44 Years Ago In Time

The nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea have put the world on edge. In 1961, Soviet leader NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV appeared to pose an even graver threat.

Moscow's millions knew something was afoot even as they dressed for work one morning last week. The radio was droning out the full text of a long government communique ... Slowly, as the high-charge prose unwound, the reason for all the excitement began to dawn on the Muscovites: the Kremlin had decided to start testing its nuclear weapons again. Just 49 hours later, a brilliant flash lit the bleak plains of Central Asia, and a mighty bang echoed for miles ... The risk of atomic war still depends, as it has for years, on the simple decision of the man in the Kremlin. What is alarming is Khrushchev's new willingness to flirt with terror. Conceivably, he could misjudge the resolution of the West and bring on himself and the world a war he never expected. In the weeks and years ahead, the West must steel itself for another kind of test--a test of nerve. --TIME, Sept. 8, 1961

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