Half of all Americans -some 100 million people- could have been killed during the Cuban Missile Crisis -easily the most dangerous chapter of the Cold War. They learned of it on this day in 1962, when President Kennedy went public w/his knowledge of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba 
Speaking to the nation, Kennedy demanded the removal of the Soviet missiles and announced a naval “quarantine” of Cuba - warning that any Soviet missile fired anywhere in the Western hemisphere would be regarded as an attack on the U.S., “requiring a full retaliatory response.”
You can watch President Kennedy's dramatic address to the nation on the dangerous Cuban Missile Crisis - this day in 1962 - here:
