Powers Sentenced: U-2 Spy Pilot Gets 10 Years
Soviet courts sentence downed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers to ten years in prison for espionage, instantly shattering the fragile diplomatic thaw between Washington and Moscow. This harsh verdict forces President Eisenhower to cancel his planned summit with Nikita Khrushchev and escalates Cold War tensions into a full-blown propaganda war that lasts for months.
August 19, 1960
66 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on August 19
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