The Man Who Saved the World: The Untold Story of Vasili Arkhipov

[00:00:00]In October 1962, a Soviet submarine sat at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea.

[00:00:04]American destroyers were dropping depth charges above it. The hull was cracking.

[00:00:09]The temperature inside hit over 50° C.

[00:00:11]The crew hadn't had radio contact in days. They had no idea of nuclear war had already started. The captain believed it had. He ordered the launch of a nuclear torpedo. Under Soviet rules, three senior officers had to agree before it could fire. Two said yes. One man said no. His name was Vasily Arkhipov. He was 34 years old, soaking in sweat, being bombed from above, surrounded by men who were certain the world was already ending, and he held his ground. Soviet protocol required a unanimous vote. Without Arkhipov, the torpedo stayed locked. The submarine eventually surfaced. No war had started. The crisis passed. Decades later, when the full story finally came out, one thing became clear. Every person alive today exists because one exhausted man refused to agree.