Today is the anniversary of two important events.

[Lionel Mandrake]

1. November 9, 1938 was Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass) in Germany and Austria. Jews were attacked by Nazi storm troopers and civilians. Jewish shops had their windows broken (hence the name). Synagogues were damaged or destroyed. About 100 Jews were murdered, and tens of thousands were sent to concentration camps.

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht

2. November 9, 1989 was Mauerfall (the fall of the Berlin Wall).

"the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere."

This was part of a sequence of events that led to the reunification of Germany and, eventually, the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. These two events bracket a time of tumult for all of us.

Power passed from the State to the People...

This saying summarizes it very well, I think: there is no idea so strong as one whose time has come.

[Lionel Mandrake]

3. Well, they bracket the first 50 years of my life.

The interval 1938-1989 was more tumultuous for some than others. We Americans were fortunate enough to be separated from Nazi Germany by an ocean. We experienced a world war and a cold war, but our cities were never bombed, and most of us enjoyed Constitutional rights most of the time. We have never been tested as Germans were tested during the Third Reich, nor as those in the East were tested during the time of the DDR.

[femmocrat]

2. Great Google doodle today to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall:

https://www.google.com/webhp?tab=ww&ei=Iq9fVLvAF4qSyQT7h4GYBg&ved=0CAYQ1S4

[Lionel Mandrake]

4. Very nice.

Thank you for pointing that out.