Able Archer 83 was a ten-day NATO exercise starting on November 2,
1983 that spanned the continent of Europe and simulated a coordinated
nuclear release. It incorporated a new, unique format of coded
communication, radio silences, participation by heads of state, and a
simulated DEFCON 1 nuclear alert. The realistic nature of the
exercise, coupled with deteriorating relations between the United
States and the Soviet Union and the anticipated arrival of
"super-stealth" Pershing II nuclear missiles in Europe, led some in
the USSR to believe that Able Archer 83 was a genuine nuclear strike.
In response, the Soviets readied their nuclear forces and placed air
units in East Germany and Poland on alert. This relatively obscure
incident is considered by many historians to be the closest the world
has come to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The
immediate threat of nuclear war abruptly ended with the conclusion of
the Able Archer 83 exercise on November 11.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Archer_83
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1808:
Anthracite coal was first experimentally burned as a residential
heating fuel by Jesse Fell in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthracite_coal)
1919:
Friedrich Ebert became the first Reichspräsident of the Weimar
Republic.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Ebert)
1929:
The first Lateran treaty was signed, establishing Vatican City as an
independent sovereign enclave within Italy.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City)
1971:
Eighty-seven countries signed the Seabed Arms Control Treaty,
outlawing weapons of mass destruction on the ocean floor in
international waters.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabed_Arms_Control_Treaty)
1979:
Iranian Revolution: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran,
and eventually became the Supreme Leader of the Islamic republic.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Even if we accept, as the basic tenet of true democracy, that one
moron is equal to one genius, is it necessary to go a further step and
hold that two morons are better than one genius? -- Leó Szilárd
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Le%C3%B3_Szil%C3%A1rd)