Today in History - February 10: Cold War prisoners swapped on the "Bridge of Spies"
On February 10, 1962, US spy plane pilot Gary Powers, who had been shot down over Soviet Russia, was freed on "The Bridge in Spies" in Berlin.
CIA operative Powers was flying his U-2 reconnaissance aircraft on a top-secret mission in May 1960 when it was hit by a Russian missile, and he was forced to bail out.
He was captured, interrogated and put on trial by Soviet authorities for espionage, in what became a major flashpoint of the Cold War.
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, centre, called off a planned summit with US President Dwight Eisenhower when Powers' plane was shot down over Russia. AAP
The incident caused a planned superpower summit in Paris between US President Dwight Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
Powers was sentenced to 10 years in prison, after what Western governments described as a show trial.
But behind-the-scenes talks between American and Russian officials led to a deal where Powers would be released in exchange for a high-ranking KGB officer Rudolf Abel arrested in the United States.
It came to fruition on a chilly morning, when both men were brought to the Glienicker Bridge, which connected the then East and West Berlin.
At an agreed time, the prisoners stepped out on the 130 metres long bridge and began walking towards and across a white line in the centre, separating the city's east and western sectors.
The Glienicke Bridge in Berlin February 10, 1962, when the US pilot Gary Powers was exchanged for the Russian agent Rudolf Abel. Getty
When he returned to the United States, Powers found a cool reception from some Americans who felt he should not have allowed himself to be captured alive.
He, like other CIA officers, carried a hidden dose of poison in case of capture, but Powers chose not to take it after his capture.
Powers was cleared of any blame for the loss of his U-2 plane by the CIA and the Senate.
He later left the CIA and worked as a helicopter pilot for a Los Angeles television station.
He died in 1977 during a helicopter crash.
The family of Powers campaigned for years for official recognition by the US military.
Finally in 2000, he was posthumously honoured by the US Air Force on the 40th anniversary of his plane being downed.
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