nPostednon November 9, 2014
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Onnthis day in 1989, the Berlin Wall fell.
Onnthis day in 1989, the Berlin Wall fell.n
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nThatnmakes today the 25th anniversary of the great event!
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nThenending of the Cold War was symbolized by the tearing down of thenWall. For decades, there had been tension between Communist EasternnEurope, and the Soviet Union, and capitalist Western Europe, and thenU.S. But starting around 1987, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev hadnbeen making reforms in his nation, and the frosty relations betweennEastern and Western Blocs had been improving. Communist leaders innvarious countries had been losing power. The groundswell of changencame to head in Berlin, and when most of the actual wall wasnphysically dismantled and destroyed (and sent around the world asnsouvenirs), the non-physical “Iron Curtain” was ripped away,npsychologically speaking, as well. (Granted, it took another twonyears for the Soviet Union to fully dissolve and more democratic andncapitalistic nations to spring up in its place.)
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| A portion of the wall still stands in Berlin. |
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| Other fragments of the Wall stand in various cities all over the world as monuments. |
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nThenpeople pushing today as World Freedom Day want to celebrate the endnof the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. They celebrate thatnthis war ended without a nuclear blast, without a final bloodynbattle, without losers, really – everybody won!
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| In this photo, you can see the colorful decorations on the Western side of the Berlin Wall. And then the large “kill zone” on the Eastern side! |
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nAndnthe people of Berlin, Germany, are celebrating this 25thnanniversary with a display of lights that followed the line that hadnbeen the wall. What was once a 12-foot concrete wall that cut thencity in half—a wall that was guarded by barbed wire, towers,ntrenches, and guys with guns—is now marked with a line of 7,000nilluminated white balloons. Tonight, the balloons will be set freeninto the night sky.
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| This diagram shows some of the things that kept people in East Germany from escaping to freedom. |
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nOfncourse, this almost-effortless balloon release will be quite ancontrast to the bulldozers, cranes, and people-with-hammers whondemolished the wall 25 years ago. Still, Germans are hoping to teachntheir kids and grandkids about the real events being commemorated,nprobably in the hope that we can ward off tyranny if we teach kidsnabout what tyranny looks like, and how terrible it is.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nIqbalnDay in Pakistan
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nAstronomernCarl Sagan’s birthday
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n(a.k.a.SagannDay)
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nAnniversarynof the Great Northeast Blackout
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nAstronomernBenjamin Banneker’s birthday
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nNovembern holidays
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nNovembern birthdays
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- Historicaln anniversaries in November
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nDecembern birthdays
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- Historicaln anniversaries in December
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