U2 Photograph of First IRBM Site, 1962, Harvard Kennedy School
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The Cuban Missile Crisis was a period of high international tension that began in October 1962, when a U.S. U2 spy plane captured photographic evidence of Soviet nuclear warheads in Cuba. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro had agreed to place the missiles in Cuba in order to prevent a U.S. invasion of the socialist island. After 13 days with both sides on high alert, the Soviets withdrew their missiles in exchange for a promise that the United States would not invade Cuba, and withdraw their own missiles from Turkey.
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