October 16, 1968 - Two Americans Give the Black Power Salute at the Olympics

At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico, American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos won the gold and bronze medals in the 200m sprint. During the medal ceremony, the two men planned their wardrobe in one of the most political visual statements in recent memory. The two men received their awards without shoes but wearing black socks to represent the poverty of African Americans in the United States. Smith in particular wore a black scarf as a symbol for black pride and woke a bead necklace for all of the lynched blacks in the south.

Even though the two black sprinters stole the show, Australian Peter Norman won the silver medal in the race and stood on the podium next to Carlos and Smith wearing an OPHR (Olympic Project for Human Rights) badge to show support and to protest against the White Australia bill passed by his own government. This statement was so powerful because of the volatile conditions in the United States for black people following the assassination of Martin Luther King a few months before the Olympics. It showed that the struggles of the blacks to be recognized as equals along with white people were not in vain. Furthermore, the black power salute put the Civil Rights Movement on a global stage as more countries became aware of what was happening in the American south.

However, as heroic and brave the salute was, at the time it was considered villainous. There was a backlash from the groundbreaking gesture as the newspapers compared the men to Nazis as the salute is visually similar to the Nazi Salute. ABC reporter Brett Musburger likened them to storm troopers with dark complexions. TIME Magazine called their salute reprehensible and ugly and the black sprinters’ actions led to Smith being discharged out of the military for his “Un-American” actions and both sprinters receiving death threats after the event. The final straw was reached when someone threw a rock through a plate glass window at Smith’s baby’s crib.

Negative reception aside, this event is important to American history as a whole because of how it coincided with the Black Power movement in the United States but diffused the criticism about how the Black Power Movement was primarily violent. This event showed that people of all races could in fact come together and combat racism and all those who practice it. In conclusion, the Black Power Salute at the 1968 Olympics put the United States on notice that it could not keep its bigoted customs any longer.

- Anthony S. and Joe E.

October 15, 1968 - First Live Telecast from Space

The Apollo 7 was the seventh space mission that NASA launched, attempting to reach their goal publicly announced by John F. Kennedy: to have the first man on the moon be an American. There was a competition between arguably the two most technological dominant nations at the time, being Russia (Soviet Union) and America. When Kennedy was president, one of his primary goals for the country was to make advancements in space (1961). Russia had beaten the U.S with the first man in space, in 1961. (“Apollo 7 (AS-205).”) The Soviet Union also got the first spacecraft to orbit the Earth, in 1957. The Apollo 7 was the first mission set to broadcast live to the audience in America. The mission launched October 11, 1968

Americans were very interested in the Apollo 7 mission for a few reasons. First of all. the fire that killed the three pilots on the Apollo 1 before it made it to space gained tons of public attention. Secondly, the patriotic Americans wanted to see their country beat Russia in the “man to the moon” race. And thirdly, Americans wanted to see if space was really what they heard it was. In 1968, they rarely saw pictures or videos like we would see nowadays, they had only heard rumors of space, with zero gravity and being extremely cold as well as never seeing it firsthand until this mission. It was essentially an “unknown” for all humans, if you never studied space or worked for NASA.

America’s launching of the Apollo 7 was the first ever three man mission to space. The three Americans were Donn Eisele, Walter Cunningham, and Walter Schirra Jr., the captain. When they launched on October 11th, 1968 there were a few planned broadcasts but they were delayed by Schirra, because the three man crew was sick. (“Apollo 7 (AS-205).”) The crew ended up orbiting the Earth 163 times in just 10 days, 20 hours, and four days into the mission they decided to make their broadcast, with all of America waiting. On October 15th, 1968, the first ever live television broadcast from space aired, and American viewers were intrigued. For the first time, viewers saw the men floating in their spacecraft with no gravity affecting their movements; they were enjoying hot food, too. Captain Schirra started the broadcast with “Hello from the lovely Apollo Room high atop everything.”(“Apollo 7 (23) The Walt, Wally, and Don Show.”) It ended up being one of the highest watched programs in television history. Despite the incredible amount of popularity, only NASA knew that the Apollo 7 was just a test run for the Apollo 8, for the first craft to land on the moon.

