The fall of the Berlin Wall was the event in which the barrier dividing East and West Berlin was opened, becoming the symbol of the end of the Cold War in Europe. The Wall had been built by East Germany in 1961 to stop its citizens from fleeing to the West. In 1989, mass protests and the opening of the Hungarian border had put the government under pressure. On the evening of 9 November, a government spokesman, Gunter Schabowski, announced new travel rules at a press conference and said they took effect immediately, which was a mistake. Crowds rushed to the checkpoints, and the guards opened the gates. People danced on the Wall and began to chip away at it. Germany was reunified in October 1990.
Before and after
- 28 September 1989Death of Ferdinand Marcos
- 1 October 1989Birth of Brie Larson
- 13 October 1989Birth of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
- 6 November 1989Founding of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
- 9 November 1989Fall of the Berlin Wall
- from 17 November 1989 to 29 December 1989Velvet Revolution
- 17 November 1989Release of The Little Mermaid
- 20 November 1989Convention on the Rights of the Child
- 13 December 1989Birth of Taylor Swift
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 5 June 1967 to 10 June 1967Six-Day War
- from 25 December 1979 to 15 February 1989Soviet-Afghan War
- 11 February 1990Nelson Mandela is released from prison
- from 20 March 2003 to 15 December 2011Iraq War
- from 18 December 2010 to 1 December 2012Arab Spring
- from 15 March 2011 to 8 December 2024Syrian Civil War
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.