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COLD WAR

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.

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Why the Berlin Wall Rose and Fell

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

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.

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13 Things You Might Not Know About the Berlin Wall

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

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