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Soviet Secretary Nikita Khrushchev "thaws out" in a 1962 cartoon by John Frith. (John Frith/The Herald) On this day in 1956, a speech entitled On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences - AKA the Secret Speech - was delivered to Soviet leadership by Secretary Nikita Khrushchev. The speech, which was not made available to…
George F. Kennan, author of the "Long Telegram" and "X Article". (The Daily Beast) On this day in 1946, American diplomat George F. Kennan (AKA Mr. X) sent the "Long Telegram" to his colleagues in Washington. Wired from his office at the American Embassy in Moscow, Kennan's telegram - which was later published as the…
The Avro Arrow during one of its many test flights. (The Aviation Geek Club) On this day in 1959, production of the CF-105 Arrow interceptor aircraft project was cancelled by the Canadian government. Manufactured by Avro Canada, the Arrow was a revolutionary warplane capable of reaching Mach 2 speeds (twice the speed of sound) and…
The Maple Leaf, Canada's current flag. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1965, Canada officially adopted its current flag design. When Canadian troops had deployed to Egypt in 1956 during the Suez Crisis, they wore the Red Ensign, Canada's old flag design that contained a small British flag in the upper lefthand corner. Egyptian authorities…
A crowd gathers in Manchuria, near North Korea, in 1978. They are fascinated to see Michael Arth, a white American photographer, in their village. During the Cultural Revolution, anything Western - from books to people - was hard to come by in the PRC. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1978, the People's Republic of…
Nasser in 1960. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1958, the newfound UAR (United Arab Republic, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) chose its first president: Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. Proposed as a pan-Arab state, the UAR was essentially a merger of Syria and Egypt. At the time, much of the Middle East was vulnerable…
The meeting at Yalta. From L to R: Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin. (Wikimedia Commons) On this day in 1945, Allied leaders met in Yalta, Crimea, to discuss the division of Europe in the wake of WWII. As the war drew to a close and it became clear that the Axis were nearing their end, the…
A USAF EC-130B ABCNP "Looking Glass" aircraft. (Airliners.net) On this day in 1961, the US Air Force launched Looking Glass, a command centre tasked with coordinating the deployment of America's nuclear weapons. The command centre was located on a number of heavily-modified KC-130 aircraft; the ABNCPs (Airborne Command Post), armed with powerful communications systems, rotated…
When referring to various parts of the world, people use terms like "third world countries" or "first world powers". This language has generally fallen out of favour; ranking different countries based on their wealth or prosperity strikes many people as outdated, even colonial. But what is the basis for this classification in the first place?…
Fighters from UNITA's militant wing - Armed Forces of the Liberation of Angola, or FALA - train with South African soldiers. (Pinterest) On this day in 1975, representatives from Portugal and Angola signed the Alvor Agreement, a grant of independence for the former colony. Beginning in 1961, a number of Angolan guerilla (militia) groups had…
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