Video: 'The Berlin Wall goes up - August 13, 1961'

(Sunday, August 13, 1961, shortly after midnight Central European Time; during the Berlin Crisis of 1961, part of the Cold War) — Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) early this morning as East German soldiers began laying down barbed wire and bricks as a barrier between Soviet-controlled East Berlin and the democratic western section of the city.

Video: 'Construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 - no comment'

The wire would soon be replaced by a six-foot-high, 96-mile-long wall of concrete blocks, complete with guard towers, machine gun posts and searchlights.

Video: 'The building of the Berlin Wall'

In 1989, a series of revolutions in nearby Eastern Bloc countries — in Poland and Hungary in particular —would cause a chain reaction in East Germany and the Berlin Wall fell.

Video: 'This program is called "America Remembers John F. Kennedy (1983) . This is part 8 of 14 parts.' (Berlin Wall at 6:08)

After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on Nov. 9, 1989, that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin.

Video: '45 85 Part 8' (Berlin Wall at 8:44)

Video: '45 85 Part 9' (more Berlin Wall at 0:00)

Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric people and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the Wall.

Video: '"KENNEDYS DON'T CRY" (1975)' (Berlin Wall at 52:54)

Video: 'Peter Jennings - The Missiles of October: What the World Didn't Know (1992)' (Berlin Wall at 11:02)