Samantha Smith
publication date: Tuesday, January 4, 2005 (part of Round XXIV)
category: Humanitarianism
clue: She wondered if Russia would start a nuclear war. Is that too much to ask?
explanation: Smith was a ten-year-old American girl who wrote a letter to Russian president Yuri Andropov asking whether he would initiate a nuclear war, and she made headlines when she received a cordial response. This 1983 incident was one cultural landmark that helped bring about the end of the Cold War. more…
solved by: Amy Austin, Mike Eberhart, David Mitzman, Elliot Farney, Scott Horowitz, Megan Baxter, Aaron Fischer, Todd Brotsch, E. M., and Tracey Lewis