Cold War

When Rock Was Banned in the Soviet Union, Teens Took to Bootlegged Recordings on X-Rays

Teens snuck jazz and rock into the U.S.S.R. on records made of old x-rays

Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan at the Geneva Summit.

Reagan and Gorbachev Agreed to Pause the Cold War in Case of an Alien Invasion

The 40th President of the United States was a big science-fiction fan

Thirty Years Later, We Still Don't Truly Know Who Betrayed These Spies

Was there a fourth mole in the U.S. intelligence system that blew these secret agents' covers?

Powers with a model of his cold war-era U-2, known as the "Dragon Lady." He was freed in an exchange for a Soviety spy in Germany in 1962.

Gary Powers Kept a Secret Diary With Him After He Was Captured by the Soviets

The American fighter pilot who's the focus of Bridge of Spies faced great challenges home and abroad

An aerial view of part of the Idaho National Laboratory.

Tour the World’s First Nuclear Power Plant

The historic site in a remote desert is now a museum where visitors can see the instruments that made nuclear history

As part of a bioweapon experiment, Serratia marcescens (pictured on an agar plate above) was released in San Francisco back in 1950.

In 1950, the U.S. Released a Bioweapon in San Francisco

This was one of hundreds of bioweapon simulations carried out in the 1950s and 1960s

A paternoster elevator can be thrilling, or just scary.

Ride This Bizarre, Old-School Elevator Before They All Shut Down

The paternoster elevators of Europe are weird, a bit scary and getting harder and harder to find. For now, there are still a few you can ride

Nude dancer Micheline Bernardini models the first bikini in Paris, France.

How the Summer of Atomic Bomb Testing Turned the Bikini Into a Phenomenon

The scanty suit’s explosive start is intimately tied to the Cold War and the nuclear arms race

A historical altered photo showing a mushroom cloud over the United Nations and New York City waterfront

Tour the Great Wide World of Mushroom Cloud Imagery

Nuclear testing yielded far more, and more diverse, images of mushroom clouds than those that are commonly shown

The almost mile-long East Side Gallery in Berlin is the longest remaining portion of the Berlin Wall, which once stretched 96 miles.

A Las Vegas Bathroom and 9 Other Unexpected Places to See the Berlin Wall

Twenty five years ago, the Berlin Wall came crumbling down. Today, segments can be found in over 140 memorials worldwide

Distinctive gold cuff links provided a recognition signal between Soviet mole Pyotr Popov and his CIA contacts.

A Private Tour of the CIA's Incredible Museum

Inside the agency's headquarters is a museum filled with relics from half a century of cloak-and-dagger exploits

A Remote Cold War Radar System Has New Use in a Warming World

The stations designed to ring an alarm against nuclear attack may have new responsibilities due to climate change

Russia Is Building a New Military Base in the Arctic

The cold war over the Arctic continues

The Borei class nuclear-powered submarine Yuri Dolgoruky arrives at the Russian Northern Fleet's naval base after tests. September 9, 2013.

As the Ice Melts, Spying in the Arctic is Hitting Cold War Levels

The prospect of resources and shipping lanes has sparked tensions in the Arctic

Berlin Children Cheering Airlift Plane

65 Years Ago Today, the Soviet Blockade of Berlin Ended

The first real showdown between the Soviet Union and the West ended 65 years ago today

A replica of Sputnik 1 at the National Air and Space Museum.

Even During the Cold War, Russian and U.S. Rocket Scientists Were Friends, But Now They're No Longer Talking

U.S. and Soviet scientists worked together throughout the Cold War, but now, because of Crimea, those ties are being cut

The mushroom cloud from the atmospheric detonation of the 11 megaton Castle Romeo nuclear bomb.

For 25 Years, U.S. Special Forces Carried Miniature Nukes on Their Backs

The B-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition was a nuclear bomb the size of a backpack

The USS Pueblo.

The Time the U.S. Nearly Nuked North Korea Over a Highjacked Spy Ship

The Pueblo incident ended peacefully, but newly unclassified documents detail President Johnson's contingency plans

At the height of the cold war, KGB agents spied on visitors to the Estonia Hotel in Viru. Today, the room in which they listened in on hotel guests has become a museum.

Pay No Attention to the Spies on the 23rd Floor

For years, the KGB secretly spied on visitors to the Hotel Viru in Estonia. A new museum reveals the fascinating time capsule and all the secrets within

Low-altitude images, previously unpublished, reveal gaps in U.S. intelligence. Analysts failed to detect tactical nuclear warheads at a bunker near Managua.

The Photographs That Prevented World War III

While researching a book on the Cuban missile crisis, the writer unearthed new spy images that could have changed history

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