Petrov Day

page type::article thing type::anniversary

About
Petrov Day, September 26, celebrates the anniversary of 1983-09-26 when Russian lieutenant knowingly violated procedure and certified what appeared to be an impending nuclear attack from the 🇺🇸 as a false alarm, thus preventing the retaliatory strike which would otherwise have been launched and which would probably have started the long-feared World War III.

Because of military secrecy and international policy, Petrov's actions were kept secret until 1998.

The false alarm turned out to be due to one or more software bugs in the attack warning system which falsely identified an unusual cloud formation as incoming missiles.

Reference

 * : no equivalent article as of 2012-11-03

to file

 * 2012-10-04 My Two Heroes: Arkhipov and Petrov by Rick Falkvinge
 * 2007-09-26 9/26 is Petrov Day: article which inspired this page. (Are there earlier references to "Petrov Day"?)
 * 2004-05-21 The Man Who Saved the World Finally Recognized
 * 1999-02-10 'I Had A Funny Feeling in My Gut'