August 13

On August 13, 1961, East Germany closes the border in Berlin.

Berlin had been divided with the fall of Germany at the end of WWII. East Berlin was run by the Soviet Union, the West between the US, the UK and France. Berlin was deep inside the Soviet sector of Germany, but was divided into the four parts nonetheless.

Now, nothing about this wall was particularly illegal, but did break up families, made many East Germans lose their livelihood, and killed many would-be escapees.

On June 13, 1990, the official dismantling of the wall began, although people had been breaking it down for months by that time.