Question

When did American spy planes spot Soviet missiles on Cuba?

Option 1: October 14, 1962.
Option 2: August 13, 1961.
Option 3: November 22, 1963.
Option 4: July 4, 1960.

Answer 1

American spy planes detected Soviet missiles in Cuba on October 14, 1962, initiating the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Step-by-step explanation:

American U-2 spy planes spotted Soviet missiles in Cuba on October 14, 1962. This event marked the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tense 13-day standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union, bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war. President John F. Kennedy, under the pressure of having Soviet nuclear missiles so close to American soil, ultimately decided on a naval blockade of Cuba and made it clear to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev that crossing this blockade would be met with force.

The placement of missiles in Cuba by the Soviet Union was a defensive strategy purportedly aimed to counter the threat of U.S. missiles in Turkey and to deter another invasion of Cuba following the Bay of Pigs invasion. The eventual resolution of this crisis involved a commitment by the Soviets to remove the missiles from Cuba and in return, the United States secretly agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey.