The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred from October 16 to October 28, 1962. It was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the presence of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, bringing the world close to nuclear war. The crisis began when American U-2 spy planes discovered Soviet missile sites being constructed in Cuba, and President John F. Kennedy responded with a naval blockade to prevent further missiles from reaching the island. The crisis ended with an agreement for the Soviets to dismantle their missiles in Cuba in exchange for the U.S. publicly promising not to invade Cuba and secretly agreeing to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey. The formal naval blockade ended on November 20, 1962, after the missiles were withdrawn.
