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Mental Floss

COLD WAR

Smithsonian National Postal Museum

In 1959, the U.S. Postal Service Attempted to Deliver Mail via Missile

The project was about more than just high-speed delivery.

Shaunacy Ferro

Ronald Reagan And Mikhail Gorbachev Meet In Iceland

When a 1986 Meeting Between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev Wreaked Havoc on Iceland

With its Blue Lagoon thermal spa and unrivaled views of the Northern Lights, Iceland is one of the world's top tourist destinations, drawing over 2 million visitors last year alone.

Emily Petsko

Keystone/Getty Images

5 Intriguing Details Found in the Newly Released JFK Assassination Papers

The Soviets thought Lee Harvey Oswald was a total maniac.

Shaunacy Ferro



The Hospital in the Rock

Budapest’s Former Top-Secret Hospital Inside a Cave

The ancient caves beneath Buda Castle have a colorful and sometimes disturbing history.

Luke Bather


U-2 designer Kelly Johnson with Francis Gary Powers (left to right).

10 Cold War Artifacts From the Real-Life Bridge of Spies Auction

The historic prisoner swap of Francis Gary Powers and a KGB spy happened 55 years ago.

Michele Debczak


Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Why the Berlin Wall Rose and Fell

The wall stabilized the East German economy—but tarnished its reputation.

Bess Lovejoy


Samantha Smith (second from right) is greeted by Russian Young Pioneers at the airport in Moscow in 1983.

How 10-Year-Old Samantha Smith Helped Ease Cold War Tensions In the Early 1980s

In late 1982, Samantha Smith—a 10-year-old from Maine—wrote a short letter to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov that made a huge impact.

Stacy Conradt
Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0 de

13 Things You Might Not Know About the Berlin Wall

6. The "Death Strip" was as scary as it sounds.

Benjamin Lampkin

iStock

Gossip From a 1955 CIA Spy Report Of a Soviet Cocktail Party

Nick Greene

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