One of the most serious and frightening events in the cold war between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. occurred October 28, 1962. What was it?

The intense standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union on October 28, 1962, known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, brought the world closer to nuclear war than at any other point in history. The dangerous confrontation began after a U.S. U-2 spy plane photographed secret Soviet nuclear missile sites under construction in Cuba on October 14, 1962. These medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, could reach U.S. cities within minutes, fundamentally altering the balance of power and posing an immediate, existential threat to the United States.

The crisis unfolded against a backdrop of heightened Cold War tensions. The Soviet Union's decision to place offensive weapons in Cuba was partly a response to the U.S. having previously stationed its own Jupiter nuclear missiles in Turkey, within striking distance of Soviet territory. Additionally, Cuba, under Fidel Castro's communist regime, sought protection from potential U.S. aggression following the failed, U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. For thirteen harrowing days, from October 16 to October 28, the two superpowers engaged in a tense diplomatic and military confrontation. President John F. Kennedy announced a naval "quarantine" around Cuba to prevent further Soviet military shipments, while his military advisors urged an air strike and invasion.

The resolution came on October 28, 1962, when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev publicly agreed to dismantle and remove the Soviet missile bases and all offensive weapons from Cuba. In return, the United States publicly pledged not to invade Cuba. A crucial, though initially secret, part of the agreement was the U.S. promise to remove its Jupiter missiles from Turkey and Italy. This diplomatic solution averted what many feared would be a catastrophic nuclear exchange.

The crisis underscored the terrifying reality of nuclear warfare and led to important de-escalation efforts, including the establishment of a direct "hotline" communication link between Washington and Moscow and the signing of the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty in 1963. It served as a stark lesson for both superpowers on the dangers of brinkmanship and the imperative of finding peaceful resolutions to international disputes.