Which 1962 confrontation over Soviet missiles in Cuba brought the U.S. and USSR close to nuclear war?

The 1962 confrontation over Soviet missiles in Cuba was the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The crisis lasted from October 16 to 28, 1962, after U.S. reconnaissance revealed Soviet nuclear missile sites under construction in Cuba. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had approved the deployment partly to protect Fidel Castro’s government and partly to counter American nuclear missiles stationed in Turkey and Italy.

President John F. Kennedy responded with a naval “quarantine” of Cuba, avoiding the more openly aggressive term “blockade,” while demanding removal of the Soviet missiles. For thirteen days, U.S. and Soviet leaders faced the possibility that a local confrontation could escalate into nuclear war.

The crisis ended when Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles. In a secret part of the settlement, the United States later removed its Jupiter missiles from Turkey and Italy and publicly pledged not to invade Cuba. The confrontation also encouraged creation of the Washington–Moscow hotline.