Hacker News with Generative AI: Cold War

February 22, 1985 Operation Beluga (todayinhistory.blog)
In 1984, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the “doomsday clock” to three minutes before midnight, noting a turn for the worse in cold war tensions. “U.S.-Soviet relations”, they noted, “reach their iciest point in decades.”
Cold War, History, International Relations, Politics
63 points by ZeljkoS 12 days ago | 8 comments
Nuclear Proliferation and the "Nth Country Experiment" (nsarchive.gwu.edu)
Washington, D.C., January 23, 2025 - Today, the National Security Archive publishes newly declassified information on a secret mid-1960s project in which a handful of young physicists at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory produced a design for a “credible nuclear weapon” based only on unclassified, open-source information and in just three years.
Nuclear Weapons, Cold War, History, Science, Research
39 points by nabla9 28 days ago | 8 comments
The U.S. Government Just Declassified Cold War-Era Docs About DIY Nukes (gizmodo.com)
The National Security Archive has published recently declassified documents related to the “Nth Country Project,” a Cold War era experiment involving a DIY nuclear weapons project.
Cold War, Government, Nuclear Weapons, History, Declassification
7 points by rntn 28 days ago | 0 comments
A Spy Satellite You've Never Heard of Helped Win the Cold War (ieee.org)
In the early 1970s, the Cold War had reached a particularly frigid moment, and U.S. military and intelligence officials had a problem.
Cold War, Military, Space, Intelligence
71 points by Brajeshwar 30 days ago | 17 comments
A Cold War Satellite Program Called Parcae Revolutionized Signals Intelligence (ieee.org)
In the early 1970s, the Cold War had reached a particularly frigid moment, and U.S. military and intelligence officials had a problem.
Cold War, History, Signals Intelligence, Satellite Technology, Military
84 points by kungfudoi 31 days ago | 24 comments
Bunkers in Albania (wikipedia.org)
Concrete military bunkers are a ubiquitous sight in Albania, with an average of 5.7 bunkers for every square kilometer (14.7 per square mile). The bunkers (Albanian: bunkerët) were built during the Hoxhaist government led by the Leader Enver Hoxha from the 1960s to the 1980s, as the government fortified Albania by building more than 750,000 bunkers.[1][2][3]
Albania, History, Cold War, Architecture, Military
215 points by samclemens 36 days ago | 168 comments
Greenland and the Coldest War (palladiummag.com)
Greenland has returned to the global spotlight as President Trump renews his interest in acquiring the northern island during his second term.
Greenland, Geopolitics, International Relations, United States, Cold War
4 points by havella 42 days ago | 0 comments
How Britain got its first internet connection (2015) (theconversation.com)
The internet has become the most prevalent communications technology the world has ever seen. Though there are more fixed and mobile telephone connections, even they use internet technology in their core. For all the many uses the internet allows for today, its origins lie in the cold war and the need for a defence communications network that could survive a nuclear strike.
History, Internet, Technology, Cold War
169 points by samizdis 43 days ago | 93 comments
Colossus – The Forbin Project (1970) (archive.org)
Defense Department computers of both the United States and The Soviet Socialist Republic become sentient.
Science Fiction, Cold War, Artificial Intelligence
11 points by wallflower 43 days ago | 4 comments
Could the Soviet Union have survived? (historytoday.com)
We ask four historians of the Cold War whether the demise of the USSR was as inevitable as it now seems.
History, Cold War, Soviet Union
31 points by pepys 51 days ago | 98 comments
W54 (wikipedia.org)
The W54 (also known as the Mark 54 or B54) was a tactical nuclear warhead developed by the United States in the late 1950s.
Nuclear Weapons, Military History, Cold War
46 points by thunderbong 65 days ago | 33 comments
Russian UVB-76 radio station broadcasts burst of mysterious messages (meduza.io)
Russia’s mysterious UVB-76 radio station, known for its constant buzzing and occasional cryptic messages, sent out a near record number of transmissions on December 11.
Russia, Radio, Mystery, Cold War, International Relations
18 points by mudil 66 days ago | 2 comments
Atoms for Peace: Learning to Love the Bomb (historytoday.com)
In 1969, North Yorkshire was unknowingly under siege. The market towns of Pickering and Whitby faced a looming existential threat: a nuclear bomb.
Nuclear Weapons, History, Cold War
19 points by Hooke 76 days ago | 10 comments
The Underground University (aeon.co)
In 1986, my quiet life as a doctoral student in philosophy was punctuated by a trip to Brno in Czechoslovakia (as it then was), where I found myself in a high-speed, chicken-scattering taxi, chasing a bus before it reached the border. It was my small part in a larger story of philosophers’ derring-do during the Cold War.
Philosophy, Cold War, Czechoslovakia, History, Academia
23 points by Caiero 78 days ago | 4 comments
The Army built a giant concrete pyramid in North Dakota and used it for 6 months (taskandpurpose.com)
Deep in the farmland of North Dakota sits an ominous and massive concrete pyramid, with large circles on all four faces. It wasn’t built by an ancient civilization or aliens; it was built by the U.S. Army, and it played a pivotal part in the Cold War.
