ENTERTAINING THINGS THAT HAPPENED DURING THE COLD WAR
Added on: 25th Oct 2016
IT WAS THE SOVIETS, WHO HAD THE BEST
CARTOGRAPHERS. THEIR MAPS OF THE ARCTIC
WERE SO DETAILED THAT THEY ARE STILL IN USE TODAY
OPERATION KITTY WAS A REAL OPERATION
UNDERTAKEN BY THE CIA TO EQUIP CATS WITH
SPY EQUIPMENT. THE FIRST MISSION FAILED,
HOWEVER, WHEN THE CAT WAS RUN OVER. NOT
SURPRISING THE $15 MILLION OPERATION WAS
SUBSEQUENTLY DROPPED
IN 1945 SEVERAL SOVIET SCHOOL CHILDREN
PRESENTED A US AMBASSADOR WITH A US SEAL
FOR HIS OFFICE. IT HUNG THERE FOR 7 YEARS
BEFORE IT WAS FOUND TO HAVE A LISTENING
DEVICE. THE DEVICE CAME TO BE KNOWN AS
THE THING AND WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PASSIVE
COVERT LISTENING DEVICES
THE TSAR BOMBA, THE LARGEST NUCLEAR WARHEAD
TO EVER BE DETONATED, WAS EXPLODED AS A
TEST IN THE ARCTIC. IT'S CLOUD REACHED 7 TIMES
THE HEIGHT OF MOUNT EVEREST
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COLD WAR, A GERMAN
AVIATOR NAMED MATHIAS RUST FLEW STRAIGHT
THROUGH SOVIET DEFENCES AND LANDED IN THE
RED SQUARE TO EASE TENSIONS BETWEEN THE
EAST AND THE WEST. THE CRAZIEST PART, HE
WAS ONLY 18 YEARS OLD AND HAD LESS
THAN 50 HOURS OF FLIGHT EXPERIENCE
WHEN THE CIA NOTICED SOME SOCCER FIELDS IN
CUBA THEY BECAME WORRIED BECAUSE "CUBANS
PLAY BASEBALL WHILE SOVIETS PLAY SOCCER".
THIS EVENTUALLY LED TO THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
IN 1983 THE USSR SHOT DOWN A KOREAN CIVILIAN
BOEING 747 (FLIGHT 007) THAT ENTERED ITS
AIRSPACE ON ITS WAY TO SEOUL FROM NEW YORK
CITY. THIS INCIDENT PROMPTED THE US TO RELEASE
ITS CLASSIFIED GPS TECHNOLOGY FOR PUBLIC
USE AND SIMULTANEOUSLY INCREASED ANTI-SOVIET
SENTIMENTS
IN 1983 SOVIET COMPUTER SYSTEMS DETECTED
AN ALL OUT NUCLEAR LAUNCH BY THE AMERICANS.
COLONEL STANISLAV PETROV, HOWEVER, WENT
AGAINST WHAT THE COMPUTER SAID, TRUSTED
HIS GUT AND DECIDED NOT TO LAUNCH BACK. IT
TURNED OUT THAT THE COMPUTER HAD GLITCHED.
A NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST HAD BEEN BARELY AVOIDED
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