This Day In History: July 7, 1983 On July 7, 1983, an 11-year-old American girl from Manchester, Maine began a two-week tour of the Soviet Union at the invitation of Yuri Andropov after she wrote the Soviet leader a letter expressing concern about the possibility of a nuclear war. The winsome little girl gave the Soviets a rare look at … Continue reading This Day in History: July 7th