It is one of the most memorable moments of the Cold War.

While the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, gave a speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations, Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, became enraged by some of the comments.

Khrushchev blamed the UN for supporting the colonial powers in the Belgian Congo. The UN had just sent a peacekeeping force with instructions not to influence the outcome of the elections.

Macmillan said he gave his full confidence to UN secretary General Dag Hammarskjold. While the assembly applauded, Kruschev smashed his fists on the table.

Macmillan made reference in his speech to a summit in Paris which was called off after the Russians shot a US spy plane down over Russian.

Kruschev started to shout at this point:

"Don't send U2s. You were supporting aggression."

Another outburst came later in the speech with Krushcev objecting to some of the comments made over disarmament.