Chrysler Air Raid Siren - Joshua

Deer Cling to Czech Borders by Sarah Basom

Communists controlled Czechoslovakia during the Cold War and they constructed three electrified fences on the West Germany border. These fences were heavily guarded and dangerous so no one could pass. In fact, 500 people almost died trying. During this time, local red deer developed a pattern to not cross the border which they continue to do even today. Now the fences are long gone but the deer refuse to venture past their Czech or German sides.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27129727

Soviet Submarines in The Canadian Arctic - Ethan

            The Soviets may have been very familiar with the Canadian Arctic and Russian maps suggest that their submarines frequented that area. Sections of nautical maps from about the time of the Cold War suggest that Russia may have had knowledge about important information about Northwest Passages and important waterways in the Canadian Arctic. This information also uncovers that the Russians may have known more about the topography of certain parts of this Arctic area than even the Canadians. These documents, the nautical maps, show that the wide belief that even Russian nuclear subs patrolled the Arctic near Canada throughout the Cold War without Canada knowing. In fact, some of these superiorly detailed Russian charts are preferred over the Canadian charts, as they are more accurate. One Canadian Arctic expert said, "It confirms what many of us assumed. The Soviet navy was extremely capable and also was willing to take considerable risk. Sending submarines into the Canadian archipelago, which was heavily monitored by NATO, thousands of miles away from Soviet assistance, was a perilous thing to do. It was a phenomenal accomplishment." The Canadian Arctic very well may have been patrolled by Soviet subs taking a risky move to learn crucial details about the Canadian Arctic and its passageways.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/from-the-archives-russian-maps-suggest-soviet-subs-cruised-canadian-arctic/article4180292/  



Ethan - That’s really interesting because you never really hear about Canada in any war. Cool article! (Carson)

Operation Chrome Dome - Kya

KGB Museum in Russia - Caroline

This article details the author’s visit to a KGB museum in Moscow, Russia. The museum is very covert, and it seems like not many people know about it. When it was first made, it was meant only for KGB employees and not the public. The author explains some of the exhibits. In the end, she catches the FSB (formerly the KGB) official lying about the source of mementos of a British soldier.

I personally have been to the spy museum in Washington DC, and a lot of the things described in the article made me think of some of the things I saw there. A lot of the gadgets are very fascinating!

Komisar, Lucy. A visit to the KGB. Chicago Tribune, 22 July 2001, https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-07-22-0107210216-story.html, accessed 18 March 2020.

Nuclear Missiles - Cyrus

The article I read was about a Russian officer during the Cold War who was in charge of overseeing the launch of nuclear missiles. He saw that there was a confirmation of the launch of five missiles on their way to destroy Russia. He thought that there was a glitch in the system, however he was not fully confident of this. He was left with a choice, he could either sit there relying that it was just a glitch running the risk of his country getting destroyed and not doing anything about it, or to send a counter strike destroying America in retaliation. Now, if he destroyed America and it was just a glitch he would end up starting an all-out war. He decided to do nothing hoping it was just a glitch. Turns out he was right.  The satellites were in the wrong orbit and they detected the light rays reflecting of the clouds as missiles. 

https://www.damninteresting.com/a-hairsbreadth-from-utter-destruction/

Spiked Bread in France! - Paul

During the Cold War, the CIA supposedly spiked bread from a bakery in  the French village of Port-Saint-Esprit with large quantities of LSD so that whoever ate the bread went crazy and was dragged off to a local asylum. However, the article was not very descriptive at all and didn't even give any dates, so I doubt that this actually happened.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/boingboing.net/2010/03/11/french-village-went.html/amp

Paul - I’ve never heard about that! I’m interested if that really happened or if it was just a hoax.(Carson)