JuicyLesson 265: The World on the Brink; The Bay of Pigs, The Cuban Missile Crisis … Pics of Mick and Shakira at World Cup … Congrats Deutschland …

1961 and 1962 saw three events, occurring in rapid succession, which altered the face of the Cold War, first bringing the Soviet Union and the United States closer to a hot war in the short term, and then, over the longer term, serving to finally and indubitably put a pointe finale on the chances of a nuclear strike leading to a nuclear war and the too-awful-to-conceive-of end of the world as we know it scenario.

First, in 1961, there is the Bay of Pigs invasion, this preceded by the Soviet Union’s shooting down of a U2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers in the late 1950’s while the Republican, Dwight D. Eisenhower was still President (1952 to 1960). Even in the face of American claims that this had been a routine flight of a weather plane, it rapidly became obvious to observers internationally that Eisenhower was lying, attempting to skirt taking respnsiblilty for spying on the Soviet Union.

In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs invasion, there was the construction of the Berlin Wall, also in 1961 whereby the Soviet union sealed off West Berlin from West Germsny. Khrushchev had previously described the issue of West Berlin as a bone in his throat, and the building of the Berlin Wall was an unsuccessful attempt by the leader of the Soviet Union to extricate that bone from his throat.

Then came the most serious threat to the world’s very existence, the Cuban Missile Crisis (CMC) of 1962 when photos taken by American U-2 spy planes demonstrated, without reasonable doubt, that the Soviets had placed offensive nuclear weapons on Cuban soil less than 200 km. from Florida’s eastern coast. President Kennedy called out the Soviets for this action, perceived to be a direct, offensive threat to the safety and security of the United States.

How did this threat to the world’s security finally get resolved?

Watch the video.

Given the fact that today’s JuicyLesson is already pretty juicy, not from concentrate by the way, we will take the time just to mention the fact that Germany defeated Argentina on Sunday by the score of 1-0 thus winning the World Cup. I called this one correctly as did many others, bringing my final record to 9-6, a winning percentage of .600. Not bad. For a loser.

Above: British musician Mick Jagger waves during a closing ceremony ahead of the final football match between Germany and Argentina for the FIFA World Cup at The Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on July 13, 2014. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYSGABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images

Above: Musician Carlinhos Brown and singer Shakira perform during the closing ceremony prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Above: Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain scores in off-side during the World Cup final soccer match between Germany and Argentina at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, July 13, 2014. The goal was not counted. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Above: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – JULY 13: Mario Goetze of Germany scores his team’s first goal past Sergio Romero of Argentina in extra time during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)