The Cuban missile crisis was a 14-day confrontation in October, 1962, between the Soviet Union & Cuba & the U.S. The crisis is regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict & is the first documented instance of mutual assured destruction (MAD) being discussed as a determining factor in a major international arms agreement. The confrontation ended on 10/28/1962, when Kennedy & UN Secretary-General U Thant reached an agreement with Khrushchev. (V)
