Person1917 – 1963

John F. Kennedy

35th US president (1961–1963) who resolved the Cuban Missile Crisis and launched the Apollo programme; assassinated in Dallas in 1963

Where they went

1
1961Construction of the Berlin Wallrelated figure
Overnight, East Germany strung barbed wire and then built a wall between East and West Berlin. The Berlin Wall became the symbol of the Cold War and of division.
2
1962Cuban Missile Crisiskey figure
When the US discovered Soviet nuclear missile sites under construction in Cuba it imposed a naval blockade. For thirteen days the world stood on the brink of nuclear war until the Soviets withdrew the missiles.
3
1963Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” Speechkey figure
Two years after the Wall went up, President Kennedy visited West Berlin and told hundreds of thousands gathered before Schöneberg Town Hall, “Ich bin ein Berliner”, pledging to stand by the city.

Nikita Khrushchev1894 – 1971
First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party (1953–1964) who denounced Stalin and preached peaceful coexistence, yet confronted the US over the Berlin Wall and Cuba
Fidel Castro1926 – 2016
Leader of the 1959 Cuban Revolution who made Cuba a socialist state and ruled it until 2008
Willy Brandt1913 – 1992
Mayor of West Berlin (1957–1966) and chancellor of West Germany (1969–1974) whose Ostpolitik sought reconciliation with the East; Nobel Peace Prize 1971
Konrad Adenauer1876 – 1967
First chancellor of West Germany (1949–1963), who anchored it in the West, took it into NATO and championed European integration

The Cold War1945 – 1991
From Yalta to the dissolution of the Soviet Union — half a century in which two blocs led by the US and the USSR divided the world
The Division and Reunification of Germany1945 – 1990
From Potsdam to 3 October 1990 — how a Germany occupied by four powers split into East and West, and reunited after 45 years