Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), known informally as the Agency, metonymously as Langley and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT) and conducting covert action through its Directorate of Operations. The agency is headquartered in the George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Virginia.
central-intelligence-agency

Some of the key events about Central Intelligence Agency

  • 1947
    Established as the first peacetime intelligence agency in the United States
  • 1953
    Orchestrated a coup to overthrow Iran's democratically elected government
  • 1954
    Organized a coup to remove Guatemala's democratically elected president
  • 1960
    Developed the U-2 spy plane for high-altitude reconnaissance missions
  • 1961
    Warned President Kennedy about Soviet missiles in Cuba, leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis
  • 1961
    Supported the failed Bay of Pigs invasion attempt in Cuba
  • 1970
    Assisted in the development of the first photo-reconnaissance satellite, CORONA
  • 1970
    Attempted to prevent the election of a socialist president in Chile
  • 1975
    Conducted Operation Eagle Claw to rescue American hostages in Iran
  • 1975
    Conducted illegal domestic surveillance on American citizens
  • 1984
    Provided crucial intelligence that helped prevent a terrorist attack on the US Embassy in Beirut
  • 1986
    Involved in the Iran-Contra affair, illegally selling weapons to Iran
  • 1989
    Played a significant role in monitoring and analyzing the fall of the Berlin Wall
  • 2001
    Established the Counterterrorism Center to combat global terrorism
  • 2002
    Provided flawed intelligence leading to the Iraq War
  • 2004
    Engaged in extraordinary rendition and operated secret prisons
  • 2011
    Provided critical intelligence that led to the location of a high-profile terrorist leader
  • 2014
    Hacked into Senate computers during an investigation of CIA interrogation practices
  • 2017
    Created a special unit to address North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs
  • 2017
    Developed hacking tools that were later stolen and leaked online

Disclaimer: This material is written based on information taken from open sources, including Wikipedia, news media, podcasts, and other public sources.

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