On This Day In History

Kids, if you’re ever cleaning out your parents house and you find a lump of concrete with paint on it, don’t throw it away: It might be a piece of history!

It was on this date November 9, 1989 that for the first time since the Kennedy Administration, East and West Berliners could travel freely between the two halves of their city.

The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR,East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding EastGermany and from East Berlin.[1] The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls,[2] which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period. - Wikipedia

Hundreds of people were killed trying to escape East Germany and the Soviet bloc during the 60s, 70s and 80’s. Then with growing pressure from the Vatican political figures like Lech Wałęsa and Republican Pres. Ronald Reagan, the Solviets finally capitulated and tore down the wall.

Watch President Reagan's Speech in Berlin 1987:

It was a big deal and many in America took a piece of the infamous wall as a reminder of the victory of freedom over tyranny, beginning 23 years ago today.