Counterfactuals: 1983, The World’s Most Dangerous Year

On today’s podcast we talk about the year 1983 - called by some “the most dangerous year” in modern history. In the fall of that year, Western and Communist powers may have nearly stumbled into the one thing that neither side wanted - all-out nuclear war. How might the world be different if that close call went another way?

Jul 1, 2025| 01:06:25
Other Podcasts
1
Counterfactuals: 1527 Sack of Rome
2
Counterfactuals: Rabies
3
Counterfactuals: Going Up? Elevators
4
Counterfactuals: John Hay
5
Counterfactuals: Paardeberg – Canada’s Most Important Battle?
6
Battle of Westport
7
Counterfactuals – War, Mosquitoes, and Human History
8
Counterfactuals: Sticky History of Duct Tape
9
Counterfactuals: Japan’s Turning Point at Shimonoseki Straits
10
Counterfactuals: The Plastic Revolution
11
Counterfactuals: Nuclear Disaster Aboard K-219
12
Counterfactuals: Samoan Crisis of 1889
13
Counterfactuals: Wine Extinction
14
Counterfactuals: The Sensational 1876 Election
15
Counterfactuals: The Mutiny That Almost Lost the Revolution
16
Counterfactuals: The Battle of the Bulge at Elsenborn Ridge
17
Counterfactuals: The Last Invasion of Britain
18
Counterfactuals: What if the Chicken Didn’t Cross the Road?
19
Counterfactuals: USS Boston and the New Navy
20
Counterfactuals: The Three Kingdoms – or not?
21
Counterfactuals: Just How Foundational IS Concrete?
22
Counterfactuals: Roosevelt and Churchill at Christmas, 1941
23
Counterfacutals: WWI and The Battle of the Gulf of Riga
24
Counterfactuals: Confederate Espionage
25
Counterfactuals: The Passenger Pigeon’s World
26
Counterfactuals: Did Ketchup Save the World?
27
Counterfactuals: Cannae and Hannibal
28
Counterfactuals: Task Force 34 and Leyte Gulf
29
Counterfactuals: The Great Lisbon Earthquake
30
Counterfactuals: The Axumite Empire
31
Counterfactuals: The Battle of Tsushima and the 20th Century
32
Counterfactuals: What if we Used a Different Calendar?
33
Counterfactuals- The White Ship and the Anarchy
34
Counterfactuals: The Forgotten WWII Battle of Thala
35
Counterfactuals: A World Without Potatoes
36
Counterfactuals: Viking North America
37
Counterfactuals: Westward Expansion and Ashley’s 100
38
Counterfactuals: What if There Were no Transistors?
39
Counterfactuals: The Dmitriads
40
Counterfactuals: 732 – The End of Christian Europe?
41
Counterfactuals: A World Without Cats
42
Counterfactuals: The Inca
43
Counterfactuals: Alexandrian India
44
Counterfactuals: 1815 Tambora Eruption
45
Counterfactuals: The Duels of Alexander Hamilton
46
Counterfactuals: Death of a President Part 2
47
Counterfactuals: Death of A President Part 1
48
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
49
A History of Making the Perfect Smile
50
The American Civil War on the Water
51
Modern Marvels: Celluloid and Transistors
52
Hurricanes that Made History
53
Volcanoes: Vesuvius & Tambora
54
Movie Stars in WWII
55
Explorers: Magellan and Bering
56
New York Engineering: The Secret Subway and Brooklyn Bridge
57
The “Proto-Mafia”
58
Stolen Art: The “Just Judges” and Goya’s Wellington
59
Grape Blights and Grasshopper Plagues
60
Governors Assassinated
61
Pearl Harbor: The first Shot and the Aftermath
62
Hygiene History: Soap and Semmelweiss
63
Mad Monarchs: Charles VI and Ludwig II
64
Ancient Egypt: The Pyramids and the Silver Pharoah
65
Terror in the Air: TACA 110 and China Airlines 006
66
The P-38 Lightning
67
New York Riots
68
Forgotten Naval Battles of WWI
69
“My Name is Aaron Burr”
70
What You Didn’t Learn in School: Continents and the Seven Seas
71
Alexander the Great
72
Women in WWII: WASP and Virginia Hall
73
Forgotten Colonies: Popham and Panama
74
Exploited History: Slavery and Human Zoos