Military, History, Cold War, North Dakota
20 points by PaulHoule 80 days ago | 6 comments
Vasily Arkhipov (wikipedia.org)
Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: Василий Александрович Архипов, IPA: [vɐˈsʲilʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ arˈxʲipəf], 30 January 1926 – 19 August 1998) was a senior Soviet Naval officer who prevented a Russian submarine from launching a nuclear torpedo against ships of the United States Navy at a crucial moment in the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.
Cold War, History, Military, Nuclear Weapons, Russia
3 points by tempestn 81 days ago | 0 comments
NASA aircraft uncover Cold War nuclear missile tunnels under Greenland ice sheet (space.com)
Cold War, History, Greenland, Military, Science
126 points by nullhole 85 days ago | 40 comments
Prelude to McCarthyism: The Making of a Blacklist (2006) (archives.gov)
The so-called "Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations" (AGLOSO) was one of the most central and widely publicized aspects of the post–World War II Red Scare, which has popularly become known as "McCarthyism."
History, Politics, Cold War, McCarthyism, United States
51 points by mergy 86 days ago | 53 comments
Agent Blue – Arsenic-Laced Rainbow [pdf] (11thrru.org)
Toxicology, History, Cold War, Espionage, Chemical Weapons
38 points by limit499karma 94 days ago | 15 comments
An unearthly spectacle – The untold story of the biggest nuclear bomb (2021) (thebulletin.org)
In the early hours of October 30, 1961, a bomber took off from an airstrip in northern Russia and began its flight through cloudy skies over the frigid Arctic island of Novaya Zemlya. Slung below the plane’s belly was a nuclear bomb the size of a small school bus—the largest and most powerful bomb ever created.
Nuclear Weapons, History, Russia, Cold War
92 points by arethuza 100 days ago | 154 comments
US Government memo shows Ethel Rosenberg was not a spy but executed her anyway (bloomberg.com)
The children of convicted Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg spent more than half their lives hunting for a smoking gun document that would prove their mother's innocence. They said their quest is now over.
History, Cold War, Espionage, Justice
33 points by ck2 111 days ago | 29 comments
Ethel Rosenberg's sons say FOIA documents clear her name (bloomberg.com)
The children of convicted Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg spent more than half their lives hunting for a smoking gun document that would prove their mother's innocence. They said their quest is now over.
Cold War, History, Espionage, Government Documents, FOIA
11 points by anigbrowl 112 days ago | 2 comments
The Thing, also known as the Great Seal bug (wikipedia.org)
The Thing, also known as the Great Seal bug, was one of the first covert listening devices (or "bugs") to use passive techniques to transmit an audio signal.
History, Technology, Cold War, Espionage, Surveillance
4 points by KolmogorovComp 120 days ago | 0 comments
How one engineer beat the ban on home computers in socialist Yugoslavia (theguardian.com)
Very few Yugoslavians had access to computers in the early 1980s: they were mostly the preserve of large institutions or companies.
Computer History, Yugoslavia, Cold War, Technology, History
88 points by sandebert 120 days ago | 47 comments
Pepsi’s Soviet Navy (2021) (foreignpolicy.com)
In 1989, PepsiCo Inc., the maker of Pepsi, acquired 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer from the Soviet Union.
Business, History, Cold War, USSR, Pepsi
71 points by nateb2022 133 days ago | 31 comments
Spy plane observes how storms produce radioactive clouds and antimatter (elpais.com)
In 1960, the Soviet Union shot down the plane of U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers as he flew over Yekaterinburg. The pilot was captured alive and sentenced to 10 years in prison, while the wreckage was put on public display. It was known as the U2 incident, named after the spy plane piloted by Powers — an aircraft designed at the CIA’s request to fly at high altitudes and photograph Communist arsenals without detection.
Cold War, History, Aviation, Espionage, Science
10 points by belter 138 days ago | 1 comments
Who posted Number Station phone numbers to Craigslist in 2006? [video] (youtube.com)
Cryptography, Espionage, History, Cold War, Internet
21 points by mmastrac 143 days ago | 12 comments
Timothy Snyder on How the Collapse of the Soviet Union Took America by Surprise (lithub.com)
In the language of physics, a bell that hangs on a post on a farm is in equilibrium: the force of gravity pulling it down is matched by the force of the ground pushing back on the structure. Getting a bell in the air so that it can be rung requires some careful work. Not every equilibrium is the same. The Tsar Bell is in an equilibrium in which it cannot be rung.
History, Politics, Cold War, Russia, United States
43 points by pepys 156 days ago | 78 comments
Zersetzung (wikipedia.org)
Zersetzung (pronounced [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈzɛt͡sʊŋ] ⓘ, German for "decomposition" and "disruption") was a psychological warfare technique used by the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) to repress political opponents in East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s.
Cold War, East Germany, Psychology, Political Repression, Intelligence
8 points by rendx 157 days ago | 1 comments
Family of Ethel Rosenberg say US document proves she was no Soviet spy (theguardian.com)
The family of Ethel Rosenberg, who was sent to the electric chair along with her husband, Julius, in 1953 after being convicted of spying for the Soviets at the height of the Red Scare, have called on Joe Biden to formally exonerate her after a newly released document appeared to show that the US government knew she was not a spy.
Cold War, History, Espionage, US Government, Justice
9 points by aguaviva 164 days ago | 0 comments