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Feb 10, 1962 - Gary Francis Powers released at the Glienicker Bridge between East and West Berlin. Feb 20, 1962 - U.S. Marine Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr., became the first American to orbit the earth. Launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., Glenn made three 90-minute orbits of the earth in Friendship 7, radioing down to Earth, "Oh, that view is tremendous!" The mission also provided important information about what it was like for an astronaut to be weightless for a long period of time. When the ship's automatic altitude control system began to fail, Glenn, a decorated World War II pilot, took manual control for the rest of the flight. |
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Sept 17, 1962 - East German border guards shot and mortally wounded 18-yesr-old Peter Fechter, who had attempted to cross the Berlin Wall into the western sector. |
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Oct 14, 1962 - The CIA U-2 mission detected Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba. Oct 16, 1962 - The Cuban missile crisis began as President Kennedy was informed that reconnaissance photographs had revealed the presence of missile bases in Cuba. Oct 28, 1962 - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the United States that he had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba. Radio Moscow reported nuclear missiles in Cuba deactivated. Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed on a formula to end the Cuban missile crisis: the Russians would dismantle their bases and the United States would publicly promise not to invade Cuba. |
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Nov 1, 1962 - Cuban missile crisis ended. JFK said USSR was dismantling missile bases. |
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Dec
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