75
Dog Tales
76
Industrial Invention: Elevators and Vending Machines
77
Bitter Cold in the Gilded Age: The Long Winter and the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition
78
Christmas and Candy in the American Military
79
Stories of Pearl Harbor
80
Bread, Berries, and the Government
81
Animals of the Great War: Pigeons and Mercy Dogs
82
Forgotten American Mints: From New Orleans to Manila
83
The American Civil War Trans-Mississippi Theater: Wilson’s Creek and Prairie Grove
84
Hurricane History: The Great Miami Hurricane and Doc McFadden
85
Cold War Defense: The DEW Line and Texas Towers
86
Disasters: Railway Accidents
87
The Eastern Front: Fortresses, Night Witches, and Fake Guardsmen
88
WWII Special Forces: Los Baños and Makin Island
89
Television and the Don Lee Broadcasting System
90
Pirates! 2: Barbarossa, Port Royal, and Jamestown
91
US Borders: The Missouri Bootheel and The Toldeo War
92
D-Day Heroes
93
A.P. Giannini and The History of Credit
94
Forgotten Peoples: the Itza Maya and Axum
95
1970s Car Disasters: The Dale and the Vega
96
Coasties: Stories of the USCGCs Tampa and Icarus
97
Lines on the Road and the Wheels that Drive on them
98
Two 19th Century Kates
99
Aerial Hijinks: 3 Wild Stories
100
Civil War Freedom Fighters: Robert Smalls and Abraham Galloway
101
The Mafia Beer Wars: Dean O’Bannion and Calvin Goddard
102
Supernatural True Crime: The Greenbrier Ghost and Bridget Cleary
103
Weird Wars: China’s War on Sparrows and the Pastry War
104
A History Guy Christmas: Nutcrackers and Christmas Trees
105
Useful Resources: The Histories of Helium and Asbestos
106
Forgotten Fruit History: Bananas and Oranges
107
Tin Can Ships: Destroyers and the First Submarines Sunk by the US in Both World Wars
108
History Lost: The 1890 Census and the 1973 NPRC Fire
109
Pawns and Princes of Russia
110
Weird Weather: 1974 Tornado Super Outbreak, 1943 Black Hills Record, and the Great White Hurricane
111
The War Before the War: The Undeclared War and the Reuben James, WWII Iceland, and the ‘Phoney War’
112
Nuclear Near Misses: The Palomares Incident and the Wrench That Nearly Blew Up Arkansas
113
Tales of the Gilded Age: Cleveland’s Secret Surgery and the Harrison Horror
114
Pilotless Planes: Planes that Landed Themselves, the L-8 Blimp, and Taffy Holden
115
War Time Heroes: Mary Edwards Walker and Tom Custer
116
Tales of Cow: Steaks and US History and “Sir Loin” of Beef
117
Unique Animals: Pere David’s Deer and Okapi Johnstoni
118
True Crime Trials: Daniel Sickles’ Temporary Insanity and the murder of Gulielma Sands
119
Fantastic Frauds: Titanic Thompson and Stanley Weyman
120
A tortoise, a horse, and a bear, oh my! : Timothy, Sgt. Reckless, and Winnie the Pooh
121
Cold War Chronicles: Able Archer and Oleg Gordievsky
122
Mystery Murders: The Saxtown Axe Murders and the “Servant Girl Annihilator”
123
Pirates! : The Wreck of the Whydah and Albert Hicks
124
Cats and Dogs: Housecats and Civilization and Able Seaman Just Nuisance
125
Unsung Heroes: Video Game Pioneer and “Brave Bessie”
126
True Stories of the Wild West: A Bandit Who Fell off His Horse and Soapy Smith
127
Historical Cryptids: Beast of Gevaudan and Washington’s Eagle
128
Aviation Accidents: Fall From an SR-71 and the Valkyrie’s mid-air Collision

Support The History Guy

If you love history, this is the channel to support! Generous contributions from supporters allow The History Guy team to continue creating the snippets of forgotten history that have been seen by viewers all around the world. You’ll be supporting this record of the past that helps to inform our present. Making The History Guy takes time, effort, and equipment. It is history that deserves your help!