1940s
1945: February 4-11-- Yalta Conference Cold War Begins
1945: August 6 -- United States first used atomic bomb in war
1945: August 8 -- Russia enters war against Japan
1945: August 14 -- Japanese surrender End of World War II
1946: March -- Winston Churchill delivers "Iron Curtain" Speech
1947: March -- Truman declares active role in Greek Civil War
1947: June -- Marshall Plan is announced
1948: February -- Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia
1948: June 24 -- Berlin Blockade begins
1949: July -- NATO ratified
1949: May 12 -- Berlin Blockade ends
1949: September -- Mao Zedong, a Communist, takes control of China
1949: September -- Soviets explode first atomic bomb
1950s
1950: February -- Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt
1950: June -- Korean War begins
1951: January 12 -- Federal Civil Defense Administration established
1953: June 19 -- Rosenberg executions
1953: July -- Korean War ends
1954: March -- KGB established
1954 -- CIA helps overthrow unfriendly regimes in Iran and Guatemala
1954: July -- Vietnam split at 17th parallel
1955: May -- Warsaw Pact formed
1956: October - November -- Rebellion put down in Communist Hungary. Egypt took control of Suez Canal; U.S. refused to help take it back
1957: October 4 -- Sputnik launched into orbit
1958: November -- Khrushchev demands withdrawal of troops from Berlin
1959: January -- Cuba taken over by Fidel Castro
1959: September -- Khrushchev visits United States; denied access to Disneyland
1960s
1960: May -- Soviet Union reveals that U.S. spy plane was shot down over Soviet territory
1960: November -- John F. Kennedy elected President
1961: April -- Bay of Pigs invasion
1961: July -- Kennedy requests 25% spending increase for military
1961: August 13 -- Berlin border closed
1961: August 17 -- Construction of Berlin Wall begins
1962: -- U.S. involvement in Vietnam increased
1962: October -- Cuban Missile Crisis
1963: July -- Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratified...