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  • 20 years ago today...

    ... the Berlin Wall fell.

    (Well, more like the foundations set up and things rolled into motion - including the Velvet Revolution and the reunification of Germany).

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe...one/index.html

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall
    Quote Dalesys:
    ... as in "Ifn thet dawg comes at me, Ima gonna shutz ma panz!"

  • #2
    Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play....

    (I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it....)

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    • #3
      Nice (OT) refrence - and yes, I "got" it.
      Quote Dalesys:
      ... as in "Ifn thet dawg comes at me, Ima gonna shutz ma panz!"

      Comment


      • #4
        I kept hearing all this hype about it and wondered why this year was such a big deal. I hadn't realized that it's been 20 years! I'm really starting to feel old now
        TANSTAAFL

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        • #5
          Quoth bookworm View Post
          I kept hearing all this hype about it and wondered why this year was such a big deal. I hadn't realized that it's been 20 years! I'm really starting to feel old now
          Me too. I was a sophomore in high school and didn't fully understand what was happening and what was going to happen. While the next few days with the "Wall" were very symbolic MUCH happened at the end of 1989 and into 1990 which brought fourth the fall of the whole iron curtain.
          Quote Dalesys:
          ... as in "Ifn thet dawg comes at me, Ima gonna shutz ma panz!"

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          • #6
            Oh wow! I lived in the Fulda Gap for six years. It's a trip to see it again in film. We got home from our last tour of Germany less than a month before the wall came down. Been to the border many many times and over to shop in East Berlin.
            "No, I will not poop a shopping cart out for you." - Irving Patrick Freleigh

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            • #7
              i was too i have no memories of this

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              • #8
                Quoth Sliceanddice View Post
                i was too i have no memories of this
                You too were to the border many times, but you've no memory? How sad.

                Alternatively, you were two when it happened, and don't remember. How elucidating.
                Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

                http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

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                • #9
                  I was sitting at the dinner table, and all the news stations had this on.
                  Dad and Mom were sniffly, because both their sides had relatives from Eastern Europethat had been under the Communist Fist/ dealt with Hitler.

                  Our family bought a small chip of the wall (entreprenurial spirit at its best - tshirts and wall chunks that same night were being sold) and someone still has it somewhere.

                  It was about time.

                  Cutenoob
                  In my heart, in my soul, I'm a woman for rock & roll.
                  She's as fast as slugs on barbituates.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth draggar View Post
                    Me too. I was a sophomore in high school and didn't fully understand what was happening and what was going to happen. While the next few days with the "Wall" were very symbolic MUCH happened at the end of 1989 and into 1990 which brought fourth the fall of the whole iron curtain.
                    I had been out of high school a year and a half (roughly) when that happened. It doesn't feel like it's been that long ago.

                    And to think in 5 more months I'll be 41 . . . where did the time go?
                    Human Resources - the adult version of "I'm telling Mom." - Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (NCIS)

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                    • #11
                      Its very interesting how quickly it all went down:

                      1989:
                      Nov 7: The communist party in East Germany resigns.

                      Nov 9: Günter Schabowski accidentally states in live broadcast press conference that new rules for traveling from East Germany to West Germany will be put in effect "immediately". East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall, allowing its citizens to travel freely to West Germany for the first time in decades.

                      Nov 10: Bulgaria's communist leader is replaced by the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

                      Nov 17: East and West German residents start to tear down The Wall.

                      Nov 17: The Velvet Revolution (Czechoslovakia) begins (peaceful "civil war" - students protest the communist government. the protest was beaten back by riot police but..

                      Nov 20: Half a million attend the Velvet Revolution and finally:

                      Nov 28: The Czechoslovakian government announces that they'll hold elections in December - alowing the first non-communist leader in. Valclav Havel

                      Dec 1: East German parliament abolishes the pro-Communist constitution allowing non-Communists leaders in place.

                      Dec 3: Gorbachev and Bush meet and announce that the cold war may be coming to an end.

                      1990:
                      (Early - small civil war in Romania - Communist vs. non-Communists)

                      Jan 11 - 300,000 Lithuanian residents protest for independence.

                      Jan 31: First McDonalds in Moscow opens.

                      Feb 26: The USSR agrees to withdraw all troops from Czechoslovakia.

                      Mar11 - Lithuania declares independence from the Soviet Union.

                      Mar15: Soviet Union announces that the Lithuanian independence is invalid.

                      Mar18: East Germany holds their first free elections.

                      Apr24: East and West German y agree to merge their currencies on July 1.

                      May 4: Latvia declares independence from the Soviet Union

                      May 20: The first non-Communist elections are held in Romania.

                      June12: The Russian Federation declares it's sovereignty (thus formally dismantling the USSR?).

                      July27: Belarus declares their independence from the USSR / Russian Federation.

                      (Side note: Aug 2 - Iraq invades Kuwait thus laying the ground work for the two Gulf wars).

                      Aug 23 - East and West Germany announce that they will unite on October 3

                      Sept2: Tansnitstria declares independence from the USSR.

                      Oct27: Kyrgyzstan appoints their first non-Communist leader.

                      What a year!!
                      Last edited by draggar; 11-09-2009, 11:57 PM.
                      Quote Dalesys:
                      ... as in "Ifn thet dawg comes at me, Ima gonna shutz ma panz!"

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                      • #12
                        I was but an infant at the time, so I have no memory of this.

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                        • #13
                          I seem to remember being dragged in front of a TV to watch part of this, but I was only 6 so.....yeah.
                          "Even arms dealers need groceries." ~ Ziva David, NCIS

                          Tony: "Everyone's counting on you, just do what you do best."
                          Abby: "Dance?" ~ NCIS

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