Six Times the World Was on the Brink of a Nuclear Abyss

All-out nuclear war was closer than you might expect

“Baker” explosion, part of a US Army nuclear test in 1946. [Public Domain] via Wikimedia commons

From the rubble of the Second World War, two world powers emerged in 1945, the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union. In a struggle for power, and in fear of attacking each other, both countries decided to arm themselves more and more heavily after the Second World…