15. Vasili Arkhipov likely prevented a nuclear war
During the Cuban Missile Crisis and the American imposed quarantine of ships approaching Cuba, Vasily Arkhipov was second in command of the Soviet submarine B-59, a conventionally powered vessel which carried nuclear weapons. When the US task force centered on USS Randolph, an aircraft carrier, detected the presence of B-59 it began dropping depth charges on it in an attempt to bring it to the surface. Three officers aboard B-59, the commander, the political officer, and Arkhipov, the flotilla commander, needed to be in agreement to fire nuclear torpedoes at Randolph. Two wanted to launch weapons, Arkihipov did not. He ordered the submarine to the surface, averting what would have surely been a nuclear exchange between the United States and the USSR. He became a pariah at home for his actions.