Cuban missile crisis

[nona suomy]

what was this all about?

[Quizmonster]

Very briefly, in 1962 Nikita Krushchev, the Russian leader decided to deploy missiles to the island of Cuba, their ally, about 100 miles from the USA mainland. Naturally enough, the Americans, under President John Kennedy, took rather unkindly to the idea. They threatened that - if any attack was mounted from that island, they would treat it as if it had come from the USSR itself and retaliate appropriately. For a couple of weeks, the world sat on edge, expecting a nuclear holocaust to break out at any moment. Eventually, however, the Soviets backed down and their missiles were removed peacefully. The world could breathe again, but it was the closest we ever came to 'The End'.