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Cold War Milestones
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Soviet Union Creates and Tests Nuclear Weapon
With the code name of First Lightning, the USSR uses a test sit in Afghanistan to test a nuclear weapon. Scientists who were responcible for this were rewarded based on their sentence had they failed. This also showed the US that the Soviets had nuclear weaponry at their disposal and pushed for a stronger weapon from the US to protect the country. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-explode-atomic-bomb -
Soviet Union Launches Sputnik
Soviet Union launches the satellite Sputnik into orbit. This is a key element in the space race and puches the US to catch up. On January 31st, 1958, the US launches satellite Explorer in response the the Soviet space exploration. -
Strategic Arms Limitations Talks and Treaty I
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and eventually Treaty were a series of meetings between the Soviet and American governments to try to come to a way to limit the production of nuclear weaponry in both countries. There were two parts of this treaty that would be signed, the first by Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev in May of 1972.
http://www.britannica.com/event/Strategic-Arms-Limitation-Talks -
Strategc Arms Limitations Talks and Treaty II
SALT II was opened for negotiations once again in late 1972 due to the asymettrical means of weaponry. SALT II was signed in June of 1979 by American president Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
http://www.britannica.com/event/Strategic-Arms-Limitation-Talks -
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
On the evening of April 25th, 1986, a nuclear reactor in Chernobul, Ukraine malfunctioned due to a flawed reactor designed an inadequately trained workers assigned to the project. Anyone who lived in the surrounding area was promptly evacuated from the area and It was empty as a radioactive health risk until 2011 when it was reopened as a tourist attraction.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident.aspx -
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
The INF treaty was arranged between the Soviet Union and the United States and required that both countries destroy and permenantly halt the production on intermediate-range nuclear weapons, spanning from 500 to 5500 kilometer ranges. https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/INFtreaty
