The Most Important Events That Changed History Forever

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

Also known as the October Crisis of 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. The conflict was initiated by Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis is the closest the Cold War came to becoming a nuclear war.

Liberation of Auschwitz (1945)

On January 27, 1945, Auschwitz concentration camp—where over a million people were murdered—was liberated by the Red Army. Although most of the prisoners had been forced to participate in a death march, around 7,000 had been left behind. Soviet soldiers were appalled by the scale of Nazi crimes. The date is recognized as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.