East German troops and police strung barbed wire across the boundary between East and West Berlin overnight, beginning the barrier that later became a concrete wall. In which month and year did that sealing of the border begin?

The government that ordered the Berlin border sealed in 1961 was led by the head of East Germany's ruling Socialist Unity Party. Who was he?

After World War II the Allies split Berlin into four occupation sectors. Where did the city as a whole sit in relation to the occupation zones of Germany?

In November 1958 the Soviet leader demanded that American, British and French troops leave West Berlin within six months and that it become a demilitarized 'free city.' Who issued that ultimatum?

Kennedy and Khrushchev met face to face only once, in June 1961, and Khrushchev used the meeting to press his demand for a settlement over Berlin. In which city did they meet?

The Berlin Wall ran around the edge of West Berlin rather than along the whole border between East and West Germany.

In April 1961 a brigade of Cuban exiles trained and armed by the CIA came ashore on Cuba's southern coast expecting Cubans to rise against Castro. The landing collapsed in three days. What is this operation called?

Fidel Castro's rebels took power in Cuba when the ruler they had fought fled the island on January 1, 1959. Which Cuban leader did Castro replace?

After the exile landing failed, Kennedy approved a covert program of sabotage, propaganda and economic disruption in late 1961 meant to bring down Castro's government. What was that program called?

On October 14, 1962 an American aircraft flying at very high altitude over western Cuba photographed Soviet medium-range missile sites under construction. What kind of aircraft took those pictures?

Through the thirteen days of October 1962 Kennedy ran the crisis through a small group of officials and advisers who met almost continuously to weigh the options. By what name is that group known?

The United States has held a naval base on Cuban soil since 1903, and it stayed in American hands through Castro's rise and the missile crisis. Where on the island is it?

What happened over Cuba on October 27, 1962, the day American planners afterwards called the most dangerous of the crisis?

Kennedy's advisers wanted to stop Soviet ships carrying missile cargo to Cuba. Why was the step announced as a 'quarantine' instead of a blockade?

By 1961 East Germany was losing hundreds of thousands of people a year, many of them young and skilled, who walked into West Berlin and left from there. What did the East German and Soviet leaderships do about that drain in August 1961?

On October 24, 1962 American warships took station on a line drawn around Cuba while Soviet vessels carrying military cargo came toward it. What did most of those vessels do at the line?

On October 26 Khrushchev offered to remove the missiles in exchange for a pledge not to invade Cuba; a second letter the next day added a demand that American missiles leave Turkey. How did Kennedy answer the two letters?

The exile landing of April 1961 failed and its survivors were captured. What followed for Cuba's place in the Cold War?

In October 1961 American and Soviet tanks stood about a hundred yards apart at Checkpoint Charlie after a quarrel over whether East German guards could inspect the papers of American officials. How did the confrontation end?

In a televised address on October 22, 1962, Kennedy announced that 'a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated.' What was he announcing?

Speaking in West Berlin in June 1963, Kennedy said: 'Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in.' What was he pointing at?

On October 25, 1962 an American official pressed the Soviet delegate to say whether his country had put missiles in Cuba, adding 'I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over.' Who said it, and where?

The missile crisis ended on October 28, 1962 when Khrushchev announced that the missiles would be dismantled and shipped home. What had the United States agreed to give in return?

One direct result of the thirteen days was an agreement signed in June 1963 to fix the slow, garbled messages that had passed between Washington and Moscow during the crisis. What did that agreement set up?

As part of the agreement that ended the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States publicly promised to remove its missiles from Turkey.