Notes of strain began creeping into President John F. Kennedy’s voice as he went on television to announce to the American people that U.S. reconnaissance discovered Russian nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba. The move by the Soviets was in clear violation of the Monroe Doctrine, tantamount to an act of war. The biggest flashpoint of the Cold War had come, as Premier Khrushchev, in a desperate effort to bridge the missile range gap, put his intermediate-range nukes at America’s doorstep. The U.S. went on full military alert, and Kennedy authorized a naval blockade of Cuba.

On this day, November 20, in 1962, the standoff ended, as Kennedy ordered the blockade lifted. The USSR removed offensive missiles from Cuba, in exchange for American assurance they would not try another invasion (the failed Bay of Pigs invasion took place just before) and removal of missiles from Turkey, Russia’s doorstep.

Khrushchev was the first to blink, pulling back Soviet ships heading towards the American blockade. Only one crossed the lines – a Soviet tanker that refused orders to turn back. Kennedy let it cross, considering there was little chance of it carrying weapons. Kennedy also ignored a potential provocation the following day, when a spy plane over Cuba was shot down by the Soviets, its pilot killed. Cooler heads prevailed, and the world stepped back from the brink of nuclear war.