People climb onto the Berlin Wall on November 10th, 1989

"People climb onto the Berlin Wall on November 10th, 1989, the morning after the announcement by the East German government that they would start granting exit visas to East Germans wanting to go to the West. The announcement was misinterpreted as meaning the border was completely open and East German border guards were unable or unwilling to control the thousands of people who rushed to the Wall- starting the process of the Wall being torn down over the coming days, weeks, and months and the reunification of East and West Germany the following year. (Photo by robert wallis/Corbis via Getty Images)