Cuban Missile Crisis: What Google Maps Shows Today [PICS]

Half a century ago, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. It all started when an American U-2 aircraft photographed Soviet nuclear missile sites in nearby Cuba. Fifty years later, a spy plane is no longer needed to see what's happening in far-off countries -- you only need Google Maps.

So what do those Cuban missile sites look like now, according to Google? In the gallery above, we compare some of the pictures taken by the U-2s with current pictures of the same locations taken by commercial satellites for Google.

Of course, sensitive military installations and other top-secret areas are often blocked by Google -- but we thought it would be fun nonetheless to check out the imagery it had to offer of the old missile sites. What fun historical finds have you spotted with Google Maps or Google Earth? Share in the comments below.