By: History.com Editors

1960

American U-2 spy plane shot down over Soviet Union

History.com Editors

Francis Gary Powers holds a model of a U-2 spy plane as he testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Powers' plane was shot down by the Soviets, and he was tried and convicted of spying in the USSR.

Getty Images / Bettmann / Contributor

Published: November 13, 2009

Last Updated: January 31, 2025

An American U-2 spy plane is shot down while conducting espionage over the Soviet Union. The incident derailed an important summit meeting between President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that was scheduled for later that month.

The U-2 spy plane was the brainchild of the Central Intelligence Agency, and it was a sophisticated technological marvel. Traveling at altitudes of up to 70,000 feet, the aircraft was equipped with state-of-the-art photography equipment that could, the CIA boasted, take high-resolution pictures of headlines in Russian newspapers as it flew overhead. Flights over the Soviet Union began in mid-1956. The CIA assured President Eisenhower that the Soviets did not possess anti-aircraft weapons sophisticated enough to shoot down the high-altitude planes.

U-2 Spy Incident

The Cold War is over, but what it left behind may surprise you.

On May 1, 1960, a U-2 flight piloted by Francis Gary Powers disappeared while on a flight over Russia. The CIA reassured the president that, even if the plane had been shot down, it was equipped with self-destruct mechanisms that would render any wreckage unrecognizable and the pilot was instructed to kill himself in such a situation. Based on this information, the U.S. government issued a cover statement indicating that a weather plane had veered off course and supposedly crashed somewhere in the Soviet Union. With no small degree of pleasure, Khrushchev pulled off one of the most dramatic moments of the Cold War by producing not only the mostly-intact wreckage of the U-2, but also the captured pilot-very much alive. A chagrined Eisenhower had to publicly admit that it was indeed a U.S. spy plane.

On May 16, a major summit between the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France began in Paris. Issues to be discussed included the status of Berlin and nuclear arms control. As the meeting opened, Khrushchev launched into a tirade against the United States and Eisenhower and then stormed out of the summit. The meeting collapsed immediately and the summit was called off. Eisenhower considered the “stupid U-2 mess” one of the worst debacles of his presidency. The pilot, Francis Gary Powers, was released in 1962 in exchange for a captured Soviet spy.

When a US Spy Plane Was Shot Down Over the USSR

In 1960, one of the most notorious chapters in the Cold War began after American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down and captured during a spying mission over the Soviet Union.

(Original Caption) This photo, officially released in Moscow, shows the Russian people viewing the wreckage of Turkey-based US U-2 reconnaissance plane shot down over soviet territory May 1st. The pilot was identified as Francis Gary Powers, 30, of Albany, Georgia.

By: Evan Andrews

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on May 1st

1851

First-ever “Great Exhibition” opens in London

On May 1, 1851, the Great Exhibition opens to wide acclaim in the Crystal Palace in London. Inside the Crystal Palace, a giant glass-and-iron hall designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, more than 10,000 exhibitors set up eight miles of tables. Technological wonders from around the world were on display, but the exposition was clearly dominated by Britain, the premier industrialized nation and workshop of the world.

1852

Adventurer and performer Calamity Jane is born

On May 1, 1852, the adventurer and performer Calamity Jane is born near Princeton, Missouri.

1898

The U.S. destroys Spanish Pacific fleet in Battle of Manila Bay

At Manila Bay in the Philippines, the U.S. Asiatic Squadron destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the Spanish-American War. Nearly 400 Spanish sailors were killed and 10 Spanish warships wrecked or captured at the cost of only six Americans wounded.

1915

International Congress of Women adopts resolutions on peace, women’s suffrage

On May 1, 1915 in The Hague, Netherlands, the International Congress of Women adopts its resolutions on peace and women’s suffrage.

Members of the Women's Peace Party arrive for the International Congress of Women, a four-day antiwar protest held at The Hague. Frieda Lawrence and Jane Addams have their names written above them.

1926

Ford factory workers get 40-hour week

On May 1, 1926, Ford Motor Company becomes one of the first companies in America to adopt a five-day, 40-hour week for workers in its automotive factories. The policy would be extended to Ford’s office workers the following August.

1931

Empire State Building dedicated

On May 1, 1931, President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City’s Empire State Building, pressing a button from the White House that turns on the building’s lights. Hoover’s gesture, of course, was symbolic; while the president remained in Washington, D.C., someone else flicked the switches in New York.

Al Smith and Empire State Building Replica

1941

“Citizen Kane” released

Citizen Kane, now revered as one of the greatest movies in history, makes its debut at the RKO Palace Theater on May 1, 1941.

1955

Babe Didrikson Zaharias wins final LPGA tournament of her career

On May 1, 1955, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, one of the greatest athletes in sports history, wins the Peach Blossom LPGA Tournament in Spartanburg, S.C. The victory, the 41st LPGA title of her career, comes as a Didrikson Zaharias continues her battle with colon cancer. After a strong start to the tournament, Didrikson falters in the final two rounds, but she holds off runner-up Marilynn Smith and wins by two strokes.

1958

First “Law Day” observed

On May 1, 1958, the United States celebrates its first "Law Day," one day after President Eisenhower announces the observance to honor the role of law in the creation of the U.S. Three years later, Congress followed suit by passing a joint resolution establishing May 1 as Law Day.

1963

Gloria Steinem publishes first half of her undercover Playboy exposé “A Bunny’s Tale”

After enduring a brief but grueling stint as a Bunny in Manhattan's Playboy Club, feminist writer Gloria Steinem publishes the first half of her landmark account, "A Bunny's Tale," in SHOW magazine on May 1, 1963. Steinem's undercover reporting increased her profile and stripped back the glamorous facade of Hugh Hefner's empire to reveal a world of misogyny and exploitation.

1967

Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu

On the morning of May 1, 1967, in an intimate wedding before only 14 guests, music sensation Elvis Presley marries non-celebrity Priscilla Beaulieu in an eight-minute civil ceremony in a private suite at Las Vegas’ famed Aladdin Hotel. The couple wants to keep the nuptials very private, so they ditch reporters by flying on a private jet from Palm Springs in the wee hours and arriving in Las Vegas at 4 a.m.

1997

Labour Party returns to power in Britain

After 18 years of Conservative rule, British voters give the Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, a landslide victory in British parliamentary elections. In the poorest Conservative Party showing since 1832, Prime Minister John Major was rejected in favor of Scottish-born Blair, who at age 43 became the youngest British prime minister in more than a century.

2002

Former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams indicted for manslaughter

On May 1, 2002, former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams was indicted on a series of charges, including aggravated manslaughter, in connection with the shooting death of limousine driver Costas Christofi at Williams’ estate on February 14.

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Citation Information

Article title
American U-2 spy plane shot down over Soviet Union
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 24, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
January 31, 2025
Original Published Date
November 13, 2009

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