This Day in History - October 22, 1962

On October 27, 1962, the Soviet submarine B-59—cut off, overheating to 50°C, and bombarded by hundreds of U.S. depth charges—believed World War III had already begun. Its captain ordered the nuclear torpedo (equal to Hiroshima’s bomb) armed and prepared to launch at the American ships hunting them. Only one man, Vasily Arkhipov, refused to authorize the launch—his single “no” vote prevented a nuclear strike that almost certainly would have ignited global thermonuclear war. #coldwar #nuclearclose