http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Aug 13, 1961: Berlin is divided
Shortly after midnight on this day in 1961, East German soldiers begin laying down barbed wire and bricks as a barrier between Soviet-controlled East Berlin and the democratic western section of the city.
After World War II, defeated Germany was divided into Soviet, American, British and French zones of occupation. The city of Berlin, though technically part of the Soviet zone, was also split, with the Soviets taking the eastern part of the city. After a massive Allied airlift in June 1948 foiled a Soviet attempt to blockade West Berlin, the eastern section was drawn even more tightly into the Soviet fold. Over the next 12 years, cut off from its western counterpart and basically reduced to a Soviet satellite, East Germany saw between 2.5 million and 3 million of its citizens head to West Germany in search of better opportunities. By 1961, some 1,000 East Germans--including many skilled laborers, professionals and intellectuals--were leaving every day.
In August, Walter Ulbricht, the Communist leader of East Germany, got the go-ahead from Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to begin the sealing off of all access between East and West Berlin. Soldiers began the work over the night of August 12-13, laying more than 100 miles of barbed wire slightly inside the East Berlin border. The wire was soon replaced by a six-foot-high, 96-mile-long wall of concrete blocks, complete with guard towers, machine gun posts and searchlights. East German officers known as Volkspolizei ("Volpos") patrolled the Berlin Wall day and night.
Many Berlin residents on that first morning found themselves suddenly cut off from friends or family members in the other half of the city. Led by their mayor, Willi Brandt, West Berliners demonstrated against the wall, as Brandt criticized Western democracies, particularly the United States, for failing to take a stand against it. President John F. Kennedy had earlier said publicly that the United States could only really help West Berliners and West Germans, and that any kind of action on behalf of East Germans would only result in failure.
The Berlin Wall was one of the most powerful and iconic symbols of the Cold War. In June 1963, Kennedy gave his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" ("I am a Berliner") speech in front of the Wall, celebrating the city as a symbol of freedom and democracy in its resistance to tyranny and oppression. The height of the Wall was raised to 10 feet in 1970 in an effort to stop escape attempts, which at that time came almost daily. From 1961 to 1989, a total of 5,000 East Germans escaped; many more tried and failed. High profile shootings of some would-be defectors only intensified the Western world's hatred of the Wall.
Finally, in the late 1980s, East Germany, fueled by the decline of the Soviet Union, began to implement a number of liberal reforms. On November 9, 1989, masses of East and West Germans alike gathered at the Berlin Wall and began to climb over and dismantle it. As this symbol of Cold War repression was destroyed, East and West Germany became one nation again, signing a formal treaty of unification on October 3, 1990.
Today
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
3114 BC - According to the Lounsbury correlation, the start
of the Maya calendar.
523 - St John I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1099 - Raniero elected as Pope Paschal II
1326 - Aradia de Toscano, according to legend/folklore, is
initiated into a Dianic witchcraft cult and subsequently founds the tradition
of Stregheria, later known as the Malandanti.
1415 - King Henry V of England army lands on mouth of Seine
River
1516 - The Treaty of Noyon between France and Spain is
signed. Francis recognises Charles's claim to Naples, and Charles recognises
Francis's claim to Milan.
1521 - Spanish conquerors Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) from
Aztecs
1536 - Buddhist monks from Kyōto's Enryaku Temple set fire
to 21 Nichiren temples throughout Kyoto in the Tenbun Hokke Disturbance.
(Traditional Japanese date: July 27, 1536).
1553 - Michael Servetus is arrested by John Calvin in Geneva
as a heretic.
