The Man Who Saved The World

Stalinslav Petrov.
Never heard of him right? Yea, me neither until today. But we all probably owe our lives to this guy.
In 1983 Russia during the height of the Cold War Petrov acted decisively and perhaps prevented a jump start towards the Third World War. In the aftermath of the shooting down of the Korean Airlines (which happened just three weeks prior to Petrov's Heroic Day) tensions were high among both super powers.
On this particular September night Petrov was on an extended night shift. While he was it he detected a missile approaching Soviet territory on his radar. Confused, he decided this cannot be a US retaliation as a single missile directed towards the SU does not make any sense. But within minutes he experienced those minutes which determined the very fate of this world.
He detected a total of five missiles. According to SU policy he was to launch a military offensive within minutes and later report to top military officials. But he held back. He realized if he launches nuclear missiles it would mean causalities on a massive scale for the US and it's Western Allies. But what if those five missiles strike SU?
But they didn't. He rather resorted to his instinctive judgment instead of inciting aggression. It paid off. How? The missiles detected on the SU radar was merely a wrong detection because of the Sun's unexpected alignment.
Had he pushed the Red Button. Who knows where we would be.
But the sad thing is, this man, perhaps the greatest Hero of our times has not been credited. He was forced into early retirement by the SU military. He was neither punished nor rewarded. He received a mere $200 in pension each month, resulting in a nervous break down.
Another factor contributing to this treatment of his is the late release of SU records regarding this incident. The reason behind this being the fact that SU was ashamed of such a catastrophic failure of their technology and did not want to make it public.
But the fact remains the same. This man is a Hero for today and times to come.
Mr. Petrov, for me you have done more for mankind than any other person who has ever lived.