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Radio Free Europe cuts through state silence; first uncensored signal reaches Czechoslovakia

More than 16 million Americans funded the effort, raising $1,317,000 through a campaign fronted by Dwight Eisenhower for the CIA-backed National Committee for a Free Europe.

By 1950, every newspaper and radio station in Czechoslovakia answered to the state, and Moscow controlled what its version of the truth looked like. On July 4, 1950, a new signal cut through that silence: Radio Free Europe, built by the National Committee for a Free Europe, a CIA front organization, began broadcasting uncensored news into the country. More than 16 million Americans had already funded the effort, giving $1,317,000 through a campaign fronted by Dwight Eisenhower. The Cold War had found a new battlefield: the airwaves…

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More from July 4
1776

Congress votes: these colonies are free and independent states

Jefferson's declaration passes without dissent; Dunlap's print shop runs off copies tonight for readings across the region.
1802

West Point opens; the republic trains its own officers at last

A small class of cadets enrolls under superintendent Jonathan Williams on ground above the Hudson the Continental Army has held since 1778.
1960

50-star flag rises over Fort McHenry; Hawaii's star joins the banner at last

Eisenhower ordered the new design the moment Hawaii's admission was official last August, and the flag now flying above Baltimore carries the pattern for all 50 states.
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A 22-year-old seminary student wrote the stanzas in half an hour after spotting the melody of "God Save the King" in a German songbook.
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More from Cold War America
1964

Warren Commission hands Johnson its verdict: Oswald acted alone

Ten months of testimony from 552 witnesses ends with a single conclusion: no conspiracy, foreign or domestic.
1983

A Soviet screen shows five U.S. missiles inbound; the duty officer calls it a glitch

Stanislav Petrov had no proof the alarm was false, only a hunch that a real attack would look different.
1976

Six Flags opens the world's first modern looping coaster; the Great American Revolution launches at Magic Mountain

The ride debuts in the park's Bicentennial summer, sending riders through a complete vertical loop for the first time on a modern steel coaster.
1955

West Germany joins NATO; a former enemy is now the alliance's eastern front against Moscow

Bonn gains full sovereignty and enters the Atlantic pact today, putting Western troops and nuclear guarantees on the Soviet Union's doorstep.
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