Direct Communication Link Between Moscow and Washington D. C

A popular belief is that the Moscow-Washington hotline was a direct telephone link between the presidents of the United States and Russia established for an immediate cease-fire in case of unintentional nuclear war. This communication channel has been immortalized in numerous films, cartoons, and literature as a 'Red Phone' on each leader's desk. However, it is not known by many that this 'Red Phone' never existed. The hotline was established in 1963 after the Cuban Missile Crisis to enable instant, reliable communication between the leaders of the two superpowers, but never as an actual phone line. After initial testing and deliberation over means such as carrier pigeons (surprisingly), Morse code over telegraph wires seemed to be the most practical and secure solution then. It soon evolved into high-speed data transfer using synchronously running tapes on either side in 1967. Towards the late end of the Cold War, around the early 1980s, satellite communications took over, and both sides agreed upon using facsimile (fax) systems for instant hand-written document transfer, which made sense because they were dealing with complex military strategic information. These facts are confirmed by declassified documents on the US Department of State Office of Historian's webpage. Even today, messaging has replaced even faxes, but no red phone is still involved in this much-hyped direct communication system.