Thank God: Nuclear war between the United States and Soviet Union - which was perilously close - was averted on this day in 1962, as the Cuban Missile Crisis ended peacefully. Historians estimate nearly half the U.S. population - nearly 100 million people - could have been killed 
One American life was lost during the Cuban Missile Crisis: U.S. Air Force Major Rudolf Anderson, whose U-2 was shot down by a Soviet surface-to-air missile. Here: a draft of a letter President Kennedy wrote to Mrs. Anderson /1
Kennedy - a war hero himself - personally wrote to the family of every American servicemember who died serving their country; whenever a family member wrote back, the presdent invited them to visit the White House
"These people are crazy," a Dallas resident wrote to White House press secretary Pierre Salinger on this day in 1963 - urging that President Kennedy's upcoming visit be cancelled. Salinger sent the letter to JFK's close aide Ken O'Donnell - who would remember it 25 days later
