The Cold War was the defining event of the second half of the 20th century.

When exactly it ended, it has been subject to debate.

Was it the fall of the Berlin Wall, or was it the day the Soviet Union dissolved?

There is an argument to be made that the end may have actually occurred before any of those things, although no one knew it at the time.

The event in question didn't take place in Moscow or Washington, but in a supermarket in the suburbs of Houston.

Learn more about the most important supermarket visit in history

on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. The The Cold War got its name because it wasn't a hot war. The Soviet Union and the United States didn't engage in any direct military confrontation. The fact that there was never a shooting

war was a good thing as each side had thousands of nuclear weapons. Instead of direct

military confrontation, conflict during the Cold War shifted to other venues.

Sports became an area of competition.

When the Soviets beat the Americans in basketball at the 1972 Olympics, it was a big deal.

When the Americans beat the Soviets in hockey in 1980, it was a big deal. When the Americans beat the Soviets in hockey in 1980, it was a big deal.

The chess board became a battleground when Bobby Fisher defeated Boris Spasky for the

world chess championship. The competition however wasn't just cultural. There were proxy

military conflicts all over the world in places like Vietnam, Angola, Nicaragua, Lebanon, and Korea.

The Americans and Soviets might not have been shooting at each other, but they had people shooting at each other on their behalf.

The space race was a technological competition.

The Soviets put a satellite in human into orbit first, which scored points for them,

and then the Americans landed someone on the moon, which was points for the Americans.

Ultimately, however, the competition between the two countries was economic.

Communism and capitalism are economic systems.

While this never got the attention of the other things I just mentioned,

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