1578 - Duke French van Anjou recognized as protector of
Netherlands
1608 - John Smith's story of Jamestown's 1st days submitted
for publication
1624 - Cardinal Richelieu appointed Chief Minister of France
by Louis XIII
1630 - Ferdinand II fires supreme commander Albrecht von
Wallenstein
1642 - Christiaan Huygens discovers Martian south polar cap
1645 - Sweden & Denmark sign Peace of Brömsebro
1651 - Litchfield, CT founded
1695 - -15] French troops under Villeroi shoot in Brussels
1696 - State of Drenthe accredits Willem III as mayor
1704 - French & Bavarian forces were routed by a
combined British, German & Dutch army at Blenheim, Germany
1713 - King Frederik Willem declares war on
Brandenburg-Prussia
French Enlightenment Philosopher Voltaire 1732 - Voltaire's
"Zaire," premieres in Paris
1740 - Hunger strike in Rotterdam
1784 - English parliament accept India Act
1788 - Prussia joins Anglo-Dutch alliance to form Triple
Alliance to prevent spread of Russo-Swedish War of 1788-90
1792 - Revolutionaries imprison French royals including
Marie Antoinette
1799 - English fleet under lord Seymour overthrows Suriname
1814 - Cape of Good Hope formally ceded to British by the
Dutch
1814 - Treaty of London-Netherland stops transporting slaves
1864 - Battle of Deep Bottom VA (Strawberry Plains) &
Fussell's Mill VA
1868 - Earthquakes kill 25,000 & causes $300 million
damages (Peru & Ecuador)
1876 - Wagner's "Of the Ring," premieres
1881 - Henry Morton Stanley signs contract with Congolese
monarch
1889 - William Gray patents coin-operated telephone
1892 - US black newspaper "Afro-American" begins
publishing from Baltimore
1898 - US forces under George Dewey captures Manila during
Spanish-Amer war
Queen of France Marie Antoinette 1902 - England beat
Australia by one wicket at The Oval Famous victory
1906 - Black soldiers raid Brownsville Texas
1906 - Cub's Pitcher Jack Taylor ends a string of completing
202 games (187 complete, 15 relief) by Dodgers in 3rd inning
1907 - 1st taxicab (NYC)
1908 - Cy Young Day in Boston, he pitches briefly against an
All-Star team
1910 - Dodgers & Pirates play to 8-8 tie, both have 38
at bats, 13 hits, 12 assists, 2 errors, 5 strikeouts, 3 walks, 1 pass ball
& 1 hit by pitch
1913 - Otto Witte, an acrobat, is purportedly crowned King
of Albania.
1913 - Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley.
1914 - -14] German army occupies forts at Luik
1914 - Carl Wickman begins Greyhound, the 1st US bus line,
in Minnesota
1914 - France declares war on Austria-Hungary, leading to WW
I
1917 - Phillies steal 5 bases in an inning against Braves
1918 - Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) established as a
public company in Germany.
1919 - British troops fire on Amritsar India demonstrators;
killing 350
1919 - Man o'War's only defeat (Upset wins at Saratoga)
1920 - 24th US Golf Open: Ted Ray shoots a 295 at Inverness
Club in Ohio
1921 - Simon Kaufman & Marc Connelly's
"Dulcy," premieres in NYC
1923 - Germany: Gustav Stresemann becomes premier of
coalition government
1923 - Turkish National Congress selects Moestafa Kemal
Pasja as president
1923 - US Steel Corp initiates 8th-hour work day
1928 - Soviet Union Spartacan Games begins
1931 - Cin Red Tony Cuccinello goes 6 for 6
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler 1932 - Hitler refuses
Von Hindenburg's proposal to become vice-chancellor
1932 - Yankee pitcher Red Ruffing homers & wins game 1-0
in 10 tying
1933 - 16th PGA Championship: Gene Sarazen at Blue Mound CC
Milwaukee
1933 - Jacques van Egmond becomes world champion amateur
cyclist
1935 - Transcontinental Roller Derby begins (Chicago
Coliseum)
1937 - Japanese attack Shanghai
1937 - Battle of Shanghai begins.
