http://performingarts.nd.edu/calendar/view.aspx?id=6007
On September 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov was the commanding officer on duty at the Soviet nuclear early warning center when the system falsely reported the launching of five nuclear missiles from the United States. In the harrowing moments that followed, Petrov overruled the system's warning, personally declaring that it was a false alarm. This monumental decision prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its Western allies.