The event was actually more significant for the future than the current time. It led to an opening for live broadcasts to be made from space on every manned mission, and even non-manned missions. It gave NASA and America some confidence in advancing the space race; just two months later the Apollo 8 landed on the moon, before the Russians, where another live broadcast was made. It then led to the Apollo 11 where the first man walked on the moon, which was also broadcasted for the world to see. In our opinion, the Apollo 7 was significant in establishing what was to come of space exploration for the rest of the 1960s and gave all Americans a first-hand look at what was really out there beyond what they had heard.

- Ryan R. and Percell D.





“Apollo 7 (AS-205).” Airandspace.si.edu, last modified January 30, 2006. http://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/as07/a07.htm


“Apollo 7 (23) The Walt, Wally, and Don Show.” NASA.gov, last modified April 5, 2002. http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-7/apollo-7.htm

October 14, 1962 - Start of the Cuban Missile Crisis

“Power” has its riches and ditches, and in the hands of leaders of great nations, it can be a weapon of destruction. On October 14, 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis began as a result of discovery of the United States' plan to overthrow Fidel Castro, the Communist leader of Cuba (1). This discovery of Operation Mongoose aided Castro’s insecurities, and he allowed the installment of Soviet missile sites in Cuba, in exchange for more military aid (2). Although the United States and Russia fought alongside during World War II, they didn’t get along because of their different form of government. The United States was democratic, Russia was communist, and by the end of the war they developed a great sense of mistrust and enmity towards each other. The actions taken by the United States at the beginning of the Cuban missile crisis supports their post-war view about Russia (3).

British cartoon of 29 October 1962
shows Kennedy and Khrushchev arm-wrestling
 for power while sitting on hydrogen
bombs. The caption read: 'OK Mr president, let's talk.'

After the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion (a United States invasion to oust Fidel Castro on April 4, 1961) (5), Fidel Castro rationalized that he needed a larger military defense to protect his communist rule. His thirst for this more military defense heightened in 1962 when the Cuban Intelligence discovered documents regarding Operation Mongoose (a United States plan to overthrow Castro planned for October 1962). This created the avenue the Soviet Union needed—a range close enough to strike the United States effectively, so Khrushchev , who was worried about an imbalance of power due to the American missile in Turkey, proposed installing Soviet missiles in Cuba and Castro accepted. (6) 

The construction of the missile sites in Cuba began in mid-July in 1962, but in  August, suspicions arose when American intelligence unraveled the increased shipping activities between the Soviet Union and Cuba (7). In that same month, on the 29th, the first photographic evidence showed the type of missiles installed, and that they were not offensive, but indicated Cuban desire for stronger security. The Soviet Ambassador even convinced Robert F. Kennedy, (one of President Kennedy’s closest advisors), that the installations were only for defensive purposes (8). However, to be certain of this, more photographic evidence was acquired on October 14, 1962. This second piece of evidence proved that the Soviet Union and Cuba could not be trusted, for six larger medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) had been installed (9).

Tension began to greatly build between the Soviet Union, and a nuclear war was about to begin based on the events above. “During the next two weeks, the united States and the Soviet Union would come as close to nuclear war as they ever had, and a fearful world awaited the outcome” (10). The decision made, and action taken by these nations began the Cuban Missiles Crisis, and they were based on the mistrust between these nations, their fear and test of power, and the resentments from the Cuban war, Bay of Pigs Invasion, and World War II. These actions brought the United States and Russia on the brink of a nuclear war.

- Lindsay T. and Teledalase O.





(1) "Cuban Missile Crisis." United States History, accessed 09 October, 2013, http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1736.html
(2) “Cuban Missile Crisis”
(3)"The Cuban Missile Crisis begins” Today in History, History.com, accessed on 09 October, 2013, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-cuban-missilecrisis-begins
(4) “Cuban Missile Crisis”
(5)"Bay of Pigs Invasion." United States History, accessed 09 October, 2013, http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1765.html
(6) “Cuban Missile Crisis”
(7) “Cuban Missile Crisis”
(8)"The Cuban Missile Crisis Begins”
(9) “The Cuban Missile Crisis Begins”
(10) “The Cuban Missile Crisis Begins”