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The Threat Of Nuclear War Is Nothing New
Four forgotten moments in history when nukes were threatened
The war between Russia and Ukraine has once again raised the specter of nuclear war. Russia is one of the world’s greatest nuclear powers and Ukraine is a former nuclear power. The conflict has put people on edge with news outlets regularly reporting on the prospect of nuclear annihilation. Even the US government has joined in by updating its official site that tells Americans what to do in case of a nuclear explosion. The recommendations were updated on March 7th, 2022.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of people are scared. And for good reason. Nuclear war is the greatest threat that humanity faces right now. But before you run off and start stockpiling iodine pills it would be good to know that the threat of nuclear war is nothing new. In fact, the ever-present threat of annihilation has been around since 1949.
There are some very well known examples of when people danced close to the abyss. The most famous example is the Cuban Missile Crisis. Everyone learns about the missile crisis in school. But there are far more examples of when nuclear weapons were actively being considered and many of them have been forgotten.
Here are four times nuclear weapons were on the table and the world avoided catastrophe.
