6 Things Nobody Thought Would Ever Happen… But They Did

The Berlin Wall Came Down

For nearly three decades, the Berlin Wall stood as the ultimate symbol of the Cold War divide. It was concrete, it was guarded, and it was supposed to last forever. East German officials had no intention of letting their citizens cross to the West. Then, on November 9, 1989, an East German official accidentally announced that travel restrictions were being lifted immediately. Thousands of Berliners flooded the checkpoints. Guards stood aside. People started chipping away at the wall with hammers and chisels. Within months, the Wall was rubble. Something that seemed permanent, eternal, and unshakeable — vanished in a matter of weeks.