1939 - Yankees set AL shutout margin with 21-0 victory over
A's
1939 - Sabotage suspected in crash of 'City of San
Francisco'
1940 - Germany air attack on South England (Battle of
Britain begins)
1940 - Hermann Goering's "Adler
Tag" 45-48 German aircrafts shotdown over South-England
1941 - Red army evacuates Smolensk
1943 - Red army recaptures Spas-Demensk
1944 - British 8th army occupies Florence
1944 - Generals Montgomery/Dempsey/Bradley discuss naderende
breakthrough
Nazi Politician Hermann Goering 1944 - Jackie Gleason-Les
Tremayne show premieres on NBC radio
1946 - Britain transfers illegal immigrants bound to
Palestine, to Cyprus
1948 - Satchel Paige at 42, pitches his 1st major league
complete game
1950 - Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA World Golf
Championship
1950 - Pres Harry Truman gives military aid to Vietnamese
regime Bao-Dai
1951 - Great-Britain & Iraq sign new oil contract
1953 - 4-5 million French go on strike against
economizations
1953 - Pres Eisenhower establishes Government Contract
Compliance Committee
1953 - US Gen Omar Bradley's becomes chief of staff
1954 - 21st NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Detroit 31, All-Stars
6 (93,470)
1955 - Larry Doby's ends AL record of 167 errorless games in
outfield
1956 - WBIR TV channel 10 in Knoxville, TN (CBS) begins
broadcasting
1958 - Indians' right fielder Rocky Colavito makes his
pitching debut, hurling 3 hitless innings, Detroit 3, Cleveland 2
1959 - Milt satellite Discoverer 5 launched (into polar
orbit)
1960 - Central African Republic & Chad proclaim
independence from France
33rd US President Harry Truman 1960 - USSR draws adviseors
out of China
1960 - The first two-way conversation via satellite is
undertaken using Echo 1
1961 - Construction of the Berlin Wall begins in East
Germany
1961 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA Kansas City Golf Open
1962 - Bert Campaneris of Daytona Beach (FSL) pitches
ambidextrously
1963 - Custom agents confiscate 21 gold coins from Witte
Museum
1963 - Warren Spahn sets left-hander strike out mark at
2,382
1964 - 1st broadcast by Trans World Radio on Bonaire
1967 - WQLN TV channel 54 in Erie, PA (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1969 - Balt Oriole Jim Palmer no-hits Oakland A's, 8-0
1969 - Temp Commissioner Bowie Kuhn elected for 7-year term
by unanimous vote
1971 - Paul & Linda McCartney release "Back Seat of
My Car"
1972 - Dutch KRO-TV transmits 440th & last
"Bonanza"
1975 - Viv Richards out for 291 v England at Cricket Oval
1977 - 1st test glide of shuttle
1977 - Randy Bachman quits BTO, they disband
1978 - Bomb attack in Beirut, 175 killed
1978 - Judy wins LPGA WUI Golf Classic Rankin
1978 - Yanks score 5 runs in top of 7th. but rain causes
game to be halted & thus score goes back to previous inning, Balt wins 3-0
1979 - Lou Brock, is 14th to get 3,000 hits
1980 - Suriname president Johan Ferrier ousted
1980 - Tatyana Kazankina of USSR sets 1.5k woman's record
(3:52.47) in USSR
1981 - Last broadcast of "Waltons" on CBS-TV
1981 - Mary Terstegge Meagher swims world record 200m
butterfly (2:05.96)
1984 - Morocco & Libya sign "Arabic-African
Union" treaty
1986 - KRE-AM in Berkeley CA changes call letters to KBLX
(now KBFN)
1987 - Cards outfield sets record of no putouts in a 4-2 in
13 inning
1987 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee ties world record with
24'5½" jump
1988 - Boston Red Sox win AL record 24 straight home games
1988 - Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit Opens
1988 - US beats Jamacia 5-1, in 2nd round of 1990 world
soccer cup
1988 - Ronald J Dossenbach sets world record for pedaling
across Canada from Vancouver, BC to Halifax, NS in 13 days, 15 hr, 4 min
1989 - 2 hot-air balloon crash at Alice Springs Australia,
13 killed
1989 - 71st PGA Championship: Payne Stewart shoots 276 at
Kemper Lakes GC Ill
1989 - US space shuttle STS-28 lands
1991 - Michael Ray Barrowman swims world record 200m
breaststroke (2:10.60)
1991 - Test Cricket debut of Mike Whitney versus England at
Old Trafford
1991 - VP Quayle makes a speech attacking lawyers
1993 - Blue Jay Rickey Henderson pays Turner Ward $25,000
for his #24
1993 - Hotel in Nakhon Ratchasima Thailand, collapses, 114
killed
1993 - US Court of Appeals rules congress must save all
E-Mail
1994 - Train crash in Tbilisi Georgia, 24 killed
1995 - 77th PGA Championship: Steve Elkington shoots a 267
at Riviera Calif
1995 - Beth Daniels wins LPGA PING Welch's Golf Championship
1996 - Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 3.0
1997 - Boston Red Sox trade Mike Stanley back to the NY
Yankees
1997 - SD Padres trade Rickey Henderson to Anaheim Angels
1997 - South Park's first episode is aired.
