View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-history-of-the-cuban-missile-crisis-matthew-a-jordan Imagine going about your life knowing that, at any given moment, you and everyone you know could be wiped out without warning at the push of a button. This was the reality for millions of people during the forty-five year period after World War II now known as the Cold War. Matthew A. Jordan explains the history behind the peak of all this panic — the thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Lesson by Mathew A. Jordan, animation by Patrick Smith.