Bay of Pigs & Cuban Missile Crisis

The Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961) was an unsuccessful attempt by U.S.-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro’s communist government in Cuba, escalating Cold War tensions. A year later, the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) arose when the U.S. discovered Soviet missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from Florida. This dangerous standoff brought the superpowers to the brink of nuclear war. It ended when the U.S. agreed to withdraw its missiles from Turkey in exchange for the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba, highlighting the intense rivalry and the need for diplomacy during the Cold War.