart to NATO.
Sputnik
October 4,
1957
Sputnik Satellite is launched by Soviets into orbit.
Cuban Revolution
January 1, 1959
Fidel Castro becomes the leader of the new Marxist Cuba. Cuban inspired guerrilla
movements spring up across Latin America.
Francis Gary
Powers’ spy plane
shot down
May 1, 1960
American pilot Francis Gary Powers is shot down in his U-2 spy plane while flying at high
altitude over the Soviet Union, resulting in the U-2 Incident, an embarrassment for President
Dwight Eisenhower.
U.S. Presidential
Election of 1960
November
1960
John F. Kennedy becomes President of the United States.
Bay of Pigs Invasion April 15, 1960
A CIA-backed invasion of Cuba by counter-revolutionaries ends in failure.
Apollo Program
May 24, 1960
John F. Kennedy announces the U.S. intention to put a man on the moon — kick-starting the
Apollo program.
The Berlin Wall
August 13,
1961
The Berlin Wall is built by the Soviets to stop the flood of people attempting to escape East
Germany.
U.S. Involvement in
Vietnam
July 20, 1962
Neutralization of Laos is established by international agreement but North Vietnam refuses to
withdraw its personnel.
October 16,
1962
The Soviets have secretly been installing military bases, including nuclear weapons, on Cuba,
some 90 miles from the U.S. mainland. Kennedy orders a “quarantine” of the island that
intensifies the crisis and brings the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to the brink of nuclear war. In the
end, the Soviets back down and agree to withdraw their nuclear missile from Cuba, in
exchange for a secret agreement from Kennedy pledging to withdraw similar American
missiles from Turkey, and guaranteeing that the U.S. would not move against the Castro
regime.
Cuban Missile Crisis
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At A Glance
Event
Date
Significance
Kennedy
Assassination
November 22,
1963
John F. Kennedy is shot and killed in Dallas. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson becomes
President of the United States.
Gulf of Tonkin
Incident
President Johnson claims that North Vietnamese naval vessels had fired on two American
destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Although there was a first attack, the second attack was later
August 4, 1964
proved unfounded. The Gulf of Tonkin incident led to the greatly widened involvement of the
United States in the Vietnam War.
Vietnam
July 1965
U.S. government announces dispatching of 150,000 U.S. troops to Vietnam.
U.S. Presidential
Election of 1968
November
1968
Richard Nixon becomes the President of the United States.
Apollo 11
July 20, 1969
The United States accomplishes the first manned moon landing.
The Paris Peace
Accord
January 27,
1973
The Paris Peace Accords end American involvement in the Vietnam War. Congress cuts off
funds for the continued bombing of Indochina.
Nixon Resignation
August 9, 1974
Gerald Ford becomes President of the United States after Nixon resigns.
North Vietnam Wins April 30, 1975
North Vietnam invades South Vietnam. South Vietnam surrenders and the two countries are
united under a Communist government.
Iranian Revolution
January 16,
1979
The Iranian Revolution ousts the pro-Western Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and
installs a theocracy under Ayatollah Khomeini. CENTO dissolves as a result.
SALT II
June 18, 1979
The SALT II nuclear weapons treaty is signed by Leonid Brezhnev and President Jimmy
Carter.
Iranian Hostage
Crisis
November 4,
1979–January
20, 1981
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 53
U.S. diplomats were held hostage for 444 days after a group of militants took over the
American embassy in support of Iran’s revolution.
The Miracle on Ice
February 22,
1980
The United States Olympic Hockey Team defeats the Soviet Union in the final group stage of
the Winter Olympics.
U.S. Presidential
Election of 1980
November
1980
Ronald Reagan is elected President of the United States.
Mikhail Gorbachev March 11, 1985
Chernobyl Disaster
April 26, 1986
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the leader of the Soviet Union.
A Soviet nuclear power plant in the Ukraine explodes, resulting in the worst nuclear power
plant accident in history.
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At A Glance
Event
Date
Significance
Reykjavík Summit
October 11–12,
1986
President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, nearly
achieving a breakthrough in nuclear arms control.
Iran-Contra Scandal
November 3,
1986
The Reagan administration announces that it has been selling arms to Iran to free hostages
and transferring the profits to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
U.S. Presidential
Election of 1988
November
1988
George H.W. Bush is elected President of the United States.
The Fall of the
Berlin Wall
November 9,
1989
Soviet reforms and their state of bankruptcy have allowed Eastern Europe to rise up against
the communist governments there. The Berlin Wall is torn down.
Malta Conference
December 3,
1989
At the end of the Malta Conference Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Bush
declare that a long-lasting peaceful era has begun. Many observers regard this summit as the
official beginning of the end of the Cold War.
Bush’s Christmas
Day Speech
December 25,
1991
President Bush, after receiving a phone call from Boris Yeltsin, delivers a Christmas day
speech acknowledging the end of the Cold War.
Gorbachev’s
resignation
December 25,
1991
Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the U.S.S.R.
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