2004 - 156 Congolese Tutsi refugees massacred at the Gatumba
refugee camp in Burundi.
2004 - Black Friday crackdown by NSS on a peaceful protest
in the capital city of Maldives, Malé.
2004 - Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, strikes Punta
Gorda, Florida and devastates the surrounding area.
2012 - Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus is stripped of her
shot-put gold medal after failing a doping test
1521 - Present day Mexico City was captured by Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez from the Aztec Indians. 1704 - The Battle of Blenheim was fought during the War of the Spanish Succession, resulting in a victory for English and Austrian forces. 1792 - French revolutionaries took the entire French royal family and imprisoned them. 1784 - The United States Legislature met for the final time in Annapolis, MD. 1846 - The American Flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles, CA. 1867 - "Under the Gaslight", by Augustin Daly, opened in New York City, NY. 1876 - The Reciprocity Treaty between the U.S. and Hawaii was ratified. 1889 - A patent for a coin-operated telephone was issued to William Gray. 1907 - The first taxicab started on the streets of New York City. 1912 - The first experimental radio license was issued to St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia, PA. 1931 - The first community hospital in the U.S. was dedicated in Elk City, OK. 1932 - Adolf Hitler refused to take the post of vice-chancellor of Germany. He said he was going to hold out "for all or nothing." 1934 - Al Capp's comic strip "L'il Abner" made its debut in newspapers. 1935 - The first roller derby match was held at the Coliseum in Chicago, IL. 1942 - Walt Disney's "Bambi" opened at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, NY. Disney movies, music and books 1959 - In New York, ground was broken on the $320 million Verrazano Narrows Bridge. 1960 - "Echo I," a balloon satellite, allowed the first two-way telephone conversation by satellite to take place. 1961 - Berlin was divided by a barbed wire fence to halt the flight of refugees. Two days later work on the Berlin Wall began. 1979 - Lou Brock (St. Louis Cardinals) got his 3,000th career hit. 1985 - The engagement of Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenagger was announced. 1986 - United States Football League standout Herschel Walker signed to play with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. 1990 - Iraq transferred $3-4 billion in bullion, currency, and other goods seized from Kuwait to Baghdad. 1992 - Woody Allen began legal action to win custody of his three children. A judge ruled against Allen in 1993. 1994 - It was reported that aspirin not only helps reduce the risk of heart disease, but also helps prevent colon cancer.
1521 After a three-month siege, the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán fell to the Spanish conquistadors, marking the end of one empire and the rise of another. 1906 An all-black army unit was accused of a shooting rampage that left 1 civilian dead at Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas. In 1972 they were all exonerated. 1942 Disney's Bambi opened at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. 1961 The border between East and West Berlin was closed and marked with a barbed wire fence. 1995 Baseball great Mickey Mantle died of cancer. 2008 U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps won his 11th career gold medal, becoming the first athlete in Olympic history to do so.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/aug13.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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