November 8, 2019

On Nov. 9, 1989, 30 years ago tomorrow, the Berlin Wall, perhaps the most infamous symbol of the Cold War, was opened and begun to be torn down. (See below for a detailed definition of Cold War.) At that time, Germany and Berlin were still split between the Soviet-dominated east and a west supported by the United States and its allies. The fall of the Berlin Wall was an immensely important event in world history. It represented the end of the Cold War and a new beginning in world relations.

East German border guards face cheering crowds at the Berlin Wall on Nov. 10, 1989, the day after the infamous barrier was opened. Credit: © Tom Stoddart, Getty Images

In 1989, democratic revolutions were brewing in East Germany and other parts of Communist-controlled eastern Europe. Large numbers of East Germans were escaping to other countries, while others organized massive demonstrations demanding greater freedom at home. In November 1989, the East German government ended restrictions on travel and emigration and opened the Berlin Wall. In October 1990, East and West Germany were reunified as the single country of Germany, and Berlin was reunited as a single city.

East German police step into West Berlin as a block of the Berlin Wall falls in November 1989. East and West Germany reunited as one nation in 1990. Credit: AP Photo

The East Germans built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop the flow of its citizens into West Germany and other parts of Europe. Armed guards patrolled the massive concrete wall’s system of fortified barriers and obstacles. The guards killed many people trying to escape to freedom in the west.

The term Cold War describes the intense rivalry that developed after World War II (1939-1945) between groups of Communist and non-Communist nations. On one side were the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the Soviet Union) and its Communist allies, often referred to as the Eastern bloc. On the other side were the United States and its mostly democratic allies, usually referred to as the Western bloc. The struggle was called the Cold War because it did not actually lead to fighting, or “hot” war, on a wide scale. Still, between 1945 and 1991, millions of people died in the Cold War’s “hot theaters”—that is, places where military action occurred—mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

August 3, 2016

On Aug. 3, 1936—80 years ago today—African American track and field star Jesse Owens won the gold medal in the men’s 100-meter dash at the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. It was the first of four gold medals that Owens would win over the next week—a remarkable performance by a remarkable athlete. Owens’s accomplishment transcended the sports world, however, and took on a much greater importance. The Nazis controlled Germany in 1936, and German Chancellor Adolf Hitler hoped the Olympics would help prove—athletically, anyway—his theory of Aryan racial superiority. Aryan was a term the Nazis used for Germans and certain other white peoples of northern Europe. Owens (and his American teammates) disappointed Hitler, but he won the admiration of the crowds watching in Berlin. Owens’s Olympic performance made him one of the most famous athletes in sports history.

Jesse Owens races in a preliminary heat of the 200-meter dash at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany.
Credit: © AP Photo

In the 100-meter dash, Owens edged out his African American teammate Ralph Metcalf by 1/10^th of a second to win gold. German runner Erich Borchmeyer finished a “distant” fifth (4/10^th of a second behind Owens). The next day, August 4, Owens set an Olympic record in the broad jump (now called the long jump), winning gold over German jumper Luz Long. On August 5, Owens set a world record in the 200-meter dash, nosing out another African American teammate, Mack Robinson (older brother of baseball legend Jackie Robinson). Four days later, Owens and Metcalfe joined American teammates Foy Draper and Frank Wykoff in the 400-meter relay, setting a world record and winning gold over the second-place Italian team and third-place Germans.

Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama, near Danville, on Sept. 12, 1913. His given and family name was James Cleveland Owens. His nickname, Jesse, came from his initials, J. C. Owens was the son of a sharecropper. At the age of 9, he moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio. Owens excelled in track and field while attending Ohio State University from 1933 to 1936. At a college meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1935, he broke three world records and tied a fourth within 45 minutes. Owens set seven world records during his career.

Owens eventually went into the public relations business. He worked in community service, especially youth work. He traveled widely, giving many speeches that supported clean living, fair play, and patriotism. Owens believed that athletic competition could help solve racial and political problems. He died on March 31, 1980. Owens’s many honors include the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. In Berlin, a street near the Olympiastadion (Olympic Satdium) is named for Owens, as is a nearby school.

See Back in Time Olympic Games (1936)