May - July 1960:
The U-2 Airplane Episode
In September of 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev visited United States. During the visit, the government of the United States would not allow Khrushchev to enter Disney World because they believed that they could not provide adequate protective services in such an environment. Khrushchev joked that they might have rocket-launchers located inside. After, the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union grew increasingly wary. Both countries grew bitter about each other's accomplishments in space and warfare technology. On May 1, 1960, two weeks prior to the United States-Soviet Summit in Paris, a U-2 high altitude reconnaissance airplane was shot down by a surface to air missile, while flying a spy mission over the Soviet Union (The U-2 Incident 1960). The Soviet Union captured the pilot, Francis Gary Powers, who confessed he was a spy. …
