Russia is sparking new nuclear threats – understanding nonproliferation history helps place this in context

A caution sign marks the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash., where plutonium for nuclear weapons was made. Jeff T. Green/Getty Images

During the 1960s, the Soviet Union and the United States came close to war over the Soviet’s attempt to install nuclear weapons in Cuba, 90 miles off the Florida coast.

People in the U.S. feared nuclear war. Children practiced nuclear drills hiding under their desks. Families built nuclear bunkers in their backyards.