October 26 belongs to Opal Bou

On October 26, 1962, at the most critical moment of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev sent a personal letter to Kennedy offering to withdraw the missiles in exchange for a non-invasion guarantee for Cuba. The letter opened the path to resolving the conflict and averted what would have been the Third World War.

On October 26, 1955, the Austrian parliament approved the Declaration of Permanent Neutrality of Austria, which would become the foundation of its foreign policy throughout the Cold War. Neutrality was the price Austria paid for the withdrawal of the Allied and Soviet troops that had occupied the country since the end of World War II.

On October 27, 1961, NASA launched the Saturn I rocket on its first test flight — the largest American rocket up to that date. The Saturn programme would become the backbone of the Apollo project and give rise to the Saturn V, the most powerful rocket ever built, which carried astronauts to the Moon between 1969 and 1972.