10/22/2026
McFarlan Veterans Memorial Park OnThisDate October 22 - OnThisDate - On this day in 1962, President John F. Kennedy addressed the country, demanding that Cuba remove Soviet missiles and equipment that had been secretly placed on the island. "The clock in the Cuban missile crisis ticked on October 16, 1962, when President Kennedy was informed that a US spy plane had detected medium-range missiles that could target large parts of the United States. On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery on television, saying he would impose a two-day naval quarantine on Cuba. The missiles were discovered after U-2 spy planes photographed their presence in the west of the island. Although Kennedy called on Russian Prime Minister Nikita S. Khrushchev to dismantle the missiles, he ordered a naval quarantine and blockade of Cuba to prevent Russian ships from bringing additional missile-building materials to the island. In response to the American naval blockade, Prime Minister Khrushchev authorized his military to launch an attack on US troops who were warned of an invasion of Cuba on October 23, 1962, the eve of the Cuban missile crisis. Stuck in this way, they stared at each other for seven days until Khrushchev blinked."
