November 17, 1979 - Thirteen U.S. Hostages Released from Iran

The U.S. hostages were blindfolded and paraded in front
of the Iranian public.

Imagine going to the U.S. Embassy in another country for safety, to quickly find that people from that country have taken charge and are holding U.S. citizens hostage. On November 4, 1979 attack of the United States Embassy in Iran was led by a group of angry students, who quickly captured the building, due to government leader Ruhollah Khomeini . Ruhollah Khomeini was an Iranian religious leader and politician and eventually became the supreme leader of Iran after the Iranian revolution which forced the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Khomeini was anti-American and wanted to protest against the United States. The protest against the United States arose, when Carter allowed the former ruler Shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment. (1) Iran demanded the U.S. government send the Shah back to stand trial. (2) In November 1979, Iranian militants, protesting against the U.S.’s refusal to send the Shah back to Iran, captured the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took more than fifty Americans hostage.

During the crisis many hostages were treated poorly. Most hostages were blind-folded and paraded in front of the Iranian public. The parade was not only seen by the Iranian public, but it was also broadcasted for Americans to see. The hostages went for months without being able to contact their families in America to tell them they were okay. On November 17, 1979 Khomeini orders the release of thirteen female and African-American hostages from the embassy. Thirteen hostages were released to alleviate the crisis, because the Shah was on his way to the Panama. After the release of the thirteen hostages in November, only one more hostage was released in July 1980, due to illness.

Many attempts to rescue the American hostages are made by the CIA, but they are not successful. The first mission set out to rescue the hostages by Carter was a complete failure. (5) Three helicopters were sent over to Iran, but neither of the three made it successfully. Upon take off, all the helicopters now functioned and crashed killing their passengers. Finally, on the day of Ronald Regan’s inauguration, all the hostages were freed and safety back in America, to be welcomed home.

The return of the hostages safely back to the U.S, January 1981.

Upon the release of all the hostages, Carter had to unfreeze all the assets of Iran.

The significance of this event is that it ruined Carter’s presidency and caused more problems between the United States and Iran. This event made Carter look like an inefficient leader of our country. (6) Due to the hostage crisis many other problems also began to occur between the two countries. For example, the relationship between the two countries deteriorated further.


- Amanda D and Brandon C


[1] “THE 1979 IRANIAN US EMBASSY SIEGE AND HOSTAGE CRISIS. WAS IT A COVERT CIA OPERATION?” Global Research, accessed 6 November, 2013,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-1979-iranian-us-embassy-siege-and-hostage-crisis-was-it-a-covert-cia-operation
[2] “Iran-U.S. Hostage Crisis” History Guy, accessed 6 November, 2013,
http://www.historyguy.com/iran-us_hostage_crisis.html#.UoFtQOKRJag
[3] “Iran Hostage Crisis” Sheppard Software accessed 6 November, 2013,
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Middleeastweb/factfile/Unique-facts-MiddleEast9.htm
[4] “Iran Hostage Crisis” EVResourcesSite accessed 11 November, 2013,
http://evresourcesite.wikispaces.com/Iran+Hostage+Crisis

November 2, 1962 - JFK Announces USSR would Dismantle Cuban Missile Sites

On November 2, 1962 President John F. Kennedy and Nikita S. Khrushchev, the Soviet leader came to an agreement which concluded the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a conflict between The United States and Cuba when President John F. Kennedy ordered a blockade of Cuba due to the discovery that Soviet Nuclear Missiles were being constructed on the island. This conflict could have played a huge role in today’s everyday life had the situation not been handled cautiously. Had there been conflicting views and no reached agreements by the two parties, nuclear war was destined to occur. [1]

President Kennedy was first informed of the construction of Soviet Missiles in Cuba on October 16,1962. Speaking on the topic of missiles being constructed in Cuba; Kennedy administration officials have said that the Soviet leader acted for “global strategic reasons” and Khrushchev himself claimed that he was “primarily motivated by the desire to defend the Cuban revolution, and his ally Fidel Castro, from aggression by the United States.” [2] Then finding out about the construction of missiles, Kennedy decided to take action and place a naval blockade around Cuba. The main purpose of this blockade was to prevent the Soviets from bringing in more military supplies to Cuba. [3]

It had seemed that a satisfactory resolution for both Kennedy and Khrushchev in this crisis was becoming more and more farfetched. Khrushchev sent a letter to Kennedy demanding that the United States agree to remove its Jupiter missiles from Turkey in exchange for a Soviet removal of missiles from Cuba. Kennedy then made a bargain with Khrushchev, sending a letter assuring Khrushchev that the United States would speedily take out its missiles from Turkey, but only on the basis of a secret understanding, not as an open agreement that would appear to the public, and to NATO allies, as a concession to blackmail. [4] Many details involving the agreement to take the U.S. missiles out of Turkey remain in question to this day.

Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, met in his office at the Justice Department with Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to settle the discrepancy once and for all. The agreement between the two sides have raised many questions and confusion over the years. U.S. officials have mandated that neither John nor Robert Kennedy promised to withdraw the Jupiters in exchange for the removal of Soviet missiles in Cuba, but that Robert Kennedy informed Dobrynin that he had planned to remove the American missiles in any event. However, many scholars of the Cuban Missile Crisis throughout the years have strongly suspected that Robert F. Kennedy relayed a pledge from his brother to take out the Jupiters from Turkey in exchange for the Soviet removal of nuclear missiles from Cuba, so long as Moscow kept the swap secret. [4]

- Troy S. and Luke M.




[1] “JFK announces a blockade of Cuba,” The History Channel website, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jfk-announces-a-blockade-of-cuba (accessed Nov 1, 2013).
[2] Dobbs, Michael. "Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)." The New York Times, . http://www.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/cuban_missile_crisis/index.html (accessed November 1, 2013).
[3] For thirteen days in October 1962 the world waited—seemingly on the brink of nuclear war—and hoped for a peaceful resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis.. working paper., John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Mueseum. http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Cuban-Missile-Crisis.aspx
[4] Hershberg, Jim. Anatomy of a Controversy . working paper., The George Washington University, 1995. The National Security Archive http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/moment.htm.

October 31, 1968 - President Johnson Ends Operation Rolling Thunder

On this day in history in the year 1968 President Johnson announced a halt to Operation Rolling Thunder, a bombing operation against the North Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. The end of Operation Rolling Thunder was an attempt at peace, to hopefully stop the war between the Viet Cong and the United States. In Operation Rolling Thunder, U.S. military aircraft attacked targets throughout North Vietnam from March 1965 to October 1968. Operation Rolling Thunder lasted three years before the dissection off the halt be for it came to an end in 1968. Part of the reason for the bombing mission was to destroy North Vietnam's transportation system, industrial base, air defenses, and to cease the flow of men and materiel into South Vietnam. The U.S. didn’t want to risk thousands of troops by sending them in to fight one-on-one.

Johnson wanted to stop the bombing and the war. These were his intentions when he considered the halt. Johnson didn’t do it right a way he looked in to it to make sure no one would be affected by this. That’s why Johnson was playing it safe. He didn’t want to show that his guard was down and because we could get surprised attacked. There was no knowledge on what will happen if Johnson stopped Operation Rolling Thunder. Many people kept telling him that nothing major couldn’t happen since the Viet Cong didn’t have a big air force unit, so they wasn’t able to attack us through air support. The bombing halt of Operation Rolling Thunder made President Johnson reputation bad with the U.S citizens. Johnson already know that if he ran for president again no one would vote for him because of the bombing. Not that many were pleased of the decision he has made on the bombing halt. Johnson made a good decision because it did bring peace.

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”