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Communist East German leader Walter Ulbricht lies to the East German populations stating, “No one intends to build a wall”. The East Germans know he’s lying and many leave.
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At twelve o’clock at night, German soldiers from the East began building the infamous Berlin Wall. Ulbricht declared the wall an "anti-fascist protection barrier".
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East German soldier Conrad Schumann is photographed hopping a barbed wire to get to the West.
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A man died as he tried to climb down over the Berlin Wall to get to West Berlin.
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24 year old Guenter Litfin is shot and killed while he was swimming across the Spree River. First documented killing by a Berlin Wall guard.
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Peter Fechter bleeds to death in No Man's land after being shot trying to flee East Germany.
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John Kennedy rides declared," Ich bin ein Berliner " (I am a Berliner) while riding through West Berlin in a limo.
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Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of Soviet Union and changes many things
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Near Brandenburg Gate, U.S. President Ronald Reagan demands: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall."
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Popular protests against East German government become bolder and more widespread, but leader Erich Honecker insists: "The Wall will stand in 50, even 100 years."
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Hungary breaks ranks with Warsaw Pact and officially opens border with Austria to East Germans, creating first chink in Iron Curtain. Thousands of East German "tourists" go West.
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40th year that East Germany has been in existence.
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Honecker forced to resign "on health grounds" amid growing protests.
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In East Berlin, half a million protest for democracy in East Berlin.
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Egon Krenz, who took over after Honecker, announces that East Germans can go West Mix-up over announcement means that, within minutes, East Berliners overwhelm the guard posts on the Berlin Wall. By midnight, over a million East Berliners rush to the West.