October 28 1962

The Cuban Missile Crisis ends. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces he has agreed to President John F Kennedy’s arrangement that the Soviet Union removes its missiles from Cuba and the US, in turn, doesn’t invade Cuba. And the world breathes a collective sigh of relief, aware that this 13-day standoff between the two superpowers is the closest the world came to a full-scale nuclear conflict during the Cold War, with other major powers expressing support for either side. Khrushchev promised in May 1960 to defend Cuba, assuming the US would take no steps to prevent the installation of ballistic missiles that could hit it within minutes. On August 29 two spy planes confirmed new military constructions and on October 14 the presence of a ballistic missile on a launching site was photographed. On the 22nd, Kennedy informed Americans of his order for a navy quarantine around Cuba. After tense toing and froing, while the world waits, the two leaders (both knowing that a nuclear war could wipe out a third of humanity) finally agree to avert a global crisis. A separate deal, in which the US also agrees to remove its nuclear missiles from Turkey, remains secret for 25 years